Performance Sailing Kayak

Performance sailing kayak, a sit-on-top, is a concept craft, a new breed of outdoor fun. It paddles like a kayak and sails like a sailboat.

The secret of success is in the way you operate it. You kneel facing forward like how you learned to paddle a canoe in scout camp. You sail it in the same position so you can quickly shift your weight from side to side to steer and to compensate for changes in wind speed.

As with any sailboat, you need to know some sailing basics. With this craft, you will also have to learn how to steer without a rudder because this craft doesn’t have one. It doesn’t need one. Steering is not difficult to learn. I’ll tell you how later, and show you on my YouTube video. Note the camera mount on the stern.

Here is what I used and how I assembled it.

Equipment Specs:
Kayak - extra stable sit-on-top, 12 ft long, 32” wide - Crescent Splash II. Must have drink-cup recess to hold base of mast 1/3 back from the bow.
Sail - 30 sq ft, sleeve-type, loose footed - Sailrite.com #SQIN4194. Sailrite sends you a kit. You assemble with zigzag sewing machine.
Mast - 15 ft, fiberglass, tapered, 2-1/8” at base - sailboard mast
Mast Holder - 1/2” plywood sheet, PVC pipe, radiator hose clamp
Boom - 6 ft long, 1” dia aluminum tubing with PVC fittings
Leeboard - symmetrical foil, mahogany, 8.5” wide x 4 ft long 1.3” thick
Leeboard thwart - oak board, 3-1/2” wide x 35-1/4” long 7/8” thick
Swivel cleat - on leeboard thwart to control the sail - Ronstan RF67
Line to control the sail - dacron or poly, 1/4” dia. about 16 ft long
Turning block - at stern for the sail-control line - Harken H082
Kneeling pads, closed foam - the thicker the better
Paddle - standard double blade

Criteria for Choosing a Kayak Hull Suitable for Performance Sailing
Look for a sit-on-top, at least 12 ft long, 30” wide with a drink-cup recess 1/3 back from the bow. Suitable kayaks include Ocean Kayak’s Peekaboo, Prowler, Prowler Big Game Angler; Hobie’s Odyssey; and Mad River’s Synergy 14. I’m sure that there are others as well.

Assembly Overview
Conversion of a kayak hull to a performance sailing kayak requires that you fabricate and install three assemblies: a leeboard thwart that holds a pivoting leeboard used for steering (A leeboard is similar to a daggerboard, but located on the side of the craft); a mast holder that lets you fix the mast rake to balance the sail’s center of effort with the leeboard’s center of lateral resistance; and a kneepad that extends across the cockpit for kneeling comfort.

Assembling the Leeboard Thwart
First, estimate the correct location of the leeboard in respect to the center of effort of the sail. My default leeboard position was swept back about 20 degrees from vertical, and my leeboard thwart was located about 16” behind the mast. (see photo)



Bolt the leeboard thwart to the kayak using a 1/4” dia stainless steel bolt on each side of the thwart. First drill a 1.5” access hole adjacent to each bolt location so you can secure a nut and lock washer. The alternative of using lag screws into a blind hole will probably fail. Seal the 1.5” dia access holes with duck tape or faucet hole covers.

You will need a strong angle bracket to hold the pivot leeboard to the thwart. I had a machine shop fabricate one from 1/4” stiff aluminum plate. I prefer the bracket to point down rather than up to put more leeboard under water.

Assembling the Mast Holder
The mast holder must let you set the mast rake over a range of about +/- 10 degrees from vertical. The sail’s center of effort must coincide with the leeboard’s center of lateral resistance with the leeboard in the default position. Without this one-time mast-rake adjustment, you will not be able to get the craft to balance for sailing in a straight line.

My mast-holder bracket was made from a sheet of 1/2” plywood, wedged across the kayak and bolted to the foot recess channels on both sides of the kayak, again using adjacent 1.5” dia holes to access the retaining washers and nuts. I wedged a PVC 3-1/2” dia mast-holder sleeve into the bottom of the drink-cup recess. The top of the sleeve was supported by another sheet of 1/2” plywood, attached to the other plywood sheet by 90-degree angle brackets. (see photo)



The top of the sleeve was adjustable forward and backward by a pair of aluminum angle-bracket channels, one on each side, with closely spaced holes running full length. A 4” pin and radiator clamp holds the sleeve in place between the channels. The sleeve top was reduced in diameter to 2-1/4” by a collar to suit the mast. The sleeve bottom has a knob that fits inside the base of the mast to anchor it.

Steering
Think of this craft as similar to a sailboard having no rudder, but a fixed daggerboard. To sail a sailboard, you move the mast backward to turn into the wind, or forward to turn away from the wind. This sailing kayak has a fixed mast. To steer, you rotate the leeboard forward to turn into the wind, backward to turn away from the wind, or leave it in a mostly vertical position for going in a straight line.

To turn 90 degrees thru an oncoming wind, you rotate the leeboard forward. The boat comes into the wind by turning thru 45 degrees. As you pass directly into the wind, you rotate the leeboard backward as you let the boat turn thru an additional 45 degrees to complete the 90 degree turn. Then you reset the leeboard for a straight course. You shift your weight as needed.

To steer away from the wind, you rotate the leeboard backward and lean the boat the opposite way that you would lean your bike in a turn. Do this until you are heading directly down wind. Then pull the boom across to the opposite side.

Important: Mast rake and leeboard angle must be in balance. If you can tack easily but have trouble turning away from the wind, rake the mast forward. If you have trouble tacking but can turn away from the wind, rake the mast aft. This is an onshore adjustment that must be correct.

Sailing Performance
I’ve been sailing this craft on a lake in wind speeds under 10 knots. It goes where I want it to go, easily controlled without a rudder: up wind, tacking thru 90 degrees as does a regular sailboat, or away from the wind into a gybe. It is a hoot to sail. Great fun. I can even paddle if the wind dies.

YouTube
For a sailing video of my Crescent Splash II, search for Performance Sailing Kayak on YouTube. You will learn a lot from that 9-minute video.