Sailing a kayak
Just about anybody who has paddled a canoe or kayak will have thought about sailing it. Hold up a paddle to the breeze, or a towel, or tie a tent fly to the paddle, this is sailing at its simplest. The next small step from there is a dedicated sail rig. However, a kayak is not a yacht and you need a sail designed for kayaks.
To know why we need a little bit of theory and to understand apparent wind.
Suppose you hold up your towel and sail in the direction of the wind. The kayaks will move pretty easily and it will appear to you that there is no wind, because the kayak and the wind move at similar speeds. Your apparent wind is zero. In fact, if there are little wind waves as you surf down them you might go faster than the wind and it will seem to be from in front of you. Or, your kayak buries into the back of the next wave and becomes almost stopped and you feel the wind on your back again. So although the actual wind is steady from behind your apparent wind goes all over the place and your sail seems useless.
The trick is to turn at an angle to the wind to hold a more consistent apparent wind. Towels, tent fly’s and parafoil kites and sails that look like the spinnakers of yachts will work when there is a strong wind but in lighter breezes you will struggle because they are not designed to go across the wind.
So that is the first thing. By all means have fun with your towel or a tent fly, but eventually you will want a sail that is cut flatter.
Now, a kayak has no keel so with the wind from the side it will tend to slide sideways, an effect more pronounced the more upwind you try to sail. A yacht has a keel to prevent this, but don’t be tempted to install a keel because this will make the kayak roll over. In effect it trips over the keel. Yachts overcome this with lead ballast and canoes or some kayaks, in lighter winds, you might shift your weight to prevent capsize. But do you want a kayak or a yacht? In any case, in winds up to about 25kmh it will be quicker to paddle directly into the wind rather than tack as a yacht has to.
A good kayak sail is one that can be easily set or retrieved while on the water and designed with a kayak in mind. There is no point shaping a kayak sail like a yacht sail in the belief you will sail upwind.
Luckily there are kayak specific designs like Pacific Action or Flat Earth, designs with forgiving sail shapes and flexible deck mounts. They can be set, trimmed or furled one handed while with the other you hold the paddle, and they allow the full range of paddle strokes while set.
A new dimension can be added to the activity of recreational paddling when you use a sail. A sail allows you to achieve downwind destinations with less effort and in my home town with a land/sea breeze pattern sailing is an ideal out and back again trip. Sailing can also reduce passage times when deployed opportunistically. It extends the range of your cruising as you arrive earlier and more refreshed. Steering in following seas or in windy conditions is easier if the sail is set forward of the mid point, and sailing is an absolute hoot in a big sea and big wind.
Round trip times for a sailing kayak and a small yacht will be similar until the wind is above 25kmh.
In summary, the ideal sail for a kayak will drive the boat downwind and across it to about 90 degrees. It can be set and retrieved in any conditions and will work in any windstrength. It will allow the full range of paddle strokes at all times and if you do capsize, it can be quickly disabled to allow self rescue. Ideally, it will not require much in the way of modifications to your kayak.
Parafoil kites: Kites are a great starting point with the added benefit that you can use them without going kayaking. Kites also have a safety aspect in that they can be seen a long way off. A simple parafoil kite of about 2 square metres will work in moderate winds. They take two hands and a bit of skill to launch and retrieve cleanly while seated in your kayak (for the inexperienced they frequently transform into a sea anchor). Also, as the wind and therefore the kayak picks up speed, the parafoil (and indeed any frameless sail) will lose apparent wind and become unstable. In this case try adding a longer tail to the kite, or dragging your paddle to slow the kayak down.
Fixed mast: Fixed mast systems look good and sail well in low wind, but can be tricky to retrieve in a seaway or as the wind builds. In stronger wind the apparent wind will quickly move aft so a fixed mast in these conditions offers minimal sailing improvement over a flexible foot system that is braced fore and aft — unless you also install a keel or outrigger. When a side gust hits a fixed mast sail it will heel the kayak and potentially capsize it unless you can release the sheet quickly. Fixed mast systems also require modification to the kayak and will be impossible to eskimo roll.
Flat Earth and Pacific Action: These flexible foot sails can be attached to any kayak with little modification and offer downwind sailing with the same efficiency as a fixed mast. In gusts, the flexible foot collapses, spilling the wind and keeping you upright. The mast position can in theory be moved according to the conditions. It can be set up forward, holding the bow low and allowing you to paddle while sailing downwind, or if upwind set a little further back. Here is a good video of how to install your Flat Earth sail. https://youtu.be/HYAb6hXcQjE
Pacific Action is even simpler.
Any good sailing system will be able to be deployed and retrieved in any sea state, preferably one handed. The shorter your kayak, the further towards the bow you will need to position the mast, so on some very short kayaks you may require a bowsprit to tension the forestay when the mast is up. But kayak sailing will work on just about any sized kayak.
Rudders. Although not essential to effectively sail a kayak a rudder is useful, allowing you to paddle or brace while maintaining directional control. Setting the sail well forward helps take the load off steering and holds the bow downwind, the direction you want to be going.
How to sail. Kayaks are sleek and quickly reach the speed of the wind. This has the effect of swinging the apparent wind forward so you will virtually never feel like you are sailing downwind, even when you are! Relative to the waves the kayak is small and as you surf down even small waves the apparent wind shifts rapidly forward. This effect is greater if you can’t keep the kayak straight and this is one reason it is best if you can paddle while the sail is up, using the paddling to assist the steering and to keep the speed and apparent wind even. Sheeting the sail short helps keep the bow downwave and the stronger the wind bigger the waves the more so. As speed builds, the apparent wind moves towards the bow and a short sheeted sail will keep working whereas a sail set how a yacht might set it will flap uncontrollably. So — over sheet the sail. Maximum speed may be less, but average speeds will be greater and you will maintain control through waves and in increasing winds. In light winds and flat water leave the sail fuller, but if you try to do this in a decent wind the kayak will pick up speed to the point where the sail backs. Effectively you regularly experience side gusts of maximum wind strength followed by apparent lulls and there can be severe shock load on the rig. This is where kayak sailing differs from a yacht. The maxim, ‘if in doubt, let it out’, is reversed. ‘If in a spin, pull it in!’
Safety: There is a risk, if you capsize and cannot self rescue, and you cannot remove the sail, and you roll the kayak back up and it takes off without you, well, you get the picture. Be safe. If you are going to get into kayak sailing read this excellent article by Rob Mercer. http://www.expeditionkayaks.com/mercer-sailing-safety-12.pdf
A yacht? Those who tell you kayak sailing does not work have probably not got past the tangled parafoil or broken broomstick mast, or they have tried to mimic a sailboat sail without regard to the unique nature of a kayak. Those who tell you it will make you capsize have probably tried to sail upwind with a fixed mast and installed a keel. Use a kayak sail as I have described and you will have a wonderful accessory to kayaking and you will have lots of fun. Otherwise, go buy a yacht.
