I was sailing a friends kayak the other day and discovered something very cool. His rig was mounted a bit close to me and I found my paddle blade knocking into the leeboard control rods every now and again. It wasn’t a big deal until I slid the paddle blade between the control rod and the gunwale on one particular forward stroke and it took an awkward maneuver to remove the trapped paddle blade. Now for the cool part, I sat there in the cockpit pondering the situation when it hit me, attach the control rod from the underside of the leeboard head!
This effectively lowers the leeboard control rods and allows them to run flush against the hull. They are now completely out of the way. Wow, sometimes the answers are so simple. I love it! The only thing that takes a little getting used to is that the leeboard controls are reversed, meaning to lower the leeboard, one must now push on the control rod instead of pulling on it. I really like this new rigging technique and urge you to give it a try.
David
Dancing Through Your Jibes
A jibe (gybe) is a sailing maneuver that occurs when a vessel is steered off the wind (down wind) until the sail flips from one side of the vessel to the other.
Of all the sailing maneuvers, the jibe is the most exciting and challenging. In addition to being a functional way of transitioning the sail, a properly executed jibe is beautiful and fun to watch. That said, a poorly executed one is clumsy and can leave one swimming in the water scratching their head, wondering what went wrong.
Many sailors are uncomfortable with jibes because they react to the jibe instead of preparing and controlling it.
If the helmsman of a small craft allows the sail to jibe on its own, they find themselves in a situation where they must shift their weight quickly in order to stabilize their craft. This is especially true in adverse wind and sea conditions.
A simple solution is to initiate the jibe before it occurs on its own.
It may be helpful to think of a sailor and their sail as ballroom dance partners.
When dancing, one takes the lead and the other follows. The lead takes control and guides their partner through the moves. The result is an almost magical series of transitions where two appear to move as one.
When jibing, take the lead role! Guide the sail through the jibe by choosing the exact moment the sail will cross to the other side. This way there is ample time to prepare to shift one’s body weight prior to the sail’s transition.
Here are the steps:
1) Prepare for the jibe by taking the main sheet in your hand, un-cleating it, and letting the sail out as far as it will go.
2) Steer the craft off the wind until the bow is just a few degrees past the downwind position.
3) In one quick, fluid step, pull the sheet in and let it out on the other side as far as it will go.
In this last step, the speed at which the sail is sheeted in and let out is crucial. Stronger winds require faster motions.
Using this technique will result in a graceful choreographed maneuver.
Have some fun and dance!
Note:
For all you big boat sailors out there, you may have noticed that the technique for jibing a kayak or canoe is a little different than jibing a larger sailing vessel. On larger vessels the method for jibing involves sheeting in the sail prior to the jibe and then letting it out on the other side only after the sheeted sail has filled with wind. This is not only done to keep crew member’s heads on top of their shoulders, but it is also an important way to reduce the amount of stress subjected to the rigging. Since the boom on the Kayaksailor is located in front of the paddler and the rigging is robust, there isn’t a need to use this technique. Plus, using it often results in unwanted heeling. With the Kayaksailor, the easiest way to keep the boat stable during a jibe is to pull the sail quickly from one side to the other.
See you out on the water!
Having a balanced life is key to happiness. Having a balanced rig is key to happy sailing.
Sailing a properly balanced rig is a wonderful experience. Holding a course becomes easy, steering is predictable, controlled and requires little effort.
So, what is a balanced rig?
Balance is the relationship between the center of effort in the sail and the center of lateral resistance in the keel, centerboard, or in this case leeboards.
If you are not familiar with these terms, the center of effort is a site on the sail that represents the center of the total sail area. It is the spot that the sail pulls from when it is full of wind. The center of lateral resistance is the center of the leeboard surface area that is underwater. Since the leeboards are pivoted fore and aft, the center of lateral resistance can be moved fore and aft.
This is where balancing comes in.
Balancing the leeboards basically involves setting the angle of the leeboards so that the center of resistance lines up with the sails center of effort.
If the leeboards are too far forward, the center of effort of the sail will be behind the leeboard’s center of resistance, causing the stern of the vessel to slide down wind. The result is that the boat will want to turn into the wind. A sailor at the helm refers to this unbalance as “weather helm”. On the other hand, If the leeboards are too far back, the center of effort of the sail will be forward of the leeboard’s center of resistance, causing the bow of the boat to be pulled downwind. A vessel having this downwind unbalance is said to have “lee helm”.
A properly balanced rig will allow a non heeling craft to sail in a straight line with minimal input from the helmsman.
A certain amount of steering can also be accomplished by changing the leeboard’s position. To steer upwind, the leeboard is moved forward. To steer down wind, the leeboard is moved aft. This is especially useful if a craft does not have a rudder or skeg. Leeboard steering is most effective when sailing on a beam reach (90 degrees to the wind) or on any reach closer to the wind, and least effective on reaches off the wind. When running directly down wind, leeboard steering will not work at all.
On the Kayaksailor, the balanced position occurs on most hulls when the leeboards are pivoted back about 25 degrees from vertical.
So, the next time you are out on the water, play with the leeboard position and try using the boards to help you steer.
Most of all, find time to kayak-sail more often. Remember, balance is the key!
David Drabkin
Proper sail trim is an important part of sailing. It allows your sail to work efficiently, so you can make the most of the wind. Pulling in the mainsheet or “Sheeting in” too much will stall the sail, causing it to loose power. This leads to slower boat speed and increased heeling. On the other hand, not sheeting in enough will allow too much wind to spill from the sail also resulting in slower boat speeds. So, How do you know if a sail is sheeted in properly?
For “soft” sails, or sails that don’t have full length battens, the basic procedure is relatively simple. Hold your boat on course, then sheet in the sail in until the leading edge of the sail, called the “luff”, stops fluttering or “luffing”.
With fully battened sails that don’t flutter, like the one supplied with the Kayaksailor, determining proper sail trim can be a bit tricky. An experienced sailor can trim the sail until it “feels” right. But even they can have difficulty when the wind is light or shifty. This is why we now include a set of telltales with each rig. These are the small lengths of red and green wool yarn attached to the sail.
By learning how to read the telltales and adjusting the mainsheet accordingly, it’s easy to find proper sail trim. You can’t actually see the wind, so the telltales allow you to see the effect of the wind as it moves around the sail. The wind should flow smoothly on both sides of the sail. So, if the sail is trimmed properly, the telltales should also flow smoothly on both sides of the sail.
If your sail is sheeted in too much, the downwind or “leeward” telltale will move erratically, while the upwind one or “windward” one will flow smoothly.
If your sail is not sheeted in enough, the windward telltale will move erratically while the leeward one will flow smoothly.
It’s basically a matter of sheeting in or out until both telltales are streaming equally.
The telltales should be placed on the sail near the area of deepest draft. For our own sails, we chose an open area between the battens and above the reef points so we can see them when the sail is reefed. 
Some people put theirs facing forward, claiming they don’t get snagged by the batten stitching and fly better.
Be sure not to get too caught up staring at the telltales too much. They can be a bit hypnotizing. Plus, there is all that beautiful scenery out there to enjoy.
Here is a link to a nice website from WB Sails, describing the use of telltales. Check out the cool animation they came up with for showing windward and leeward side bubbles. http://www.wb-sails.fi/news/95_11_Tellingtales/Tellingtales.html
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Is Your mast car not traveling along the track as smoothly as you would like? Well, we’ve discovered the perfect lubricant for the Kayaksailor. This product is a dry PFTE lube that will make your Kayaksailor work better than ever. There have been problems with the silicone lubricant we recommended in our user manual. Since the silicone remains wet, it has a tendency to accumulate grit and sand in the mast track. Since this product dries hard, it won’t have the grit build up and the mast car will slide much easier. Prior to applying SailKote, remove any residual silicone with soap and water and allow to dry. Avoid spraying the leeboard assembly and your mainsheet! It also works great on rudders, peddles and just about everything that moves on your kayak. Since this product is solvent based, it’s best to spray it on outside or in a well ventilated area. 
Click Here for a link to their website.
Happy Sailing, Dave and Patti
An alternative to sailcote dry lubricant is CAPTAIN PHAB DRY TEFLON LUBRICANT which i bought in Toronto, the boat dealer also had SAILKOTE which they said was “top of the line”CAPTAIN PHAB is a lot cheaper and in the dealers they said for our application it would be just as good.
Thanks! We will check it out.
Tried the “Underslung”leeboard control rods and it worked great – now in that position permenantly
. Good tip, thanks