I'm into it now

Well with the long weekend... and everyone building something from Core Sound 20's to skin on frames, I figure I should do something. No not finish laying the wood flooring in the up-stairs, but work on a sail rig for Sea-Wind.

SOS egging me on, sending me bizarre pics and then some not so bizarre pics of canoes with sails, Quick!! Someone hand me the scissors!! So....

I figured I'd hack up the North Sail first as it is the least favorite of the two I have. I'll hold off on cutting up the Mylar one until I get the design down and test it out. I figure if I get the Balogh BOSS. I will use this homemade rig on the kayak or an inflatable.

Took some hull / deck measurements off the Sea Wind so the foot of the sail would clear the deck and my head. Then I rolled out the sail and cut the stitching and pulled the sail sock off.

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This sail has too much camber for what I am looking for. Time to simplify. I have 66 sq ft of sail to work with, time to down size to something manageable.

I cut all of the camber out of the sail so the mast would be straight verses under a load and bending aft. SOS suggested the hoop and grommet method. Good idea... Balogh uses it, but I'm going with a modified sock system over a standard windsurfer mast. I'd like to be able to reef and roll the sail on the mast at some point like the sail on the Hobie Adventure Island. Plus it is a stitch and go and very simple. Nothing to break and I could do a repair on the water with some sail thread and a sail needle.

Everything is measured and cut. Not much to show... I moved all the furniture out of the living room and set up a temporary sail loft.

Now to find someone to do the sewing for me. I think I will go cheap staying out of the local sail lofts for this test sail. There is a local seamstress that I can contact to see if she can sew in the sock loops reinforce the batten pockets and put a binding on the luff and foot of the sail where I trimmed it down. I'll need to put a grommet in on the foot of the sail for the down haul.

The goal is to have a real simple sail system that I can rig and take down with minimal impact to the Sea Wind. A free standing mast, no stays, no halyards. A down haul and a main sheet. A tapered mast that has the ability to flex and open the leech to spill air A sail that is cut fairly flat with full battens estimating around 35 sq. ft - roller reef-able with a little work, but not the main focus at this point.

An idea for simplicity is to have a boom-less rig. With the re-cutting of the luff and reduced load needed at the down haul and out haul, I think the full batten configuration will be enough to keep the sail from flapping around like a jib on a conventional sailboat and whacking me in the head on a jibe or tack.

Aka and amas are in the works.... I had an idea about a hiking bench with flotation for stabilization... but that throws simplicity right out the window and would leave you wet cold and miserable and vulnerable to capsize.

More importantly I have a whole strawberry rhubarb pie hidden in the back of the fridge. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving - The Capt'n