Sailing an Issaquah
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:09 pm
I've been interested in building a dedicated sailing canoe so I decided to build a conversion rig for my Issaquah 14 to try out a few ideas and see if I still felt the same way about sailing as I did 15 years ago when I last did any sailing.( I do)
First lesson don't conduct sea trials when the wind is blowing 20-30 kph, i just about lost the whole rig when I went onto a run and just as I came unto the plane the bracket holding the mast in place came off, a sort off instant reefing system, the good news was that I didn't capsize and was successful in going to windward.(before I reefed the mast)
The pictures below are taken the next day with winds around 5-10 kph, the civilized conditions I had in mind.
The rig is loosely based on the ACA rig with the sail area and leeboard area cut down to about 1/2 size.
Sail area is cut down to produce more of a cruising rig
Trim is a bit stern down I need to move further forward
This is exactly what I had in mind for an afternoon sail I spent an hour working my way up wind and into a few bays where the wind was light and about 15 minutes running back then another 1/2 hour on a reach to close reach just enjoying the sail, this can be addictive.
In the strong winds I found the leeboard and rudder made a huge difference to my ability paddle the canoe, normally solo in these wind strengths I have trouble maintain control, by dropping the leeboard and the rudder and just letting the rudder swing free I now had a docile craft that I could paddle in any direction with minor changes of leeboard position. This now means I should be able to safely paddle home if the wind drops or gets too strong
First lesson don't conduct sea trials when the wind is blowing 20-30 kph, i just about lost the whole rig when I went onto a run and just as I came unto the plane the bracket holding the mast in place came off, a sort off instant reefing system, the good news was that I didn't capsize and was successful in going to windward.(before I reefed the mast)
The pictures below are taken the next day with winds around 5-10 kph, the civilized conditions I had in mind.
The rig is loosely based on the ACA rig with the sail area and leeboard area cut down to about 1/2 size.
Sail area is cut down to produce more of a cruising rig
Trim is a bit stern down I need to move further forward
This is exactly what I had in mind for an afternoon sail I spent an hour working my way up wind and into a few bays where the wind was light and about 15 minutes running back then another 1/2 hour on a reach to close reach just enjoying the sail, this can be addictive.
In the strong winds I found the leeboard and rudder made a huge difference to my ability paddle the canoe, normally solo in these wind strengths I have trouble maintain control, by dropping the leeboard and the rudder and just letting the rudder swing free I now had a docile craft that I could paddle in any direction with minor changes of leeboard position. This now means I should be able to safely paddle home if the wind drops or gets too strong
