Trimming the sail, skeg and fore fin when paddle sailing.

Both Karitek and P&H are now supplying sea kayaks with a forward fin to increase upwind performance when paddle sailing. potentially this may confuse some paddlers so I spent the early part of last summer experimenting to find the best way to use the new fore fin with the conventional rear skeg.

It is important to note that the fore fin offers greatest performance benefits to shorter kayaks like the P&H Aries. The effect is much less pronounced in longer sea kayaks like the Cetus MV/HV which can paddle sail at about 45 degrees to the wind even without a forward fin. Secondly even in a short sea kayak like an Aries you can still have a great deal of fun and paddle sail at about 60 degrees to the wind without a forward fin. 

A final point to note is that you won't have much fun if you just sit there like a stookie and let the sail do the work. This is paddle sailing and just like motor sailing a yacht, your paddling will increase the apparent wind from the bow and this increases the efficiency of the sail.

Beating (and close reaching).
When beating into the wind the rear skeg should be fully up, and the forward skeg (if you have one) should be fully down. The sail should be sheeted in but not too tightly. You aim to sail as close to the wind as possible without the wind getting round the back of the leading edge (luff) of the sail and collapsing it. You can adjust the angle the kayak is sailing to the wind by altering the power on each side of your paddle stroke or by momentary edging. It is however important to keep the hull of the kayak flat on the water most of the time as the kayak will slow anytime it is edged (an edged kayak hull is less streamlined and offers more resistance to water flow). Also if you try to maintain your course by constant edging the sail will not be perpendicular to the wind and wind will spill from the top or bottom depending on which way you are edging, away from or towards the wind).Beating in winds of force 4 you will find that you need to lean your body towards the wind to counterbalance the sail. Your core muscles will get a real workout. You can also help to balance the force in the sail with your downwind paddle stroke by creating more lift by tilting the upper edge of the paddle blade slightly back during the stroke and resisting the lifting force with your arm. I find wing paddles give superior upwind stability and performance to either Euros or GPs.Using wings you will not only feel more stable when beating in F4+ winds, you will also be able to point higher due to their extra lift.

As soon as you are no longer trying to point as high into the wind as possible, you should lift the forward fin completely. It is only used fully up on most points of sailing or fully down when beating. On a course of about 65 to 75 degrees off the wind (close reaching) you should ease out the sheet a little until the luff is just on the point of collapsing then sheet in just until the luff is full and smooth. You can now maintain your chosen course by putting the rear skeg down just a little. If the kayak wants to turn into the wind (luff) put the skeg down just a little more. If the kayak wants to turn away from the wind then raise the skeg a little.

Reaching.
When the wind comes from the side (the bow is pointing 90 degrees off the wind) you are beam reaching. The sail should be further sheeted out until the luff is just full and not collapsing. The rear skeg should be put down a little further and trimmed up or down as above to maintain your course. You will find that the sail exerts less heeling force so the need to counterbalance with your weight and downwind paddle stroke is reduced.  From beam reaching to beating paddle sailing a kayak will not make it go faster than its displacement speed which increases with the waterline length of the kayak. In a short kayak like the Aries the maximum displacement speed is probably around 12 km/hr, no matter how fast a paddler you are or how strong the wind is blowing.

If you bear off the wind further, until you are travelling about 130 to 140 degrees off the wind, you will be broad reaching which is the fastest point of sailing. The sail will need to be sheeted out further and kept trimmed as above. The rear skeg should be put a little further down and as above trimmed to maintain your chosen course. There will be much less tipping force from the sail now and most of its power will be driving you forward. You will also find that the sail will make you feel more stable as unexpected waves catch you from behind. In these conditions I like to think of the sail as a big "air skeg".

The waves will now becoming from your rear quarter and the extra power of paddle sailing will allow you to catch more waves than when paddling alone. When you catch waves the kay will start to plane (rise out of the water) and you can exceed its displacement speed. The Aries planes particularly well and you will find that when planing you can travel up to 25km per hour. At this speed the apparent wind draws ahead and you will need to sheet the sail in to stop it luffing. When you come off the wave the kayak will drop off the plane and slow down so you need to sheet out again. I have my sheet cleat mounted just in front of the cockpit near the edge of the kayak. I find I can adjust the sheet quickly without disturbing my paddling too much.Once off the plane you want to catch another wave as soon as possible. You might find that the sail tries to push you up the back of the wave in front but don't waste effort trying to break through that wave it really is uphill! Wait until the bow drops into the trough and you can feel the next wave lift the stern. Lean forward and paddle as hard as you can to catch the wave. Once you have caught it you might need to sheet in the sail again. Once you are planing try and stay on the wave as long as possible. In F4 winds you will have enough power from paddle sailing to catch and plane on waves that are just not possible when paddling without a sail.As waves are seldom parallel you can often travel along a wave to where it is closer to the wave in front or even joins it. A burst of paddling should see you onto the wave in front then you can work your way along that looking for the opportunity to get onto the next wave in front. In shallow waters the waves often slow down and are not too big too overtake by climbing over their backs. Then in F4+ winds it is possible to paddle sail on a broad reach faster than the waves. Now you can look ahead to see which wave to catch.

When planing you might find your kayak's response to edging changes. For example in the Aries you sink the outside edge to turn when not planing but sink the inside edge when planing. (Windsurfers will be familiar with the concept. They sink the outside edge to turn in the non planing flare gybe and sink the inside edge to turn in the planing carve gybe.) As the wind increases to the top of F4 you will begin to feel more precarious on a broad reach. The trick is to keep paddling and to paddle as fast as you can. Paddle sailing is not a rest camp. The reason to travel fast is to reduce the force of the wind on the sail. When travelling really fast downwind on a wave you will even find that the sail back winds as the apparent wind (combination of the real wind and your boat speed) actually draws forward of the mast. In extreme conditions aggressive paddling makes things much easier. The worst thing you can do is to stop paddling and lean over to leeward in a trailing low brace position. This just slows your boat speed and the apparent wind stays behind and increases as you slow making you even more precarious. Think of the trailing low brace position as the foetal position...don't give up, keep paddling!

You can use any type of  paddle for paddle sailing: GP, Euro or wing. I enjoy using all three and at the recent Flat Water Symposium paddle sailors were using each with equal success. However, for downwind paddle sailing in F4+ conditions I use wing paddles. This is because I find that it is difficult to keep up the higher cadence required by GPs and Euros at planing speeds of 15 -25 km/hr. At the Flat Water Symposium the winds increased to F5 and it was noticeable that those using GPs were the first to give up paddling and settle into the "safe" trailing low brace position.

Running.
With the wind 180 degrees from the bow you are now running. The rear skeg should be fully down. The sail should be sheeted out but on a Flat Earth sail this does not mean the boom should always be at right angles to the fore and aft line of the kayak. As the wind increases the FE sail twists at the top of the trailing edge (roach) to spill wind in gusts. So as the wind increases you need to sheet in slightly to compensate for this twist (unless you are not looking to maximise your speed). On the run you will be travelling slower than on a broad reach but it is still possible to catch waves and plane. When this happens the fully sheeted out sail will very quickly backwind so be quick to sheet it in. Once you are on a wave you might want to increase your speed by  luffing into the wind and travelling on the wave on a broad reach. This will carry you off course but you can gybe round and broad reach back in the other in the other direction. Paradoxically this is called tacking downwind and is a lot of fun and a great way to keep reasonably close to someone in your group who is paddling downwind without a sail.

When sailing dead down wind with the skeg fully down and the sail fully sheeted out you might find that the kayak wants to turn round into the wind (luff) away from the side the sail is sheeted out on. Normally until now you have controlled luffing by putting the rear skeg further down. Now it is fully down so what do you do? This luffing on the run is a symptom that you are not running directly downwind. The wind from behind  is probably coming from slightly to the side that the sail is sheeted out on. This is called sailing by the lee. It is easily fixed by gybing the sail over to the other side.

Well that is enough to digest for the moment. Have fun and remember it is paddle sailing so no foetal positions please!

Sea kayak paddle sailing and tacking upwind.

At the paddle sailing sessions at the recent Flat Water Symposium many people were surprised that it was possible to make progress to windward. I have previously asked the question "is it worth tacking upwind with a Flat Earth kayak sail?" At that time I thought that it was not, especially in lighter winds. I would like to revisit this question considering stronger winds and the use of recent forward fin developments.

In a long unmodified kayak, such as a Cetus (photo above), Taran 16 or Nordkapp LV, I have found that it is possible to paddle sail to about 45 degrees to the wind which is much the same as a dinghy like a Laser.

In shorter kayaks such as the P&H Aries (phopto above) the kayak can still beat upwind but it points about 15 degrees less high i.e. about 60 degrees to the wind. 

Geoff Turner from Kari-tek and Graham Mackereth from P&H have each developed forward fins ("ventral fin" and "forward board" respectively) to allow kayaks such as the Aries to point higher. I have carried out a number of experiments using the GPS to measure the effectiveness paddle sailing upwind in F4 and the effectiveness of the forward skeg and when best to use it.

This shows an Aries fitted with a forward fin in the fully down position and the rear skeg in the fully up position tacking 1km upwind from point A to point B. The wind was Force 4 with a fetch of about 50 km and there were short steep waves.

I used Garmin Mapsource program to analyse the data from my GPS tracklog.

The first thing to notice is that the angle between each tack is about 90 degrees which means that the Aries is now sailing about 45 degrees to the wind. The speed through the water was 6.7km/hr and the velocity from point A to point B was 5.1 km/hr.  In those wind and waves just paddling (without the sail) in a direct line from A to B my speed was 4.9 km/hr. In lighter winds I could have paddled the Aries about 7-8 km/hr into the wind and so it would not have been worth hoisting the sail and tacking.

This experiment (and others I have done) shows that in a good F4 on open water, tacking upwind with a sail  is marginally faster than just getting your head down and paddling directly into the wind and waves. What the figures don't show is how much more fun paddle sailing is. Also in this experiment I lost speed each time I tacked (which was 5 times). I could have gone from A to B using two longer legs and only 1 tack which would have further increased my speed. 

More tomorrow...

Paddle sailing and planing in P&H Aries 155 sea kayak and Flat Earth Code Zero 0.8sqm kayak sail.

The blog has been rather quiet recently as I have run into continuing joint problems and am now seeing a shoulder surgeon in addition to a knee surgeon! I gave up mountaineering when my knees packed in now I am worried about sea kayaking as my shoulder problems worsen. I have not been on any expeditions since early March and unfortunately I had to pull out of the Skye Sea Kayak Symposium (at which I was going to demonstrate kayak sailing). This was a great pity as it was the first Skye or Jersey sea kayak symposium that I have missed in many years. I hope everyone is having a really good time at the symposium.

Yesterday Phil and Andrew wondered if I would like to join them on a trip to Ailsa Craig. Unfortunately I had to decline this too as I could not get my sea kayak onto the car roof (even with the Karitek easy load roof rack). Nor could I drive that distance and I certainly could not guarantee that my shoulder would last the 34km round trip.

Instead I thought I would review some of the recent testing of the P&H Aries 155.

Despite its short length the Aries (and Delphin) shows a remarkable ability to plane in following seas. Add a sail and even relatively light winds give you the ...

 ...ability to  enjoy continuous planing over considerable distances. Many people stop paddling (and trail their paddle in an extended low brace) when there is enough wind for the sail to drive a kayak at its displacement speed. However, as can be seen here ,kayaks like the Aries and Delphin will rise onto the plane, then considerably exceed their theoretical maximum displacement speed. Therefore not only should you continue paddling but in marginal planing conditions you should paddle as hard as you can to pop the kayak up onto the plane and keep it there. In stronger winds you will also find that travelling fast downwind reduces the apparent wind on the sail and this paradoxically means travelling fast makes it easier to survive and enjoy difficult conditions.

Here David has overtaken the wave in front and has climbed up the wave back. He has reached the critical point, where his body has nearly crossed the crest of the wave but the kayak has dropped off the plane. At this point the apparent wind in the sail increases as the boat slows. This increases the drive in the sail but is also the time you need to paddle as hard as possible. If I had been David, I would also have leaned forward as far as I could (but as David has a bad back and in a few months will enter his eighth decade, he has a partial excuse).

Two stiff strokes sees David break through the crest of the wave in front and start planing again. Yee Haa!

Although, in my previous posts on the Aries 155, I have said it is a wonderful kayak to paddle with a Greenland paddle, I would not recommend a GP when trying to drive a kayak onto the plane in marginal conditions like these as you simply don't get the same explosive power. Here David is using a wing paddle.

One of the beauties of the Flat Earth kayak sail is that it allows you to continue to paddle with no hindrance when the sail is hoisted.

Don't expect paddle sailing to be a relaxing easy option. Paddle sailing a kayak is hard work. The idea is to maximise planing time as this is such fun.

The adjustable grip hitch for sea kayak sailing rig stays.

Following on from my post about fitting a Flat Earth Kayak Sail to a P&H Aries 155, Alec commented:

"You say that your stays are a "fixed length" but you seem to have some sort of slip knot (see pic ) for adjustment. May I ask what knot you are using?"

Yes I do use a locking slip knot for fine adjustment. Previously Geoff has recommended a trucker's hitch (which needs tied every time) and Shawn Armitage has recommended the easier to adjust three-turn tautline, both of  which I have used previously. I have also used the Clamcleat CL266 Mini Line_Loks which are very easy to adjust but these slip in winds at the top of F4.

I currently use the adjustable grip hitch as it is as easy to adjust as the three turn tautline but it is also easier to remember how to tie in the field.

Start by making a loop by bringing the loose end over the stay (which is tied to the mast at its other end).

 Now wrap the free end twice round the stay side of the loop.

Now take the free end once more over the stay side of the loop and bring it back under both sides of the loop and thread it through itself.

Pull the knot tight. If you pull the end of the loop, the knot locks tight. However, if you grip the knot itself you can easily slide it in either direction to make the loop longer or shorter.

The reverse of the knot looks like this.

I normally thread the loop through the closed end of a 32mm snap shackle. This means that I can quickly remove and replace the rig from the kayak without knot tying.

To get the tension in the side stays just right, I bend the mast back then gradually shorten the stays by sliding the grip knots. I test the tension by putting the mast into the vertical position, repeating the process until I get the stays "twang tight".

Fitting a Flat Earth Kayak Sail to a P&H Aries 155.

The Aries is the composite version of the rotomoulded polyethylene Delphin so I knew it would be a great sea kayak for paddle sailing with a Flat Earth Kayak Sail.

Like the Delphin, the Aries has a peaked foredeck to shed water. Just forward of the compass mount the deck is very stiff due the moulded channels to take the spare paddle shafts. There was a handy RDF here so I removed the standatd bolt and used a longer M6 stainless steel bolt  to secure the front of the mast foot plate. The rear was proud of the deck so I packed it out with two stainless steel washers and drilled the deck for the rear M5 bolt. I used Aquaseal round the bolt to seal the hole.

 The mast foot in place.

 I used two surface mount fittings for deck lines to mount the two side stays at right angles to the mast, one on each side. I have several kayakst set up for sailing so I have a standard side stay length and each kayak has a small loop of Spectra cord which is adjusted to fit the side stays once then the snap shackles allow the rig to be fitted nd removed quickly to any kayak with no adjustment.

As my sidestays are at right angles to the mast I also use a back stay which is attatched to a Spectra loop through the front deck elastic RDF. Once the mast is erected the sidestays become "twang" tight.

I fit the sheet and uphaul cleats (ClamCleat CL 213 and CL214 low profile line cleats) on either side of the cockpit front. Make sure your thumbs won't bang against them when paddling. Note the pink uphaul line loops under the rear deck elastic and then goses foward where it is tied off onto the back stay. If you are running before a strong wind a tug on this will get the sail down without having to turnt the kayak's bow round into the wind so the mast blows back.

All ready to go....

YeeHah!

Finding a leak in a sea kayak.

One of my kayaks developed a leak in the back hatch when it was about 6 months old. It was in no danger of sinking but on return from a camping trip, everything in the back was well damp.

Over the last 10 years or so I have had to deal with this problem quite a few times. 2 times out of 3 it has been the back hatch. It can be difficult to track down the source of a leak. Kayak manufacturers do a pressure test. They use a hatch cover with a car tyre valve in it then pump some air in and soak the outside of the kayak with soapy water and look for the bubbles.

I have found the leak it is most often where the skeg cable enters the top of the skeg box in the rear hatch followed by where the holes are drilled for the end toggles in the front or rear hatches.

You can test the end holes by upending the kayak with the leaky hatch down. Either lean the kayak against a high wall or get someone strong to help )and it is best not to do this in a wind!) Fill the rear compartment with a decent amount of water from a hose and look very carefully for leaks. In my case all was dry so...

...I hung the kayak upside down and lifted it up to about shoulder height. (I also use these pulleys under the carport to raise and lower the kayak off and on my car roof rack.) I then poured a jug of water into the skeg box. Water started to run down the inside of the cable and dripped out at the control end of the cable by the cockpit. But I was more interested in what...

...was happening inside the hatch. It was quite easy to stick my head in and have a look. (If your kayak has a small rear hatch you may need to use a mirror.) It turned out as I expected, there was a steady drip coming from where the cable entered the skeg box. My Valley Nordkapp LV also developed a leak here and it was returned to the factory and came back with a GRP bandage round the skeg cable and skeg box. That fixed the problem but the kayak was away for two weeks.

This time I wanted a quick repair. I could have used GRP but instead, I smeared Evo-stik Serious Stuff Ultra adhesive round where the cable enters the skeg box. This product is waterproof and even sticks to wet surfaces. It is much cheaper than Sikaflex 291 sold by chandlers and is just as effective. (£5.98 for 290ml out of Tesco compared with £12.95 out of Duncan).

I now have a dry kayak.

Fitting a Flat Earth sail to a Necky Chatham 16 Polymer kayak.

The Necky Chatham 16 is a manoeuvrable kayak that should suit a Flat Earth Kayak sail very well.
 

Unlike the P&H Delphin, which has a rigid foredeck, the Chatham deck is soft and would not be stiff enough to support a mast foot without some modification. The stiffest area was between the compass recess and a central deck elastic fitting. This was also in line with the deck line fittings, which saved drilling extra holes for the side stays. To make the stays easily adjustable I used Clamcleat white CL266W/R Mini Line-Lok cleats.

To stiffen the deck, I cut a piece of 3" thick black closed mini cell foam and pushed it into place so that it was under moderate compression.

The black sheet and the red uphaul were led aft to a pair of Clamcleat CL 213 and CL214 low profile line cleats. note how the red uphaul is threaded behind the rear deck elastic then forward...

...where it is tied off to the loop formed where the yellow back stay goes through the snap shackle. To lower the sail if there is a strong wind from behind (on a run), uncleat the red uphaul, then pull on the end. This pulls the back stay towards you collapsing the mast. If you rig the Karitek way (with two rear set stays and no back stay) you can't do this and in a strong wind you need to turn the bow of the kayak from down wind round into the wind to drop the sail.

Is it worth tacking upwind with a Flat Earth sail?

Flat Earth kayak sails will sail to about 68 degrees off the wind. This means they can definitely get to windward but is it worth tacking upwind or should you just drop the sail and paddle? To find out I did the following experiment and recorded the data on my Garmin GPS.

This GPS track shows tacking upwind into a 12kt WSW wind. Although I seemed to be sailing about 45 degrees off the wind, that was the effect of the apparent wind, the combination of true wind and the wind generated by boat speed. The GPS track shows that a Flat Earth sail will point about 68 degrees off the wind. This compares with about 45 degrees for a typical dinghy with a centre board. At first I tacked upwind while both paddling and sailing. I covered 1600m over the ground but only 600m upwind in 15.28mins. The over ground speed was 6.3km/hr but the upwind speed was only 2.4km.

Next I dropped the sail and paddled directly upwind. I covered the next 600m in 6.72mins, which meant the upwind speed was 5.4km/hr. The conclusion is that it is not worth tacking upwind with a Flat Earth sail. However, if you can lay, or nearly lay your mark, by sailing on one tack then it is definitely worth paddle sailing upwind with the Flat Earth sail. That is exactly what we did in the top photo, we were just able to lay Gull Point at the South end of Little Cumbrae on our way from Portencross to Glencallum Bay on Bute.

Rough water Handling by Doug Cooper review.

Doug Cooper is head of Paddlesport at Glenmore Lodge in Scotland and is a renowned BCU level 5 sea kayak coach. I bought and enjoyed his previous book, Sea Kayak Handling, so I expected this to be a good book. What I was not expecting was just how good a book this would prove to be. It is remarkable how  much insightful information has been condensed into such a compact and clear volume.

However, this is no easy, cover to cover, bed time reading. The cover clearly identifies this as a practical manual and just as you wouldn't read all the chapters in the Haynes Honda CB500 Four '71-'75 manual to take the cylinder head off, so it is with Doug's new book. It is an ideal manual to support your learning of how to handle a particular set of conditions, which strokes to use, how and why. I much prefer this type of problem orientated approach, presented with solutions rather than the alternative: a blow by blow account of how to do each stroke that then leaves you to sort out when to use it.

There is a useful introductory chapter on how to best use this book. The main chapters cover: High Winds, Moving Water, Surf, Tide Races, Rock Hopping, Open Crossings and Rolling but there are two excellent supplementary chapters on Physical and Psychological Considerations. These are vital areas to safe performance at high level, which are often ignored or glossed over in other books.

I like the overall tone of this book a lot. Repeatedly the author talks of "to gradually build your skills", "build up gradually to those more committing environments" "set yourself appropriate goals". All too often, rough water rescue reports are examples where over enthusiasm "to push themselves" has led to trouble for those who are not experienced enough to realize that the conditions were well beyond their experience.

As each chapter unfolds, techniques to handle a variety of conditions are clearly  broken down into a set of bullet points and illustrated by very clear, though small photographs. I was delighted to see that most useful of "saviour" strokes, the bracing stern rudder, gets an early mention.

There are a number of guest "Coaches top tip" boxes placed at relevant positions in the text. Each of these is an excellent addition to the text and they also act as a reminder of the respect in which Doug Cooper is held among his fellow coaches. (I particularly enjoyed the Howard Jeffs photo (with a crab) a reminder of a 2006 sea kayaking trip based on an old trawler.) Only Fiona Whitehead's tip had little relevance to me but others may find it rather more helpful!

A very minor semantic criticism might come in the surfing section. Doug describes a turn at the top of the wave as a top turn. Surfers, kayak surfers and windsurfers might disagree. A true top turn comes after carving backup the wave face (nose first), following a bottom turn and that would be a fine trick in a sea kayak!

In the book Doug is careful to identify situations where you might be learning techniques in remote and potentially dangerous situations. He refers the reader to other texts such as Gordon Brown's Sea Kayak and Franco Ferrero's Sea Kayak Navigation for advice about safe journeying.

The chapter on physical considerations contains some excellent dietary and training advice and  Doug moves even higher in my estimation as he is clearly enjoying a pint of Guinness in one photo! The chapter on psychological considerations addresses that fine line between self confidence and overconfidence, which can be particularly difficult to get right in the learning stages.

A significant part of the success of this book must be due to the high quality photographs (many by Lara Tipper), which, despite their small size, clearly illustrate the techniques. The photos were all taken in good lighting conditions, which must have been a challenge in itself, given most are of Scottish locations.

In conclusion this is a remarkable book which will help lead the progression of rough water handling skills of intermediate and advanced paddlers. It is not presented in a gung-ho, bravado fashion that might encourage foolhardy emulation before a kayaker is truly ready. Rather it emphasises building up experience, setting appropriate goals and taking advantage of coaching when necessary. The techniques are clearly illustrated and presented in the context of a rough water situation where their correct use will help get the paddler safely through the problem. This is a stunning book which I expect to refer to and learn from for years to come. Buy it!

Finally, although I bought Doug's first book, this one was sent to me as a review copy by the publishers, Pesda Press. They needn't have bothered, I was going to buy it anyway.

Fitting a Flat Earth Kayak Sail to a Rockpool Alaw Bach.

I have updated the Flat Earth Kayak Sail Fitting Instructions page to include the Rockpool Alaw Bach.

Fitting a Flat Earth Kayak Sail to a P&H Delphin

When I first tried the P&H Delphin I was impressed by all the usual things: its comfortable ergonomics, its stability in rough water, its manoeuvrability, its surfing, its rolling, its behaviour in winds... but I really couldn't wait to put a sail on it. Those hard chines at the bow are just asking for a sail to provide the drive to push through the waves in front!

I mounted the pulley for the uphaul/fore stay on the front deck line recessed deck fitting (RDF). The pulley for the sheet and the back stay went on the front deck elastic RDF. The existing side deck line RDFs were just too far behind the mast to provide support when reaching or beating so I mounted two stainless steel saddles on either side of the mast and attached the side stays to them. If you were only interested in downwind sailing you could use the RDFs and do away with the back stay.

I mounted the sheet and uphaul cleats in front of the cockpit and to either side of the 4th hatch.

The ideal position for the mast base was just forward of the compass mount but the foredeck on the Delphin is peaked. Purists will be horrified but I just fitted the mast base to the right of the mid line on the flat part of the deck secured with two penny washers to spread the load below deck.

I use the same mast on my Nordkapp LV, which does not have a peaked deck. The side stays were therefore too short, so using bowlines, I adjusted loops of 2mm Dyneema cord through the saddles and clipped the snap shackles into them. If you only use the sail on one kayak you could clip the snap shackles directly through the saddles.

The beauty of the Flat Earth flexible tendon universal joint is that the mast is still vertical despite the mount and...

...the wind couldn't tell the difference!

Is it worth tacking upwind with a Flat Earth Kayak Sail?

 There was a 12 knot headwind blowing directly from our destination the Heads of Ayr.

I decided to try and tack upwind to see if it would be quicker than just putting my head down and paddling straight for the Heads of Ayr.

At first I tacked upwind while both paddling and sailing. I covered 1600m over the ground but only 600m upwind in 15.28mins. The over ground speed was 6.3km/hr but the upwind speed was only 2.4km.

Next I dropped the sail and paddled directly upwind. I covered the next 600m in 6.72mins which meant the upwind speed was 5.4km/hr.

It was good to take a rest at Bracken Bay and work all this out. My conclusion is that it is not worth tacking up wind when kayak sailing but if you can lay your destination sailing closehauled it is worth kayak sailing. In this example the close hauled speed was 6.3km/hr and the paddling only upwind speed was 5.4km/hr.

Of course the downwind blast home was much more fun...

...my maximum speed regularly went over 14km/hr with a max of 14.6

Yee Haa!