Heading back in

[Yacker]

Thanks Cruiser, that sounds totally wicked! I wqsn't aware you could sail regular Hobie yaks. 15 knots sounds pretty interesting, must of been peaking in anticipation of a stronger gust. Love the idea odf trolling under sail, very appealling to a lazy bloke like me. Looking forward to the full report,

Cheers

Tim

[cruiser]

Its been approx 6 months useing this sail so time for an update .It takes about 2 mins to set the sail up on the yak which is a plus when you are prepareing to launch .I have positioned the sail as far up to the front of the yak as possible and by doing this when the sail is not in use it sits lying down tied up to my fishing rod holder ready for action but at the same time out of the way

The setup is fairly simple and easy to use and I can tell you this is a bonus on a yak. When its time for a sail its simply release the sail and the bungy cord if not the wind will put it into gear pronto,theres 2 cords running down the inside of the yak and you use these to control and adjust the 2 masts which makes it very handy for sailing across wind and as the maker claims you can successfully sail up to 90 degrees into the wind and Ive done this on several occasions slow mind you but it can be done .The sail is more suited for winds in the 5 to 20 knots class any thing under its faster to peddal and anything over its white knuckle terra

Apart from takeing me there or bringing me home the part I like most about the sail is the trolling aspect ,its hard to beat haveing 2 lines out being pushed by mother nature and snagging the odd fish heaven I say or the look on a group of stinkers anchored up watching me pull in a 3 lb samon or a 80 cm snook

Hopefully over this coming summer I can have more of a play along the coast in some small surf and see how it goes ,one more thing I must add its a lotta FUN and more reports will follow

cheers cruiser

[Mordy]

Sounds Great Geoff,
just going through the design process /viabilty of making one my self
I came across Rebecca Heaps article the other day
Aparently Rebecca deigned the PA sail...might be wrong?
http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/grantgla ... tssail.htm

Also this link from Flat earth with some handy info
http://www.flatearthkayaksails.com/index.php/howto

Swivels, currently working off rebecca's design but using ( or thinking of) Black irrigation pipe, has a diameter Internal of 15mm, external about 20/21mm fits the hobie hole.
It's ends are threaded and you will find it inb the irrigation area The appropriate T I found in the plumbing section.
The longest pipes masts they had were 1220mm from my cad drawing I need 1641mm to get to Rebecca size (sail area 1.12m2)
Might pop into the local irrigation joint to see if I can get longer lengths, failing that I will have to source some thick walled conduit.

I will use the same for the masts and put a stiffener in it like dowel, bamboo or metal rod.
Attached is a preliminary diagram for fixing it to the yak. I will run a thick bungie through it and saddle / shackle to the yak.
Considerations: that the two T pieces holding the masts will have to rotate to raise, lower the sail.
Might file off one of the treads that enter the T's so it can slip around.
I will have to bend the whole holder to get an arch in the sail, looks lie a 19mm deflection / a heat gun or boiling water should sort that.

The sail will be made of Ripstop tent stuff, I'll see what Spotlight has to offer
Bunnings had some 3mm clear vinyl $13.00 metre width 1.3M.
Sewing the vinyl might be tricky, but I might leave that to the local boot maker to play with on his industrial machine.
So far I think I'm up for $60-90

Gary is there any chance of a photo of how it's connected to the Hobie Hole? and a picky of how the back ropes connect to the yak.
Glad it's worked out for you.

Regards
Tony
Note all experimental at this stage won't know till I sail it if it works

[Ramma]

Ahhh, memories. How was the boat traffic?
Last I was down there I met a guy in a tandem yak with about 10 nice trevally. Had his family over visiting and was feeding the horde.