Tim makes great little sea kayak sails. Feel free to contact him through the "contact" page on this site or phone him direct on 0429100849

Here are a few words from Tim explaining how and why he came up with his design.......

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When deciding on a sail for my new kayak I thought hard before making any decisions, beginning with the reasons for choosing the kayak I bought, ie; 80% of my paddles are for 2-3 hours on reasonably sheltered waters, to relax, exercise & enjoy being on the water, I wanted a responsive, exciting kayak & a sail to suit.

Main considerations:

· Why a sail at all – mainly for thrills = fresh winds

· Sporty boat needs sporty sail - you don’t put a truck engine in a sports car

· Construction – in a capsize (sail up), the rig, deck & mast step must not fail

· Weight – light, including a float to ensure it can't sink -final weight ±650g

· Efficient sail shape = horse power - must have good reaching ability, fastest & most exciting point of sailing, also control & adjustment for stronger wind

· Size - stronger wind = one medium size sail rather than 2 sails with associated reef lines, deck clutter & extra weight

· Ease of use through one sheeting point

· Safety - to avoid entanglement must be bagged on deck (eg trashed in surf)

· Cost – similar price or cheaper than other makes with advantages

Advantages:

· The mast bends in gusts & spills wind first from the top of the sail, still giving plenty of drive down low where the capsize moment is less

· When the gust has passed the mast & sail assume their setting & repower up

· Many gusts & lulls pass unnoticed & even if we did ‘feel’ them all we could not react quickly enough to take advantage of them but a flexible rig automatically adjusts to these gusts & lulls

· The mast can be bent more & sail flattened to reduce power in stronger wind

· In a capsize the mast will bend & slowly release forces & no damage will result to rig or boat, or if the mast hits the bottom it will spring back to shape & not bend permanently as rigid masts do

Disadvantage:

· The sail is medium size only & can’t be reefed, hence it won’t match larger sails in light winds, particularly sailing square downwind –a consideration & trade off in the initial decision making

Now I’ve used the rig a few times in winds to 30 knots+, I’m pleased with the performance & convinced its right for its intended use & my type of kayak

The added advantage that I had not foreseen, is that effect of gusts is softened, there are no sudden knocks & wild braces, it’s all slower & easier than my old rigid rig.

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