KCS Compact Day Trolley... test to destruction!!

KCS have produced and refined a lot of new designs over the period of the Covid pandemic. This is the KCS compact day trolley. It is ideal for day trips when you might need to carry your unloaded kayak for some distance over a hard surface from the car to the launch site. I found it especially useful when it is windy or if there are a lot of people about... think Charlie Chaplin's ladder!!!

It is custom made to fit each kayak, which ensures a really snug fit. On a P&H Cetus MV it did not budge once. However, it does not fit my P&H Aries 155 at all. Perhaps if you have two boats, you could get a trolley to suit the one with the thicker stern and pad it out with some removable black foam?

The prototype I had out on test worked really well  carrying all my day trip gear in the cockpit. However, this type of trolley is not designed for a fully loaded boat on a camping trip! The trolley is easily strong enough but your arm won't be strong enough to lift the bow for any distance!

The wheels coped with tarmac, paving bricks, fine but unsurfaced hardcore, short and long grass and firm hard sand. They did not work on soft surfaces such as dry sand or shingle. The wheels coped with small potholes and ridges but not a full sized kerb.

Talking of strength, like all KCS gear this is designed to last. Indeed, I will not be surprised if future sentient beings discover examples which have outlived the Anthropocene!

Let me introduce you to a friend:

Jimmy drives a 4WD tractor. I left the KCS Compact Day trolley on the grass verge at the side of the road leading to the beach (the small wheels are no good on soft sand). The trolley had a black strap and of course the rest of it is pretty black too. Anyway to cut a long story short, Jimmy did not see the trolley and ran ran over it twice. On the way down to the beach it was two tractor wheels and on the way back it was two tractor wheels and one boat trailer wheel that ran over the poor wee trolley!

I thought it would be trashed!!! How wrong could I be. The trolley body was completely unscathed, the axle was completely straight, the only damage was that both plastic wheel hubs were broken. Once these were replaced, the trolley was fully functional again. Ronnie from KCS even supplied a fluorescent yellow strap so that Jimmy could see it better next time!

At £82 not only is this trolley near indestructible it is also a bargain! 

KCS Pro Kayak Sail System test and review.

Photo by Donald Wilcox

Since lock down lifted I have been testing various prototypes of the KCS KY-PRO Sail System. The system is available in three versions:

1. Sail only to fit other rigs such as Flat Earth Kayak Sails.

2. Sail, carbon fibre mast and boom, universal joint and deck fittings which require the deck to be drilled.

3. Sail, carbon fibre mast and boom, custom front hatch with mast foot and stay fittings, cleats that can be attached to the RDF fittings near the cockpit by using longer bolts. This option is for those that do not want to drill their deck or want to attach a sail to a borrowed, hired or demo boat.

Background to the test
I have been a long time user of a variety of kayak sailing systems. I have owned and used Pacific Action V sail, the KayakSailor rig and various Flat Earth kayak sails. I have also borrowed and used the Baloghsailsystems Batwing and Falcon Sails rig. They all are excellent in their own way and each has their strengths and weaknesses.

For the type of paddle sailing I do in the west of Scotland I prefer the Flat Earth sails in 0.8sqm size. They suit the open exposed waters and the sometimes gusty winds off the mountains. They are not as large and powerful as the KayakSailor, Baloghsailsystems and Falcon Kayak Sails rigs so you always need to paddle while you sail but in chilly Scotland this keeps you warm, especially in winter. The Flat Earth Kayak Sails in addition to being smaller also have a looser leach and this gives them a much wider wind range than the other designs.

I was therefore delighted when Ronnie Weir of KCS produced his prototype sails to find they are a similar size to Flat Earth designs and, though of different design and materials, have a similar range of intended use, i.e. for most users they are intended to be used on flat or rough open water from F2 up to F4/5. The KCS sails are made in Scotland by Owen Sails, a long established yacht sail maker based in Oban. Owen Sails started out in the mid 1980s making windsurfing sails and I still have one of their 6sqm, six batten slalom sails. So they know about smaller sails too.

This test was carried out on the Solway Firth, Firth of Clyde, Firth of Lorn, Sound of Sleat, Loch Hourn, Kyle Rhea, Inner Sound and Loch Carron on the west coast of Scotland. Conditions varied from F2 to F5.

Sail construction.

This sail is constructed from heavier cloth than the equivalent Flat Earth sails. The 0.75sqm KCS is also a good bit smaller than the FE 0.8sqm. The upper/luff panel is made of Dacron which is flexible enough to give warning when the sail is about to backwind if you point too high into the wind. The leech/lower panel is made of a heavier trilaminate cloth than that used in Flat Earth. The sail is loose footed unlike the Flat Earth TradeWind sail, where the boom is sewn into the sail like a batten. The KCS also has a longer boom and sets fuller with a deeper draught than the equivalent size FE. Like the FE TradeWind sail, the KCS sail is a spritsail with a single diagonal batten, which rises from the tack (the corner of the sail where the boom meets the mast). The KCS sail has a stiffer batten than the FE and the batten is sewn into the pocket with more tension than in the FE. This means it puts more 3D shape into the sail making it more powerful for its size. However, in very light winds, the batten might flip its curve to the wrong side of the sail. The stiffer batten also holds onto the sail's power longer in a gust before twisting off and releasing wind pressure from the roach of the sail (the part near the upper end of the batten).



The 0.75sqm KCS KY-PRO sail overlaid on a 0.8sqm Flat Earth TradeWind sail. Note similar head and upper roach but reduced area, shorter luff and longer foot of the KCS. 

1. The KCS KY-PRO 0.75sqm sail tested  Flat Earth aluminium mast and boom with the mast foot bolted to the foredeck forward of the compass recess.

The KCS sail was paddled alongside a Flat Earth TradeWind 1.0sqm and...

...a Flat Earth TradeWind 0.8sqm in a variety of wind strengths from F2 to F5.  The KCS sail performed excellently overall but especially in the higher winds. In lighter winds both sizes of the FE TradeWind sail have the edge on a reach/broad reach.

However, at bottom of  F4 the KCS produces more power and in  mid F4 and above feels significantly more powerful than the 0.8sqm TradeWind. In gusty F4 conditions the TradeWind remains very controllable due to the leech twisting off more easily but in doing so it looses power. The tighter leeched KCS is more powerful but, as it is significantly smaller, remains a lot of fun in these conditions. It does require a bit more experience to handle than the TradeWind in these upper end conditions. In this respect, it is similar to the double battened, loose footed, Flat Earth Footloose sail. Overall, I think the KCS sail is a good compromise between size, leech tension and fullness of cut/power for use on exposed open water. Upwind when paddling in F3/F4 there is little performance difference between the KCS and the Tradewind except, when well worn, the loose Tradewind leech motors (flaps) in the breeze.  The KCS sail is not showing signs of this after two years of use.

2. The KCS KY-PRO 0.75sqm sail tested on the KCS carbon fibre mast and boom with the mast foot bolted to the foredeck, forward of the compass recess.

The KCS carbon fibre mast is one piece but a two piece may be available in the future. 

The compression collar round the mast retains the two back stays, two side stays and the uphaul/fore stay. It is simple and avoids the need to drill the mast, which could weaken it. A longer thinner collar at the bottom of the mast slides over the mast base universal joint stub.

The most recent P&H composite kayaks like the Volans have a moulded flat forward of the compass to 
mount the deck plate. They also have deckline RDFs mounted laterally to the deck plate position to give the best support to the past. The side and back stays can be attached to these using a short loop of the supplied 2mm dyneema line.

Older P&H composite kayaks like the Cetus usually do not have a suitable deckline RDF lateral to the deck plate. The fitting kit comes with two SDF fittings that can be bolted through the seam wich is very strong compared with the decks in some kayaks.

The fore deck of all P&H composite kayaks has been reinforced for a mast foot for about the last 10 years. On other kayaks such as this Evolution Kayaks Nomad (Northshore Atlantic) and my Nordkapp LV I have reinforced the underside of the deck (from seam to seam) with  a 10cm wide arch  of 10oz woven cloth and resin.

KCS mast foot on left Flat Earth mast foot on the right.

The KCS UJ/mast foot is a Seasure Quick Release Tiller Extension Joint. The deck plate fixing hole centres of this and the current black Ronstan fitting used by Flat Earth sails are both 22mm apart. The original Flat Earth red deck plate (photo above) had hole centres 32mm apart. If you already have a red Flat Earth deck plate on your kayak, you can use the FE UJ/mast foot with the KCS mast. However, the KCS mast foot is 18mm in diameter and the Flat Earth mast foot is 16mm in diameter. You can do as I have done and pad out the Flat Earth mast foot with electrical tape or KCS can supply a carbon fibre sleeve to glue over the Flat Earth mast stub.

If you have no previous sail fitting then you will need to drill the kayak deck. P&H RM kayaks come with brass inserts with centres 32mm apart for the red FE deck plate. However, for both current KCS and Flat Earth deck plates you will only be able to use one insert and so will need need to drill one hole.

The boom has a very neat hinged joint at the gooseneck and...

...the sheet is attached to the boom with an elastic loop to help absorb the force of gusts.

...the outhaul is very slim and neat and allows more expert paddle sailors to control the fullness of the sail.

There is no kicking strap on this type of sail and as the shrouds are below the boom, the boom can swivel forward  in front of the mast. This is an important safety feature as it allows you to depower very quickly if you get hit from behind by a sudden overpowering squall. In these conditions it can be very difficult to either pull the sail down towards you against the wind or to turn the bow into the wind to allow the sail to be blown back towards you.

Everything worked well, the sail set nicely on the carbon fibre spars.  These look great, but I could not honestly detect any difference in performance over the aluminium spars in the Flat Earth rig.

The sheet (yellow) comes down from the boom and threads through a Ronstan shock block that is attached to the forward midline deck elastic RDF by 2mm dyneema. 

The sheet then runs back to an open Fineline cleat in front of the cockpit which has been fitted by drilling through the deck. For those paddle sailors who cannot bear to drill holes in a shiny sea kayak see next section. The forestay/uphaul goes from the mast forward to another Ronstan shock block which is attached to the forward deckline RDF at the bow and then back to another fineline cleat on the other side of the cockpit.

3. KCS KY-PRO Sail, carbon fibre mast and boom, tested on custom front hatch with mast foot and stay fittings.

This is a really novel and well engineered solution for people who do not like drilling holes in their kayak. It consists of a circular outer plate just bigger than the hatch rim and an oblong inner plate, which is narrower and longer than the hatch diameter. These are secured together by three bolts with captive thumb screws. The red and white rope forms a handle to pull the two plates together in such a way that the three bolts in the lower plate line up with the three holes in the upper plate... pure genius! There is the potential for a little water to get in through the holes the rope comes through, you could put a little Vaseline on the rope, but I have not noticed any leakage. The mastfoot/UJ and side stays attach to the aluminium spreader bar, which is positioned at the forward end of the hatch to maximise up wind sailing performance. Access to the front hatch is restricted compared with the usual hatch cover but I was surprised how easy it was to fit and remove. Indeed in cold weather it was actually easier than some conventional rubber hatch covers!!!

The cleats for the uphaul and the sheet are also fitted without drilling. they are attached to the deckline RDF fittings nearest the cockpit using longer than standard bolts. To stop the cleats swivelling a short piece of cord secures the front of the cleat to the adjacent RDF.

The mast foot is obviously to the rear of where most kayak sails would be mounted in front of the compass recess (how this affects paddle sailing is discussed below).

The rearward mount does mean that the stowed sail has a greater overlap with the cockpit. This may bother some. It did not bother me at all.

This is the view forward when the sail is stowed. I was very pleased by how unobtrusive it was. On the production version, the aluminium spreader bar will be even lower.

With the sail rigged on the KCS hatch mount it sailed just as well when running off the wind as when it was mounted further forward on the foredeck.

I also noticed no difference in performance on a broad reach.

However, once on a beam reach to a beat, I started to clatter the end of the boom with the paddle. I switched from a high angle to a low angle paddling style and that solved the problem. This is a limitation of having the sail mounted closer to the cockpit.

Another limitation of the more rearward hatch mount is when beating upwind. You can only point at 60 degrees off the wind with a tacking angle of 60 degrees. When the sail is mounted forward, you can point closer to the wind, at 45 degrees off the wind, which gives a tacking angle of 90 degrees. The formula for working out the pointing angle (p) from the tacking angle (t) is p = 90 - (t/2)

Conclusions.

1. The KCS KY-PRO sail is a very well made small but powerful kayak sail which has superb performance, especially as the wind increases.

2. The KCS carbon mast, boom and stays are well made, light and strong, with great fittings.

3. The KCS hatch mount with mast foot and spreader bar for stays is a brilliantly engineered solution for those that do not want to drill holes in their own boat or want to fit a sail to a borrowed boat. Its downwind paddle sailing performance was unaffected but it does limit pointing angle upwind and cause the paddle to hit the boom if you use a high paddle style going upwind or across the wind. 

Potential paddle sailors now have a choice... to drill or not to drill. What a great addition to the choice of paddle sailing equipment available to kayakers. An innovative and flexible paddle sailing system that both performs and is made in Scotland.

Lastly, the way the hatch mount is constructed, I can see no reason why an existing paddle sailing rig, such as a Flat Earth rig, could not be fitted to the hatch mount.

KCS KY-Pro Explore trolley: test and review, a first look.

 I first bought a Mk 1 KCS Expedition trolley in 2003 and it is still in use at my caravan on the Solway. I have since upgraded my main expedition trolley through various versions and currently use the KCS Expedition trolley Mk 5. I do not just use it for getting the kayak from the car to the beach but use it on expeditions to get on and off ferries, for long road portages such as West Loch Tarbert to East Loch Tarbert across the Kintyre peninsula and for rough off tarmac road tracks such as portaging round the falls of Shiel where the River Shiel pours into Loch Moidart at low tide, the Portage across the Tarbert of the Isle of Jura and the portage from salt water Loch Nevis over the hill into fresh water Loch Morar. So the new trolley has a lot to live up to. KCS can be contacted here.

Unlike the previous incremental changes this is a complete redesign but using similar materials.

The driver for the design was to create a more compact trolley when it is disassembled and in this it is spectacularly successful. 

The previous Mk5 trolley is in the red bag on the rear deck. Admittedly it is not fully disassembled, I just took the wheels off, but it is undoubtedly bulkier than the new model.

The new pads have thicker foam than previous models. A nice touch is the smaller pieces fit right at the top of round kayak hatches and the larger pieces fit at the top of oval hatches.

The parts all assemble without tools. The pads push into place using captive headed bolts which push into retaining slots on the crosspiece. The two axle supports then bolt onto the underside of the crosspiece and this secures the pads. The bolts are attached to the axle supports so you wont loose them and they also have large heads so you can use them with cold hands. The axle spacers are permanently attached to the axle supports. The axle is simply threaded through and the wheels secured with spring axle pins.

Like the previous Mk 5 trolley there is an integrated axle stand. I chose the 10" foam filled wheels and tyres. These do not fit in 10" round hatches. 

However, if you buy the 10" pneumatic tyre option and let a little air out you can "roll" them into the hatch by holding the wheel vertically and pushing one side down into the hatch. Alternatively you can buy 8" wheels but these arre not so good on rough ground.

At the moment I am landlocked due to Scottish Covid travel restrictions ,so I have been unable to test the KY-Pro Explore trolley in the field. So how does it compare with the previous Mk5 trolley? 

Well the good news is that the pads are just as wide and just as long as those of the Mk5 trolley, including the T support pad at the back. This is good news as the trolley should be able to handle rough bumps with a fully loaded kayak without twisting forward if the wheels hit an obstruction. (This was the reason for the extended T pad.)

However, if you are reversing a loaded kayak and it hits a bump, the Mk5 trolley could twist back. I overcame this by cutting a slot beneath the T piece and putting an extra strap through it and right round the kayak hull. Why is this important? When would you want to reverse a fully loaded kayak over a bump? Well an example is on the ferry to the Small Isles. 

The MV Loch Nevis serves the Small Isles. It is not a RORO ferry. There is only a stern door. If there are other vehicles on board and they are not getting off at your stop, you have to reverse your kayak off between them as there is no room to turn. There is a real bump at the ramp so stability when reversing is very important.

On the new KY-Pro Explore trolley I have drilled the rear of the two oval hull supports supports and tied loops of 3 mm cord through. This allows a strap to be threaded through the loops and and then wrapped round the hull to secure the rear of the trolley for reversing over bumps.

This extra strap round the hull, from the rear of the trolley (left in photo), resists the trolley body twisting round the axle, if the wheels hit a bump when reversing the a loaded kayak on the trolley. This extra strap also minimises the trolley twisting so that the axle is not at right angles to the direction of travel, if only one wheel hits an obstruction.

On swede-form kayaks, like P&H which have the wide point behind the seat, I do not bother with a third strap going forward from round the axle then forward on either side of the hull and fastening round the front of the cockpit rim. On fish-form kayaks, like the Valley Nordkapp LV, which has the wide point in front of the cockpit, I do use a third strap, to prevent the trolley slipping rearward on bumpy surfaces.

However, a KCS customer with a fish form kayak was troubled with the trolley slipping back and asked if it would be possible to hook the strap onto the cockpit rim with some sort of clip. So KCS came up with these really neat accessory "S" clips that hold the strap forward. These prevent the strap loosening off if a bump tries to force the trolley back. This makes the strap from the axle forward round the cockpit rim unnecessary.

The photo above is a P&H kayak with a swede form, so the strap would tighten if the trolley was forced back. These "S" clips are not necessary on this type of kayak but will prove invaluable on my Nordkapp LV, which has a pronounced fish form. The clips could be used with any brand of trolley carrying a fish form kayak.

Another improvement with the new trolley over the Mk5 is that the pads sit closer to the axle thus lowering the centre of gravity. This is important with a fully loaded boat on an adverse camber as it makes the trolley/kayak much more stable.

This promises to be KCS's best trolley yet. It is £135 compared to £125 for the Mk5, which is still available. I think the new Explore trolley's  main advantage over the Mk5 is more compact packing. It promises to be equally stable and robust. I just need to get it out for a proper test...until then here are some photos of previous KCS trolleys in action.

The portage across Jura.

The Falls of Shiel portage.

The Loch Nevis to Loch Morar portage.

West Loch Tarbert to Tarbert across the Kintyre peninsula. Frequent kerbs made this more challenging for a trolley than it looks.

Flat Earth Kayak Sails Footloose '80 test and review.

Introduction. 

I was in Glasgow getting a steroid injection into my right shoulder in clinic F then having a pint of blood drained from my left arm in clinic P when I heard the news that a parcel from Australia was waiting for me at my summer home on the Solway. Despite living 50m from the shore for 7 months of the year I have not been very active recently. I last managed a kayak camping trip in May 2017 and have had to give up windsurfing. Since January 2017 I have lost 27kg not to mention over 40 pints of blood and 1.5" in height, so I needed a bit of a boost to get me back on the water!

Well the parcel was, as expected, from Mark Sundin of Expedition Kayaks in Australia. They have taken over Flat Earth Kayak Sails following the sad and untimely death of Mick MacRobb who created Flat Earth. I was privileged to have tested prototypes of each of Mick's previous sails: the original all dacron, the dacron with mylar edges, the Code Zero and finally the Trade Wind.

Each of these designs allowed a lot of twist in the leach which meant the sails would automatically spill winds in the gusts. This made them extremely user friendly, especially for newcomers to paddle sailing. I have no doubt that the international success of Flat Earth Kayak Sails was built on the sails' degree of inbuilt twist.

This photo shows the twist in an early all Dacron Flat Earth sail. However, one disadvantage of twist is that paddling downwind in a loaded boat, when the windspeed is about 3 times or greater than the boat speed,  the leach twists open permanently. This spills wind that might otherwise drive the boat forward. Also when going upwind, the loose leech tends to "motor" when going upwind.

Even the most recent Trade Wind sail has considerable twist as you can see in this staged photo. The bow is directly downwind and there is about 90 degrees difference between the angle of the head of the sail and the boom. If there was zero twist, the head of the sail and the boom would be parallel. Each time I suggested to Mick that he should consider tightening the leach, just a little, he said that he was very reluctant to do that as he did not want to turn Flat Earth sails into "experts only" sails. Anyone who ever had any dealings with Mick would know that he was an egalitarian to the core of his soul. He wanted the Flat Earth Kayak Sail to be accessible to any reasonably competent sea kayaker. He would often give sails away to clubs or individuals who he knew could not afford them. So I was delighted to see that the Footloose sail's logo proudly proclaimed "Designed by Mick MacRobb". In truth many people have influenced the production of this new sail and modest as always, Mick was the always the first to acknowledge the input of others into his previous designs.

Back in May 2016 Tony and I were crossing from Rum to Eigg in the Scottish Hebrides. We were on a broad reach in a fresh wind and were fully loaded with camping gear. I found the degree of twist just a little frustrating as our sails were constantly spilling wind. So when I got back, I tried another tack with Mick.

I suggested that perhaps the time had come for Flat Earth to create an additional new sail for for more advanced users, which would be sold alongside the current Trade Wind sail. It could have a tighter leech, perhaps with an extra batten. I got a reply, almost immediately. In it Mick said he had been feeling a bit tired of late but he had already had talks about this with his mate Rob Mercer (a renowned Australian sea kayaker). They were already developing a design based on a sail Rob had had made for him some years before, by by another sailmaker, for some big expeditions and would I mind keeping it quiet until he (Mick) had some decent prototypes made? Unfortunately (and only a few weeks later) Mick circulated his friends with the news that his "bit tired" was actually a serious illness (from which he died only a few months later).

This new Footloose sail is undoubtedly the sail Mick was referring to and you can read what Rob Mercer says about its history and development here. Rob's expedition sail was a two batten, three panel sail that had been made for him by another Australian, Andrew Eddy, who sent Mick drawings of the original. Mick and Rob worked together tweaking the details. After Mick's death, Flat Earth's new sail maker, Neil Tasker, has done further work to put Mick's prototype into production. Rob has already used it with great success on a 2018 crossing of the Bass Straight. Well after that test, my few words will be pretty insignificant... but here goes!

Design and Construction.

As you can see the Footloose '80 sail has two battens and a relatively low aspect. It is constructed  with modern lightweight sail cloth laminates and uses a semi transparent bottom panel. Quality of construction is still as high as on previous Flat Earth sails. It has clearly been put together with care and craftsmanship.

You can see how it differs from the higher aspect older Trade Wind '80, which is overlaid in this photo and...

...underlaid in this photo. The Footloose sail is supplied with mainsheet, uphaul/forestay and enough non stretch line to have two side stays and two back stays.

Mast and fittings.

The quality fitting kit is up to Flat Earth's usual excellent standard and even comes with two extra surface deck fittings in case your existing deck fittings locations are not suitable for the fore stay/uphaul pulley or the main sheet deck pulley.

The supplied mast is slightly shorter than the one I have been using with my Trade Wind 80 sail. So it can obstruct the view of the horizon.

Here the Footloose '80 is set on my longer Trade Wind '80 mast.

 

 In this shot I am also using the longer Trade Wind '80 mast and have dropped the boom so that you can see clearly that the foot is truly loose. You can also see what a nice aerofoil curve the foot adopts when it is not attached to the boom along its length.

( I was also experimenting by tinkering with the boom height, lowering it to loosen the foot of the sail and raising it to tighten the foot of the sail, both actions achieved with a sharp knock of the paddle!)

My only very, very minor criticism about the fittings is that the plastic boom fitting for the sheet is perhaps a little over engineered.

Paddle sailing the Footloose.

So far I have only paddled the Flat Earth Footloose sail for three short paddles totalling 27km (the first was only a day after a steroid injection into my shoulder, which has a torn rotator cuff). The wind in each case was a steady 12 knots from the south and I used the sail on an unladen P&H Aries 155. I tried the sail on all points of sailing and I must say I liked it a very great deal. It has a very positive pull to it and...

 ...upwind it paddle sails pretty close to 45 degrees from the wind. In a southerly wind and a north going tide I even managed to beat SE round the outside of the islands with the sail up the whole way (see map above).

 Bearing off onto a beam reach then...

 ...a broad reach followed by a run...

 ...the sail continues to pull strongly and as you ease the sheet out...

 ...the top batten does not angle forward of the mast spilling wind which happens with the Trade Wind. This is especially noticeable when the boat slows down as you drop off a wave and the pressure of the following wind builds up. In the new Footloose, the leech remains tight and the increased wind pressure helps you pick up speed to catch the next wave. Note how my speed and distance covered increases on the broad reach on my trip back from the islands, as soon as I broke free of the lee of the islands, my speed increased by a factor of 3 as the sail helped me catch small swells. (The arrows are all the same time apart.) With the tight leech of the Footloose sail, I caught far more waves than I usually do with the Trade Wind sail, even allowing for my injured shoulder!

The sail gybes very predictably but there a more noticeable "whumph" as the sail fills on the new side. This also applies to launching the sail and it is probably easier to launch the sail on a broad reach so that the sail can spill wind as it is raised, before sheeting in. It is more difficult to spill wind when launching on a run.

 As Rob says on the Flat Earth web site, there is more heeling moment as a gust hits, both across the wind...

...and upwind with the Footloose sail than with the Trade Wind sail,  Experienced paddle sailors will love this direct, powerful feel though newcomers to paddle sailing would do better to look to the Trade Wind sail, which continues in production. I can't wait until I am fit enough to get the Footloose sail out on a camping expedition between the Hebridean Isles!

Conclusion.

In conclusion, the Footloose is a fantastic and welcome new addition to the Flat Earth Kayak Sails range. Experienced paddle sailors will love its more powerful and direct feel which really helps you catch more waves downwind. Quality of fittings and construction are to the same high standards as in the Mick MacRobb days. Previously I have tested prototype Flat Earth sails but this sail feels like the finished article. I can think of nothing to suggest that would improve its performance.

Conflict of interest.

I have had a long association with Flat Earth Kayak Sails and have now tested examples of all 5 generations of their sails. Previous minor suggestions of mine have been incorporated into production versions. I have not paid for this sail but I have been happy to pay retail price for my last two Flat Earth sails. However, Mark included a freebie Expedition Kayaks T shirt in the parcel. It is in a most fetching blue, which sets off my blue eyes very nicely. That might just have helped sway my judgement! :o) :o)