(In response to a deleted sexist comment)...Sea kayak sailing is for lady kayakers too, there is no gender discrimination in my `hood. Think of it as "gravity assisted" sport, like skiing, downhill mountain biking etc. Most paddlers once they try kayak sailing are hooked and have a lot of fun on windy days when conventional paddling would be tedious
Well he didn't bother to reply so I will. I got a Flat earth sail and yes, they are great and work real well. I got a Gearlab Greenland paddle and absolutely love it.
Adding an outrigger complicates things beyond the intended purpose. To me it would be like adding an electric motor that defies the simplicity of real sea kayaking. I doubt that the outrigger can take the surf, can handle steep waves and the inevitable rolling that occurs when pushing myself while sea kayaking. But it a quiet Sunday afternoon with gentle breeze would be my style and I wouldn't be miffed by the setting up of an outrigger than one might consider that.My goal: simplicity, ease of transportation, almost no-time for set up, durability, sturdiness.For anything else I might as well sail for real, like in a dingy.
I see, keeping it simple is best for you. We have however, been in some crazy rough surf and waves and as of yet, never flipped an Expandacraft. I'm a died in the wool multi hull guy myself with too many old injuries to paddle very far. :-( Keep up the good work with these videos, looks fun.
most sea kayaks are very poor up-wind sailing crafts: they lack a deep keel that would prevent drifting. While I can sail at max 45 degrees into the wind the kayak drifts enough to not really gain much ground; I am better off paddling the old-fashioned way there :-)However I can just go out and back (wind on the beam) without having to paddle, if I want.
that "black bit" is a custom DIY base made from epoxy paste (microbaloons mix) to give a flat area (the deck of the kayak is curved) and then covered with a bit of carbon fibre. Each of my kayaks has one after I have reinforced the underside with several layers of fibreglass and carbon to stiffen the often soft deck. I have seen a few kayaks from others that did not not reinforce the deck underneath and they cracked it 😞
What happens if you spill? Not trying to be a smartass...just wondering how hard it is to get boat upright / get back into boat with weight of the extended sail?
in light winds I can roll back up with the sail deployed. In stiff breezes I prefer to let the mast collapse (release the uphaul) and then scull back up. Surprisingly the sail kind of stabilizes the kayak when underway.
@Jj Sands: not really. I find that when I deploy the sail my kayak becomes more stable in bumpy waters. And so far anybody that has tried sailing for the first time had no trouble with stability. Needing pontoons is a myth!
not sure how "well known" this is among sailors (never heard of it) and despite this "danger" of the sea I have way more scary things to deal with: my drive to the launch site, statistically the most dangerous thing about sea kayaking, sailing or not. Do you drive a (or are in) car? :-)
in the news I hear much more often of people dying in car accidents: that is my real fear. But of course, the monster from the deep ocean is a primeval fear that some people respond to much more fearfully. To each their own...
only as fast as hull speed of a given kayak (different kayaks will have different speed). To go faster than that I need to surf on a wave. In other words: not much faster than I can paddle, but since when it's windy there is waves, I end up surfing in between them :-)
the paddles seen in this video are called "Greenland paddle". For me it works better than the traditional "white-water" style (short and fat). I can go faster and be less fatigued at the end of the day. They also work very well for rolling and sculling. See my other videos of surfing with the Greenland paddles.
the sails in the video are Flat Earth kayak sails. If you live in Australia/New Zealand you can get them directly from the manufacturer, if you live in Europe: Kari-Tek is the exclusive distributor. I am not sure who is the current distributor in USA but probably you will find that info on Flat Earth's website
Hayden Hass you can buy sea kayaks in most (1st world) countries around the world. It is then up to you to mount the sail onto the kayak. I believe P&H (in UK) is the only manufacturer of kayaks that sells the sail and kayak as a kit. Some retailer of kayaks will be able to mount a sail however it probably will not be cheap (or it will be a lousy job).
hard to believe but the "skinny" paddle has been around for a few thousand years before the "fat" paddles. While you will not see it at Olympic events I find the Greenland paddle (skinny) more suited for general purpose sea kayaking. More details at gnarlydognews.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/technique-greenland-paddles-used-in-all.html
Ha!!! Hard to believe? Really??? What other examples of ancient technologies are used for more fun? Chopsticks? Don't you think that certain technological limitations were and are the cause of GP"s skinniness? Not buying your conviction in usefulness of GP either! Style vs. effectiveness when it matters!!! Good luck with that!!!
@@FrankLadd Yep, You guessed it absolutely right! My middle name is 'The Master' and I'm a virtuoso in every sport or activity which involves anything even remotely reminding shape of a paddle. From a spoon to a ping pong racket, from a shovel to a mosquito zapper... But, seriously, Greenland Paddles are skinny just because of long paddling south in order to get a bigger tree. And... Seriously-seriously, when I hold in my hands a feather-light carbon fiber paddle, I cannot think at lagging behind GP lovers other than "Idiots!"
@@igorzavoritko5763 I do not think GP users are idiots, but it sure is a big hype at the moment, in my opinion. Just like using Greenland style kayaks at sea, lacking enough buoyency for doing rescues in choppy water without taking on large amounts of water into the cockpit. But that being said, gp are ok (used one myself for some years). Very stylish. But to be honest, in my opinion a shortened euro paddle has about the same 'advantages' as a gp. And... there is no such thing as a standard euro paddle; there are many different models, also specially for sea kayaking. Love to go and paddle a gp again, but I don't sea the advantages over a euro paddle...
@@gnarlydoghi, can you give more info on rigging?, what you use for mast, how is attached on kayak deck, what did you use as battens and "boom"? Thanks in advance. Very beautiful video
it does when raised but releasing the mast and then rolling ads about2 seconds to the action. If one is skilled with rolling it's also possible to roll with the sail deployed and risen, but it requires sculling instead of a single sweep or C2C stroke. If the sail is stowed on deck there is no difference when rolling
drift depends on the shape of the hull as deeper "V" kayak keels will reduce some drifting. But realistacally I will say I can get about 60 degrees off head wind travel even if I can point the kayak much further into the wind. For real sailing upwind one would need a keel or a daggerboard, something I am not prepared to have on my sea kayaks
+damianomtb So you are a "purist". eh, I've kayaked a lot and hate wasting my all arm's energy on steering. I'd rather just provide propulsion. I fail to see any upside to not having a keel.
