After finishing an expedition kayak race from Sanibel to Miami with a Balogh sail and expedition folding Feathercraft kayak, I started to talk with David Valverde of Balogh Sail Design about a faster boat and rig. He suggested an older high volume Necky kayak. I found a 30 yr old HV Necky kayak for $600. With boat and one sail in hand, David and I started in earnest to design a crusising/races schooner rigged kayak. We decided on an 18 sf sail install forward of the cockpit. The boat is stiff enough to install the forward mast with just a mast step and mast partner for a total of 50 sf. This means reefing goes from 50 sf if needed, to 14 sf which is the area of just the small sailed reefed. This also brings the mast height and center of effort down, making for a more sail ride. The ama's are installed on the rear mast, thereby moving the center of effort aft, more to the center of the boat, for a little easier turns.
We decided a bigger rudder was needed so we designed a semi balanced rudder with almost twice the area. The older kayak's rudder system was beefy and held up very well. We added a rudder yoke installed on the aft mast, which could be used when the boat heels and starts to bury the amas. I sit on the edge of the kayak for a counterweight. This also gives me a chance to stretch my legs, be in a different position. This also gives me a backup incase a rudder cable or food pedal break.
The testing phase came next, sailing in the Caloosa River, progressively going out in stronger winds and wilder waves. The boat was surprisingly dry when tacking upwind, sitting one the cockpits edge. I still have to use a paddle to help tacking, these long kayaks being hard to come about. Next came several 3 day trips to test everything. One of the original foot pedals broke when it was blowing 25; the yoke saved my butt because I could still use the rudder. My last trip was from Ft. Myers to Stump Pass. Outside Stump Pass, I met and paddled for half a day with another kayaker, Daniel Alvarez. When I asked where did he come from, he said, Minnesota. When I asked where he had started his kayak trip, he said Minnesota. He was on the final leg of his 4000 miles kayak trip from the northmost pt. in the US to the southern most point, Great Lakes, Mississippi River, Gulf Coast to Key West. His blog, Predictably Lost.
After stuggling in winds 25, gusting to 30, I desided to install the 32 sf sail forward for ease of reefing, converting from a schooner rig to a ketch rig, the smaller sail installed aft became a self tending sail.
This was my first EC and I was happy with the rig and the boat. I felt safe and stabel coming across Sarasota Bay the first day when the storm front moved through, the boat reaching 10.2 mph. On the second day, from Sanibel to Marco Island, winds 25 gusting to 30, breaking waves 3 to 5 ft. and long gulf swells upward of 9 ft. Top speed, 12.4, larger rudder keeping me from yawing out of control. In the late afternoon, I was caught going over a bar, with the ocean swell breaking. My mast is 11 ft. and the top of the breaking wave was about 3/4 of the way up the mast. I was knocked over, turned 360 degrees, then coming back upright. The boat filled with water, yet the mast, sails, amas, akas were fine. Only the leeboard had a split down the middle, about 2 ft long. I was pleased with the rig, boat and myself, finished the race in 4 days 10 hrs.
