I have searched and read of others that have done it. What I haven't noticed was a speed report. Give the right conditions with some pedalling do you feel a speed of 5 or 6 km an hour is achievable? I can get that and more out of my outback now and can sustain around 4 without much effort.
I am planning some other trips and am thinking the sail might give me some more range particularly if the wind kicks up and I have to battle the wind coming in i.e. tacking into the wind with a sail should be easier then just punching nose first into it with peddle only.

Thoughts or comments please?

Re sailing a plastic yak, PM to cheater would be a go. I have watched him sailing his yellow yak (kingfisher?) in Cleeland bight. I don't know if you would require a dagger board to tack into the wind, but it would certainly help.

Wind Waker wrote:I have searched and read of others that have done it. What I haven't noticed was a speed report. Give the right conditions with some pedalling do you feel a speed of 5 or 6 km an hour is achievable? I can get that and more out of my outback now and can sustain around 4 without much effort.
I am planning some other trips and am thinking the sail might give me some more range particularly if the wind kicks up and I have to battle the wind coming in i.e. tacking into the wind with a sail should be easier then just punching nose first into it with peddle only.

Thoughts or comments please?

not sure what sort of speed you would get from the outback but it's catch 22 more wind means more waves and the outback get slow and slappy in waves

as Larry pointed out I use to have a sail on my Kingfisher down wind on a breezy day I recorded 11.2 kph on the GPS and could sail on a reach but to windward was pretty slow going

first sail report http://www.vyak.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=8879

this was with a Vee sail and the kingy really needed a lee board to sail to windward
I could put the paddle in the water acting as the lee board and yes it would sail to windward maybe 45 deg on the wind but fairly slow
the sail was only about a meter sq

on a broad reach my guess it would do around 6 - 7 kph with a good 10 knot wind a bit like a firm paddle speed for the Kingy

I think the sail is a good idea but there do take up room and get in the way a bit if fishing

I started on a new sail a while back for my prowler it is a balanced trianglar sail like a lanteen but with no bad side - one day I'll finish it

Wind Waker wrote:I have searched and read of others that have done it. What I haven't noticed was a speed report. Give the right conditions with some pedalling do you feel a speed of 5 or 6 km an hour is achievable? I can get that and more out of my outback now and can sustain around 4 without much effort.
I am planning some other trips and am thinking the sail might give me some more range particularly if the wind kicks up and I have to battle the wind coming in i.e. tacking into the wind with a sail should be easier then just punching nose first into it with peddle only.

Thoughts or comments please?

I don't think you will get more than 5 kph in a wind that would be suitable or comfortable to be out in, the best I got out of the Oasis with the Hobie sail kit was 5 kph and that's a faster kayak than an outback.

From: Mini reports 2-3 May or thereabouts

shane wrote:I pulled the Windpaddle sail out of the hull and fitted it to my shackles just before the front hatch. The trip back was a big change from the trip up where I was often down to just 1km/h into the tide, wind and waves. With just the little sail I was able to move the PA along over 7 km/h on the gusts and around 10km/h with some pedaling. It's no AI but was still a lot of fun to do a bit of sailing for a change.

The windpaddle sail is a lot smaller than a hobie sail and only good for downwind but is compact enough to keep in the hull until its wanted. This was also in wind that would generally be above comfortable and only downwind.

Just started using the large wind paddle with my revo 13, connected just before the front hatch. In light wind of 5-10 kph I get 3 to 5 kph and have had it up to 10+ in 30 kph winds before I lost my nerve. Even though you cannot sail upwind, I have successfully sailed with the wind at about 80 degrees on the beam.
As Shane said, it's advantage is that it is compact and easy to rig and sail..

Wind Waker wrote:I have searched and read of others that have done it. What I haven't noticed was a speed report. Give the right conditions with some pedalling do you feel a speed of 5 or 6 km an hour is achievable? I can get that and more out of my outback now and can sustain around 4 without much effort.
I am planning some other trips and am thinking the sail might give me some more range particularly if the wind kicks up and I have to battle the wind coming in i.e. tacking into the wind with a sail should be easier then just punching nose first into it with peddle only.

Thoughts or comments please?

Hi there,

For what it's worth, my previous 'yak' was an Outback, suitably fitted out, with Hobie sail, to which I also added the Amas, (outriggers), to provide extra stability and piece of mind. This system worked well as there is sufficient adjustment on the Amas to suit most situations. I am not a sailer, however I really enjoyed the experience on Andersons Inlet, (Inverloch), and now use the sail on my PA 12. Remember to use the Mirage Drive in their vertical position, to act as a "dagger board".

Cheers,

'The Pog'

Sail added. Now just gotta choose a day when the weather is better for sailing than fishing to take it out for first crack.
Thanks to everyone for the input.

Wind Waker wrote:Sail added. Now just gotta choose a day when the weather is better for sailing than fishing to take it out for first crack.
Thanks to everyone for the input.

Interested to see how you go, I got a hobie sail with my adventure. Not sure I would attempt it with rods etc as sail rope would foul any rods etc. maybe a minimum stashed set up. The adventure has a slot for a hobie dagger board

Wind Waker wrote:Sail added. Now just gotta choose a day when the weather is better for sailing than fishing to take it out for first crack.
Thanks to everyone for the input.

I've got a sail kit for the outback too. It's been gathering dust over at Muzz's place. I'll go pick it up and we can organise a sail.