hlalibe wrote:
The only problem i had is when i sailed in a little too strong winds and i broke the ropes holding the sail. Actually the crimp failed. So i just changed the ropes and used no crimps at all.
I also had a somewhat high wind (maybe low teens, pointing) failure of the crimp holding the two side shrouds together, allowing the mast to lean quite a bit towards the leeward side. I solved that issue by re-centering the shrouds and tying a secure knot. I don't want to sail upwind with a whole lot of force on the rig, the attachment points on the kayak really look close to overloading and possibly tearing free from the hull. Safer to sheet out a bit and crack off the wind, and lower the loads on the rig, pointing is not a strong point anyway. I added a Harken block to the mainsheet system at the back, makes the sheet run more freely.
The sailing rudder is very helpful, it does seem to bind up more often lately, both steering and raising and lowering. I need to investigate the cause and devise a cure for that issue.
I love this kayak: fun, good speed, moves easily thorough the water, incredibly stable, just can't go in rocky, shallow creeks.
It's not good racing in a sailboat fleet either, took 2.5 times as long to finish a windward leeward course as a Sunfish, with pedaling only to get out of irons, using standard fins, fins down going upwind, up when going downwind unless rudder stalled. DFL in every race, by lots, using an arbitrary 105 Portsmouth handicap, 250 would have been more realistic.
Ed