FLY Kayak Sail

29/09/2019

My journey reminds me of the fight for our climate – a hard slog with mental challenges that will be won by ordinary people

20/02/2016

My birthday present, the first completely transparent Fly Kayak sail

20/02/2016

FLY KAYAK SAILS You do not have to paddle all the time. Flying along at 8km/hr without paddling on Myall Lakes NSW Australia https://www.facebook.com/KayakSails

18/02/2016

INSTALLATION ON A NATIVE 13 PROPEL

11/02/2016

MAKE YOUR OWN TELESCOPIC MAST

Easily adjust your existing mast to make it quickly adjustable for a range of conditions

A low mast is for all points of sail upwind, cross wind and downwind. The middle mast height is correct for only reaching and for the double wing sail. High mast sail are quicker off the wind because: 1. the airflow is faster the higher it is above the waves; and 2. setting the boom forward of the stays allows tacking downwind in a broard reach

10/02/2016

MAKE YOUR OWN MAST BEND

Improve your existing sail's ability to point closer to the wind, without being hauled over, by flattening the sail at sea

Flattening the sail means bending the top of the mast aft and bow the middle of the mast forward. This is simple to do on your existing sail by setting the forestay/uphaul lower than the backstays.

1. Fix eyelets halfway up the sail and secure forestay with a shackle or a loop of chord.

2. Secure the backstays with two split pins, one either side, drilled through the reinforced section at the top of the mast.

3. Tie forestay and backstays with a loop back to a sliding Prusik knot.

A Prusik loop is the best way of making the stays TWANG tight as it works like a ratchet, moving freely up the rope, but grabbing when a load is placed down on them. Traditional Prusiks (such as those shown below) will grab when pulled by the tail, either up or down, and will slide either way when pushed by the barrel. The stay is looped through the fixing to give a type of pulley back to the prusik knot

When sailing upwind the object is to make the sail flatter with the draft closer to the leading edge, to direct Lift forward and reduce side heeling. When reaching or running downwind, the sail is made fuller and the draft positioned further aft. As the mast bows it pulls the middle of the sail flattening it out without tensioning the leech. More leech tension means a fuller sail which is not good in a puff as it increases the power of the sail when you want to reduce the heeling force.

The big advantage of having the backstays at the top of the mast is that the sail can be lowered to adjust or release the stay’s tension. The lower stays can only be adjusted on land.

When running with the wind no mast bending is required (as straight mast gives a fuller sail). The backstay is made slack so that the boom can freely swing forward of the mast to de-power the sail instantly (a safety issue). Heading up-wind the stays strengthen the mast when heeling forces are critical (being hauled over is also a safety issue ). Does not prevent you letting the sail out to luff up and flap in the wind to de-power.

06/02/2016

AN INTRODUCTION TO KAYAK SAILING
The biggest risk with kayak sailing is having too much fun.

Kayak coach, entrepreneur, and writer Ginni Callahan founded and co-owns Columbia River Kayaking, and Sea Kayak Baja Mexico. With Mark Whitaker, she imports Flat…

04/02/2016

SAIL SHAPE WHEN BEAM REACH
When beam reaching, it is maximum thrust which is important, and here the leech ribbons come into their own. The photo shows a sail sheeted so that the leech ribbon is still streaming off the leech, but only just. The air flow pattern curves around the leeward side of the sail. This flow contributes a substantial suction force at the back of the sail (seen as green telltails agitate occasionally). The thrust on the front of the sail is maximum at this setting (Note the red telltales streaming). The drag drag is greatly increased (leech ribbons are streaming but on the point of collapse) but the drag is not working against the direction of the kayak only against the bracing power of the paddler.