kayak sails

[beachlandsfish]

Hi there,

Does anyone have any experience with kayak sails? are they a gimmick or useful?

[MadMike]

Useful... No idea but damn there fun

[beachlandsfish]

http://www.falconsails.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

was thinking they look fun....could use the wind to some advantage, not that we'd like too much wind might be too choppy!

[kayak chris]

I have a PA sail, love it, it comes out with me on all big trips.
I generally try to paddle into the wind on the way out, and cruse home under sail.
It certainly adds a bit of extra range.
(just don't rely 100% on it, as winds do shift).
but yea I love mine.

[MadMike]

Hmm not sure about those, most over here have the pacific action sale which is good for across wind and down wind only. the falcons look like they could be rigged for up wind as well.

Edit Oh snap Chris

[kayak chris]

I think up wind sailing in a "normal" kayak with any type of sail is going to be limited due to not having a keel of any sort (except perhaps the hobie).
Not impossible by an means, but dont have visions of being the next emerates team nz boat.
And putting so much force so high up is almost certainly going to make the kayak want to roll to leeward.
By sailing downwind, or across wind its not such an issue, but up wind creates a whole lot of more forces on the kayak.

What im getting at is, if you end up being able to sail up wind then great, but I wouldnt base any purchasing decisions or safety decisions on being able to make huge amounts of ground up wind.

[PJay]

See Herb Spannagl's article in the latest NZ Fishing News. He's made up a set of leeboards that enable upwind sailing, or at least reaching. (Herb's "Rainbow" over on the other site.)

[MadMike]

You can buy the Kayak sailor that comes complete with dagger boards etc. its a fantastic rig but comes at a price. if sailing is going to be a main highlight for you then money well spent of coarse.

[Faulk]

I have one of these: http://www.pacificaction.com/

Lots of fun. Particularly if you live near a harbour & can get your significant other to drop you off on the other side.

My yak is prowler 4.5 & it can sure rip across the Wgn harbour in very little time at all.

I find I can go across the wind and depending on the current a little better than side on.

If you use one, don't leave home without your anchor.... it's a safety device just as much as anything else.

I don't use it much when I'm fishing with others, because it's somewhat anti social

[secala]

great for chasing tuna or just having fun on our west coast swells. some scary speeds at times.

[MikeAqua]

Anyone sucessfully fitted a sail to a P400?

[A ship of Phil's]

A bigger investment, but the Kayaksailor is a very fancy bit of kit.

http://www.kayaksailor.com/

[Yakatyyak]

Anyone sucessfully fitted a sail to a P400?

X2

[Flowrider]

Anyone sucessfully fitted a sail to a P400?

X2

I have tried this on my PF400 a couple of times, actually works pretty well down wind. The beauty is it just folds up and fits in a rod holder when not in use. Still working on a way to rig it to use hands free. This winter I used this technique to effortlessly get to 6km offshore.
Might try and make a homemade version of the Pacific sail in time for summer.

[MikeAqua]

Good article in recent fishing mag about homemade PA like sail.

[Mental]

Some good DIY Kayak Sails around the interweb...

http://mikesyakingadventures.com/homemade-kayak-sail/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.co.nz/200 ... -sail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://yakdiver.blog.co.uk/2011/03/27/m ... -10898015/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://users.cot.net/~beduval/sail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[grw1712]

SAILING WITH A KAYAK - The Falcon rig is by far the best rig available for serious sailing. Windward ability is crucial for survival in N.Z. seas. With the Falcon rig it is possible to travel great distance and be confident of getting back home if the weather changes. The rig is aerodynamically similar to a windsurfer - it can be dropped in seconds and re - deployed in seconds. Lee boards, skegs and rudders are not needed with the Falcon. The Flat Earth rig and the KayakSailor will also sail upwind but not as good as the Falcon. The Polynesian V sail is unable to seriously sail up wind despite some claims to the contrary. Regards - - Geoff

[MikeAqua]

Are you affiliated with that product at all? Protocol on here is to declare any such alliegance, peopl do thta ad still promote products. Apologies in advance if I am mistaken but the fact it's your first post begs the question.

[ozpea]

A "Windpaddle" sail on my kayak. Here is a report from a couple years back on my trial runs. Often plan my trips to paddle out into the wind so at the end of days fishing when all tuckered out can sail home with the wind.

Launched on the far side of the lake with a ESE wind 10-13 kn, destination the river on the other side where it runs into the lake About 4.5km which took me about 75 min. (think this is about 3.6 km/hr) Stuffed about a lot on the way as trolled the obligatory lure and a lot of floating weed kept fouling so had to keep stopping to clear.
Rapt with the sail and ease of opening, easy to drop, easy to fold up (tho takes a bit of practice) The most difficult was to keep concentration on steering with the rudder as the foot controls are quite sensitive and one had to keep alert to where we were heading. Even found was able to get the sail to reach quite well tho don’t doubt a yak goes a lot sideways with no centreboard/keel.
Could drop the sail and tend to the trolling line pretty quick tho not be sure if a decent size fish had taken line how it would work out.
Keen to get out in stronger winds (18/20kn) see if I’m still excited about it all

Ozpea

PS: no link or affiliation with this product, just a happy sailor

[Rusty]

im just fitting a PA sail to my 575 stealth profisha as we speak

should be fun