Sailing

We first saw the idea of sailing a canoe on Song of the Paddle (http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk). The forum on the site is the forum for the UK open canoeist and has plenty of people and good information to pick up tips and ideas from. Canoe sailing rigs vary from simple downwind only setups, comprising umbrellas or a jumper between two paddles, to the much more elaborate, making the canoe not much different from a sailing dinghy.

Wanting to only slightly overcomplicate things we opted for our sailing rig to be a downwind only design but to have more tug than the simplest of the simple (umbrellas/jumpers). Alex had a Terra Nova bothy bag that was a good size for the sail, a mast and mast foot were assembled from old tent poles and a sink plunger and a boom was fashioned from a broom handle (we are in fact on boom number two after an unfortunate episode involving said broom handle, a lathe and a dent in the wall). Add some rope and we have a sailing rig.



We’ve adapted and improved the design over a few sessions on the river and now have something that can drag us at a good speed and can even steer us a few degrees either side of downwind (bonus).

The mast is just behind the front seat of the canoe. Two stays are attached to where the front seat hangers meet the seat and the third attaches to the yoke. There’s a carabiner attached to the top of the mast, which allows the boom to be hauled up and dropped relatively quickly and without standing up (nice to avoid losing stability if it's windy and/or on rough water). The bothy bag sail is a jellyfish/mushroom cap kind of shape and is suspended from the boom. There are four control points on the sail but whether the bottom two do anything is open to debate. The bottom of the sail is attached to the seat, which stops everything flapping around so much.
The man at the back steers and the other chap holds the sail (or ties it off and has a snooze).



It works satisfactorily on the very lightest of breezes and carries us at a very good speed in a stiffer wind.
Unfortunately, the likelihood of us getting favourable winds where we want them is low. Wind generally comes from the South West in the UK, which only helps us out with the Spey section of the trip (down river and fast flowing in places anyway). The route in the sea is side on to the probable wind and the lochs, rivers and canals of the Great Glen straight into it. The bit of luck we’re banking on is getting a North Easterly for the Great Glen section. We are informed they do happen from time to time!

The best thing about the sailing rig is its ability to turn heads and the feeling of superiority felt whilst effortlessly drifting by other, lesser equipped, paddlers.