Buenos dias mi amigos,
I love sailing but hate towing trailers and setting up complicated rigs.
I want something I can throw on top of my ute, cart off to the water and set up relatively easily.
I had a thought of buying a 14' canoe and adding some sort of sailing kit - sail, outriggers for stability, leeboards and a rudder of some kind.
No-one in Australia makes a conversion kit to sail a canoe. The best I could find comes from the States and costs a bit.
Then I thought about making my own set up and using a windsurfer mast and sail. I've cruised websites and come across people who have done just that.
What do the punters think:
Would a windsurfer sail and mast do the job?
If so. what sort of sail and mast should I look at?
If it won't work, what do you reckon I need to do to make it work?
I did see one website where a guy had a rigid mast about 8' in length and the windsurfer mast was attached to it.
Some insights would be most welcome.
Adios.
A guy here had the bright idea of a small dinghy with a windsurfer rig, his theory was it would be safer for kids as the boom would be above their heads. Was a complete flop, he didn't sell any. He then tried to recover some of his money by selling the rigs to windsurfers, but by then they were out of date, (fibreglass masts and dacron sails), he couldn't give them away.
So it is possible, but look for a very cheap secondhand rig to experiment with in case you can't get it to work.
Keep in mind that a windsurfer rig is supported at the boom, it's not designed to be unsupported.
Why not just get your self a big floaty windsurfer and learn to windsurf? You'll go much faster.
Maybe have a look at the land sailing section as they modify old wind surfing gear to use on the carts.
Outriggers should keep the canoe stable subasurf. The guy selling kits in the US has videos of various canoes and kayaks sailing along in the breeze quite well.
I might do that felixdcat.
Decrepit, I have as much balance as a one legged sloth! Plus the fact that I call myself Oldfossil might be a bit of a giveaway!
The video I saw of a guy sailing a canoe with a windsurfer sail had a normal windsurfer rig with boom, etc. but the mast was tied to this rigid pole/mast poking up from the deck of the canoe. He just sat in the canoe with a sheet tied to the sail and trimmed it accordingly.
I could simply make a sail out of polytarp or get one made but I thought a windsurfer rig might be an easy option.
I shall investigate further!
Thanks for your thoughts.
cheers
Hobie do kayaks with outriggers and sails. Also double up for fishing, punting around and if your game... kiting. Maybe you can adapt some of their gear to your canoe.
Did this years ago with our Scout troop, regular canadian canoe, with outriggers cobbled up from stormwater pipe.
The sail was a leftover from the windsurfers bought for the '95 jamboree.
Worked fairly well - the project was just a pile of scrounged bits dumped on the boys as a challenge while at a camp.
With a bit of proper planning and thought you can probably do a more professional job.
Where abouts are you Fossil?
stephen
Try one of these from Hobie
Great fun in 20 knots of breeze. Impossible to stay dry but thats half the fun.
I'm in central west nsw sn but I can sail on Lake Burrendong which is bigger than Sydney Harbour.
I suppose those Hobie sails might do the job but they are a bit pricey and I still have to make it fit the canoe.
The idea behind the windsurfer sail was to bring costs down.
How much does a windsurfer sail flex? Would it be a nuisance when trying to sail?
When we use windsurfer sails on our landyachts, we have to reinforce the lower metre of the mast as that is where the most stress is found.
All we do is glue [silastic] a close fitting piece of timber, aluminium tube or the top of a snapped mast inside the base of the mast.
The mast drops into a piece of steel tube with the top flared out a touch to prevent chafing of the mast.
We tend towards using a conventional boom, but using an unmodofied windsurfer boom is possible.
Masts vary in flex depending on thier intended original use- Ideally [I think] you would be better off with a flexy mast as it might be a bit more forgiving of gusts- mast flexing instead of heeling you over suddenly.
Having said that- run whatever you can find!
2 piece masts are easier to transport and store- they would fit inside your canoe, and so would the storm water or sewer pipe outriggers and thier arms [if it is a traditional Canadian canoe]
Based on our Scouts cobbled up design -
Steel tube running east/west above the timber spreaders of your canoe, with a mast step dropping down from the front tube to the floor.
The steel tube gets used as sockets for the outrigger arms to slide into.
Light steel tube running north/south to connect and brace the east/west tubes. Add a few angled braces where needed to prevent it all self destructing.
Outrigger arms of either timber, aluminium, steel, or salvaged broken windsurfer masts or booms.
Outriggers of plastic pipe with 45 degree upturned ends [less chance of digging in when beaching]
Some windsurfer booms can be pulled apart after releasing spring loaded internal clips- these types of booms could be used for the basis of your outrigger arms- and the clips would make it easy to pack away when not in use.
With a bit of planning, the whole framework could be made to fit the canoe, and be secured with a couple of ratchet straps- no permanent mods to the canoe.
stephen
Fossil- I collect most of our sails and masts from local salvage and recycling depots, I have never had to pay more than $15 for a sail or a mast.
Every so often I advertise in the seabreeze windsurfing section for donations of old sails and masts for the Ag. school in Esperance.
I usually get hammered with replies- and the missus gets stroppy about the piles of sails and masts I collect.
Windsurfers are notorious for needing the latest gear
- I have picked up sails still with price tags attached, in practically brand new condition!
However- most are a bit pre-loved, some torn, the occasional blown out panel or missing batten.
I buy or collect anything I come accross- no matter how damaged- they can be used as spare parts or recut and sewn into custom sails by the Pauls crew in Kalgoorlie or Chooks brood at Esperance Ag. school.
Try your local council recycling depots, or put up a notice in the seabreeze windsurfing section for you state.
Good luck!
stephen.
I'd be interested to see how effective it would be at tacking into the wind. It've wanted to build something similar for a few years now.
i have one of these...
but in yellow
mad mad mad fun
metre long makkies
20kg long tail tuna
grumpy, thick GT's
stable as even being broadsided by swells and dragged around around by fish
not cheap but
they don't point too high
as mentioned, you get wet
soaked actually
they go better into the wind, point higher, with the sail only 1/2 to 3/4 unfurled (when its above 15kts)
i've been sailing about daydreaming taking in the sights, chasing/following the seabirds only to find out i'm 20kay out to sea within a couple hours
Thanks for the info Stephen. Good advice. I found a website - bccanoe.co.za - a South African guy who built a wooden canoe and set it up with a windsurfer sail. His videos show it working quite well.
Yeah Doc, the Hobie rigs are good but a bit pricey.
I have a sailing rig that lashes into my 16' canadian. the right spot is just aft of the front seat. its simply a 2m wooden mast through a hole in a plank across the deck. no stays. the sail is a 2m lug sail using a fishing rod as the spar. it hoists using a single halyard.
the plank across the deck has a swing down dagger board about 100mm wide and 400mm long in the water.
no outriggers. Its suitable for anywhere you would use a low freboard canadian.
the foot od the sail is loose with a sheet rope that you hold in 1 hand.
there is no tiller , just your paddle to steer. usually with your foot on the sheet.
its works really well to windward ,which was a suprise but sails better with a person forward
you really dont need a big sail area in a canoe, AND you need a rig you can drop /furl in a hurry
have a look in google imagesunder sailing canoes, remember keep it simple
I crossed Lake Burrill in a small canoe with a large beach umbrella in a strong southerly once. It was a wild ride!!
Select to expand quoteBeaglebuddy said..
design flaw!!!
counterweight is fitted to the downwind side.
at least windrider had the right idea in supplying a counterweight that has to crawl over you everytime you tack
stephen
A islanda outrigger, comes apart to make a double surf ski and takes a small outboard. Aluminium mast that fits in a slot like a lazer and uses a wishbone to hold the sail out. Very quick and would give some beach cats a run for the money. On one tack its like a cat to sail and on the other you fly the outrigger :)...
Her first sail in my tender. A simple kids windsurfer sail on a aluminium mast, the boom meets the mast and I wrap the sail around and tie. Sails well and can Make about 45 degrees to wind.
The wife and I have Hobie Sports with outriggers and sail. We spent hours today at Pittwater sailing around Scotland Island and further. Great little boats, hardy, safe and fun. Easy to set up and pull apart. They cost a bit but if you get ten plus years of fun then that equals good value. The foot pedals act like turbo boosters and would be very difficult to replicate in a home made version. They are brilliant when stuck on a lee shore and a few pedals can get you out of all sorts of trouble. They also create their own wind when used with the sail and serve as a turbo to good effect. Good fun.
Very nice gear the Hobbies elbeau. And Scotland island is just beautiful to paddle around.
