Canoe Sail Basics

[@johnnichter5087]

This is exactly the kind of content I come to KZbin for. Very informative but simply explained and not getting lost in the weeds.

[@tea9554]

I am glad you liked it.

[@edwinerickson6035]

But.. sail this canoe wrong and you may get lost in the weeds, literally, haha!

[@richardstever3242]

I put a viking sail on my sportspal a few years back; no rudder, no lee boards. Just pull the sail up and hold on for dear life. I was keeping up with a cruise ship and had everyone waving at me. I don't have the canoe anymore but at least I'm alive! Thanks for the video...I really identify.

[@tea9554]

Must have been fun, but probably not a practical sailing rig.

[@richardstever3242]

@@tea9554 You can push your luck a little more in Georgian Bay harbors.

[@tomjeffersonwasright2288]

To estimate the center of effort of a sail. draw it to scale on paper. Using a protractor or compass, draw a line bisecting the angle of each corner of the sail. Where all lines come together will approximate the center of effort. The exact center will be a bit closer to the mast. Take measurements and transfer the point to the real sail. Thanks for an excellent video. I have heard many discussion of the finer points of various rigs, but no discussion is as good as really building it.

[@Mardellio]

Finally a video that worth watching. Many videos skip the parts of installing rigs and many other interesting stuff. Thanks for making this video.

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jameshamre8778]

It is clear that you put time and effort into producing a working rig that looks great! Thanks for sharing. I will try this on my own canoe.

[@tea9554]

Have fun!

[@fredskinner1233]

I liked your simple explanation and ingenious solutions for a sailing canoe. Also useful was your explanation of weather helm and how to adjust for it. Great job. And you aren’t selling anything!

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Sawer]

Just had my first trials with my homemade sailing canoe. Took a lot of inspiration from this video. To anyone reading this. Shaping the leeboards with a bit of a teardrop shape is 100% worth the efford. Great drag reduction, and it might be placebo but it felt a lot faster. A removable frame to hold the mast up like shown here works quite well, it shoves itself in the nose only getting stronger with wind. Note to self: make the Leeboard frame at least twice as strong as you thought you need. To the video creator: Thank you for the inspiration. You made this happen more than I did. But try shaping the leeboards! I might have overdone them on a tablesaw with a really nice sloped trailing edge to roughly coin thickness, but its again 100% worth the efford :)

[@tea9554]

I hope you enjoy sailing your canoe as much as I do. I also like that removable frame for mounting the mast, which requires just one wing nut to hold everything in place. My leeboards only have rounded edges, and at higher speeds they will vibrate. Do you get any vibration from your leeboards which have the trailing edges tapered?

[@gregsavige3587]

G'day from Australia, Thanks for a very well made video. You explained everything clearly and the footage was excellent . I am fooling around with an old canoe and kayak, doing similar adaptations. Long live the tinkerers, inventers and backyard craftsmen of this world. I wish you happy sailing. Bon voyage for now😊😊😊

[@tea9554]

Awesome, thank you!

[@wayfarerchris.4116]

Some great ideas for turning your canoe into a sailing canoe. Liking the removable parts system leaving no damage to the canoe. Thanks for sharing 👍.

[@tea9554]

You bet!

[@joewatts7942]

Thank you Tea,, best build video for canoe sailing on KZbin, everybody take notice. You took the mystery out of the sail building. Very well explained.

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rhettmartin6527]

Thank you for your efforts and making this video. It is very helpful and informative.

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@philhewett1601]

Well done. Simple but, effective with great potential to be refined to any degree desired. Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RatgenerationX]

The detail in this is insanely well done!

[@tea9554]

Thanks, I am glad that you appreciate it.

[@territodude]

Nicely done! Great camera work and audio. Very easy to follow with a nice pace, thanks!

[@tea9554]

Glad you liked it!

[@RobbsHomemadeLife]

I never knew about the method you mentioned for the sail area for a canoe. very good video, I subscribed and saved it to my sail canoe playlist. I watch a lot of youtube videos and this is the best DIY sailing canoe video I have seen on KZbin. 👍👍

[@ohillbilly]

Hi Robb! I too, subbed and saved.

[@tea9554]

I found the recommendation for sizing the sail in a document titled "Convert Your Canoe to Sail" by Clint McGirr. There is no date on it, but I would guess it was published in the mid 1900's. I also found regulations from the American Canoe Association dated 1934 for racing sailing canoes. For an open canoe 16 feet long and 30 inches long the sail area is limited to 40 square feet, which also matches the formula of length times width. In his book "Canoe Rig", Todd Bradshaw recommends a range of sail sizes based on the length of the canoe. For typical canoe widths the sails size based on the length times width formula would generally fall somewhere within his recommended range.

[@Dan_Gyros]

Fantastic way to turn an age old solution into an easy DIY project! Very insightful, and happy sailing!

[@tea9554]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@5molotok5]

Best video on kayak / canoe sails !!!

[@MrZeagans]

Thank you for making this video. I've been researching building a simple sailing canoe rig and while I've found many videos, most assume a basic knowledge of sailboat anatomy terminology so while I've picked up most of it along the way, it's nice to have a video with the basics in layman's lingo. Saved in my growing "Sailing" playlist 😊👍

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@weedeater64]

Wow, I am just getting started looking at vids for this and pretty sure this will be among if not the most useful I watch. Damn fine video. Thank you .

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RatCatCrew]

Agreed

[@Lollygagger-k4p]

The Grumman 18 makes a great hull for this. I've converted several canoes into performance sailing trimarans. The best have been made from Grummans. Other top quality aluminum canoes work just as well, but that's what I had. A good aluminum canoe isn't compromised by drilling holes for fasteners and boat stuff. Removing the seats and thwarts does not create a problem, either, since you will be adding thwarts as needed to attach the leeboards and /or aka amas. I ordered a sail kit from Sail~Rite for $95 that was a stitch together project . Simple and well marked. And, SOOO much better than anything I could have fashioned. Its a lug sail like this one. I added a headsail of 19sq ft. The jib helps a canoe tack better in light winds. The main is 54sq ft as recommended by this video. Well Done! I miss doing this, but my old shoulders have about had it. It's back to an aluminum skiff for me. I wonder if anyone has ever put a sail on one of those.....?

[@tea9554]

Have fun with it!

[@tomjeffersonwasright2288]

Grumman made a 19 foot. square sterned freight canoe. You can motor, sail or paddle. They are fantastic canoes.

[@seanhartman6496]

I love your use of the belay pin. Infinitely practical and a shame you don’t see them used more often

[@sailoutofagarage6212]

Nice work! I like how all parts are only temporary attatched.

[@tea9554]

Thanks!

[@garrysekelli6776]

Immidiate subscription.

[@yamabiru4553]

Thank you, amazing precision. Wish I’d known about your rudder mount years ago. It always baffled me how not to drill i to the stern to do that. Great video.

[@tea9554]

Glad to help!

[@remmelino]

Thanks for presenting this very good Idea and realisation. I use since years a sailing equipment for an old Klepper Aerius II Faltboot. Now I try to change the equipment in the intention to use it in my Gatz Cherokee Canoe. The sitting position is in the CIV higher than in the Kajak. Thanks for the inspiration. Excuse for my bad English. Christopher

[@tea9554]

Thanks

[@StewsChannel]

Well thought out and sturdy rig, I like it! I'm interested in trying sailing as well and am thinking of trying this on my canoe. Lol, might give it new life!

[@tea9554]

Good luck!

[@toddmulligan2609]

this is the best thing i have ever seen in about five different ways. what a guy. way to live

[@toddmulligan2609]

but my god!! where are the action shots at the end! i bet you could borrow a gopro

[@tea9554]

I haven't made a sailing video but there are several others on youtube.

[@ferbandu9029]

Very good ideas, simple, practical and non destructive for the boat.

[@tea9554]

Glad you liked it!

[@紀伊国屋東京]

Thank you very much! I and son made a wooden 18×3ft canoe by ourselves in last year. And now we are planning to make the sail. Your experience of canoe is very useful for us. In Japan yachting is a sports only in school or for rich. Yachts are regulated competition standard. So we could not find size of sail or Leeboard suitable for 18ft canoe.

[@tea9554]

Have fun!

[@紀伊国屋東京]

@@tea9554 Thank you ! Have a nice voyage.

[@papajeff5486]

This was great. Would love to see her sailed in moderate seas and wind. Thanks. Texas

[@tea9554]

It sails well in those conditions

[@garrycramins5608]

Excellent presentation! Very informative, similar to you, I am learning about sailing, this video took a subject which to the layman can seem very complex and made it simple!

[@tea9554]

Thanks, I am glad it was useful to you

[@danielbuckman2727]

Amazing engineering!!! Nice job 👍

[@tea9554]

Glad you like it!

[@Afro408]

Nice rig man and almost exactly the same as the one I built for my canoe in the mid 70's. It worked really well, but I'd added an outrigger on the lee side. 💜👍

[@tea9554]

Thanks for sharing

[@mikeg3660]

Really fascinating … love the ingenuity … inspired!

[@tea9554]

Thanks

[@bushcraftingmuslim]

Excellent video. Youre a natural teacher. Thanks for sharing

[@tea9554]

Thank you

[@michaelabraham8777]

Great video.

[@daleskidmore1685]

Very nice and clear mods to be able to sail. Thankyou for sharing.

[@tea9554]

You bet!

[@petererrmann1841]

Good straightforward advise

[@tea9554]

Thanks

[@davidnoland4216]

Nicely rigged. I briefly considered such a setup. I came to the belief that an outrigger would be needed.

[@tea9554]

Most canoe sails are not real tall, which reduces the likelihood that the wind pressure on the sail will cause the canoe to tip. Me and any passengers sit on pads directly on the bottom of the canoe when we sail (instead of up on a seat), which keeps a low center of gravity. When there is more wind and the canoe starts to lean (called heeling), I slide to the upwind side of the bottom of the canoe. I have never tipped over, but I have had a few close calls in gusty winds. From what I have read, anyone that sails any type of small boat long enough should expect to tip over sometime. An outrigger would obviously reduce that possibility, but canoes can also sailed without them. "Back in the day" when racing sailing canoes was popular they did not use outriggers, but most of those canoes were decked so that they could heel way over.

[@lawrence9217]

Nice work! Beautiful build, thanks for sharing!

[@tea9554]

Thanks for watching!

[@peterhull100]

Very good, well done for making it easy to understand and simple solutions to problems

[@tea9554]

Thanks

[@jamesmorton7881]

Thank you for sharing. Very very useful for my project. ❤❤

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@NealIAKerr]

Amazing innovative design 👏 👌 Thanks for the share

[@tea9554]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Jarrod_D]

Well i hope to see you sailing your boat next . Will see I'm going this weekend 🤪

[@tea9554]

Have fun!

[@pakde8002]

Excellent content for newbies.

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tomjeffersonwasright2288]

For inspiration, read "Canoemates: A Story of the Florida Reef and Everglades" by Kirk Munroe, an account of 2 boys sailing canoes through the Florida Keys in the 1890s. The vessels were small, superlight decked canoes. with sails. In heavy weather, a gust can cause the boom to swing out as the canoe leans to the side, and get caught in the water. At that poiint you can't let the boom swing out farther. The sail fills, and over you go. Solution, Don't use the boom, leaving a "loose footed" sail. It is not as efficient as having a boom, but can release in an instant, and you carry one less spar.. You will see its value when you try it. If you pay out slack on the sheet, (don't lose the bitter end) the sail "flags", flapping and spilling the gust. That is a good idea for your initial sail too, as it is a very forgiving rig. It is common with lateen rigs and some older lug rigs.

[@dantesmith3664]

great video. thank you. I'd like to make something like this

[@tea9554]

You can do it!

[@pa_maj.MARTINI-van-MAN]

Great job on setting this up 👍

[@tea9554]

Thanks! 👍

[@doneddy2204]

Would love to see it in action

[@tea9554]

Thanks, there are lots of videos on-line of canoes under sail.

[@BigthumbsupAdventures]

Great explanation especially about weather helm

[@tea9554]

The number of people in the canoe and where they sit will also influence the pivot point of the canoe (called center of lateral pressure). Try to achieve just a slight weather helm so that it doesn't take too much pressure to turn the canoe. It is all part of the learning process which makes canoe sailing fun and interesting. Enjoy!

[@rhettmartin6527]

Nice work 👏

[@tea9554]

Thanks ✌️

[@PureToneAmps]

wonderful video. thank you!

[@tea9554]

Thank you too!

[@kenstone1776]

Learned a lot, thank u!

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful!

[@evankanenc]

Thanks for the video. One thing: that little flange on the floor of the canoe in front of the bow seat (plainly visible at 3:28)? That's for attaching the foot of a mast. Grumman designed and sold a sailing rig for this canoe.

[@tea9554]

You are correct about the canoe being manufactured with a flange for attaching the foot of the mast, which is what I mentioned at 2:47. My neighbor has one of the actual old sailing rigs that was manufactured to fit this canoe, which utilizes a Gunter mast. It works great, but most canoes won't have the built-in plate for mounting the mast step. So most mast steps are typically mounted with screws in a wooden canoe or epoxy on other canoes.

[@brcuellar74]

thank you for a great video

[@sailingoksi]

Looks great!

[@tea9554]

Thanks!

[@JackdEmilia]

thank you

[@tea9554]

You're welcome

[@dianegordon5366]

brilliant!

[@tea9554]

Glad you liked it.

[@SilentAlchemy1333]

Beautiful

[@tea9554]

Thanks

[@doddski1235]

This is of great help Thanks

[@tea9554]

Glad it helped

[@RedDesertPhoenix]

Thanks, got a canoe I'm planning on doing the same for, this video provided a lot of tips I hadn't even considered. Do you have any videos of you sailing it?

[@tea9554]

Not yet!

[@RatCatCrew]

I would love to see this thing in action!

[@markraciborski4289]

Always wondered if a Junk Rig sail would work on a small canoe. Uses unstayed mast, can be lowered easily to reduce sail.

[@tea9554]

A junk rig sail, which is basically a balanced lug sail with battens, is one of the many sail types shown on canoes in Todd Bradshaw's book "Canoe Rig".

[@highloughsdrifter1629]

I've battened standing lugs on my canoe (two masted, so two sails) The sails are cut flat, mine are from single pieces of sail cloth, no seams. I tried the true Junk Rig type of sheeting (to each batten) and found it unnecessarily complex for these small sails. Ended up with a centre main sheet which means I can tack without ducking, the main sail is all in front of the "cockpit", the mizzen behind.

[@ThrasherGnar]

I’ve been searching for this video for years, thank you sir!!

[@tea9554]

Glad I could help!

[@richardduvall6512]

Would love to see a video on how to sail her

[@Didilebarbu]

Hello there, fantastic work! Well done! Did you make a video of your canoe sailing? :)

[@tea9554]

Not yet!

[@RatCatCrew]

Thank you so much for sharing! This is a game changer! Have you ever set up any outriggers?

[@tea9554]

I haven't had any interest in outriggers. I sit in the bottom of the canoe and shift my weight when needed.

[@richardduvall6512]

Do you know of any videos showing how to properly sail one of these rigs and common problems with them

[@tea9554]

There are several canoe sailing videos on youtube, but they are not instructional. The book Canoe Rig by Todd Bradshaw has a good chapter on how to sail. Some problems I can think of are: 1) If the canoe doesn't respond correctly to the rudder, consider shifting the leeboard location. Think of the canoe as a weather vane. 2) When tacking in light winds, hold the boom with your hand until the canoe turns, and then swing the boom to the other side. If this doesn't work, just use your paddle. 3) I sail on inland lakes, and my most consistent problem is that the wind dies, so always bring a paddle.

[@lazyrivercanoeinglifestyle9287]

FANTASTIC. ..what kind of wood would you recommend.Thanks

[@tea9554]

I wasn't very selective about the wood species. I had some oak scraps that I used for the mast thwart and lee board thwart. The rest is just what is available at my local lumber yard which is mostly pine and fir.

[@largonutke0vxl635]

Will you share what woods you used? Mast thwart looks like oak? What is mast? Thanks!

[@marceljansen2153]

You did the rigging by yourself? Great

[@tea9554]

Yes I did the rigging, the carpentry is pretty basic.

[@jeffreyerwin3665]

Basic is that you do not need a rudder on any very small sailboat such as a canoe. Another is that a higher aspect rig is much better. Also, leeboards need to have their edges sharpened. Then you need some padding on the rails because to sail upwind you need to hike out to balance the sail. But, as the author says, he is a beginner. once again, the rudder is an unnecessary waste of time for anyone who knows how to sail a small boat.

[@highloughsdrifter1629]

My experience is that most canoe sailors start out thinking they don't need a rudder but end up fitting one. Paddle steering is OK, if you have more than two hands (please don't tie off sheets in canoes, you will swim). Main sheet in your teeth, perhaps? You can also steer with sails, but that really needs two masts and doesn't work so well downwind.

[@jeffreyerwin3665]

@@highloughsdrifter1629 Hey ! Thanks for noticing my posts. I've sailed dingies without rudder both upwind and down. It is all a matter of balance using crew weight. Two sails are not necessary. However, I must admit that I have not completed my canoe sailing rig yet. It will not have a rudder and will not require the crew to steer with a paddle, but is , so far, unproven.

[@tea9554]

I have seen a video of a man sailing a canoe in a stiff wind using just a paddle for both the steering and to act as a lee board. I have tried it, and I am not that skilled.

[@wallacedemenezesmartins5780]

About leeboard, what is the length of the part that is in the water?

[@tea9554]

In the book "Canoe Rig" Todd Bradshaw provides patterns for seven different shapes of leeboards. Their lengths measured down from the bolt hole vary from 35" to 28", and their widths vary from 7" to 10". Mine is 9" wide and the length extending down from the bolt hole is 30". Depending on the amount of weight in the canoe, the bolt hole is about 10" above the water surface. So the length of leeboard that is submerged in the water is about 20".

[@territodude]

Hi, just a quick question, did you already have the 18ft canoe or get it for this purpose?

[@tea9554]

I have had that Grumman aluminum canoe for more than 40 years, and have been sailing it for five or six years.

[@malin5468]

Nice work! How does it sail?

[@tea9554]

I think it sails well. I do wish that it could sail at a steeper angle into the wind (which is called pointing). It can sail into the wind about 20 degrees. I am not sure what my expectation should be. But I always get back to where I started from.

[@malin5468]

Wow, 20 degrees is very close to the wind! You are inspiring me to try to build one.

[@rickhawkins218]

Are you generally gathering enough momentum to tack without paddling when soloing?

[@tea9554]

That is a great question. You must have experience is this matter to know to ask this. Generally when there is enough wind to have some momentum I can tack without paddling. Sometimes it is like magic, and other times it barely turns. If it feels like it is not going to make it, then it helps to grab the boom and hold the sail out on the side opposite from the direction that the canoe is turning. I believe that this is called a "hard cross". But if the winds are too light, you just have to paddle.

[@rickhawkins218]

@@tea9554 I have done quite a lot of sailing, but 'canoe sailing' is new.

[@tea9554]

@@rickhawkins218 Canoe sailing may be new to you, but it has quite a long history. In the USA it was probably most popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Back in that era the American Canoe Association published rules for racing sailing canoes, and there was even an International Cup canoe sailing competition. If you Google search for "Sailing Canoes, a Brief History" you can find a document by that name which was published in 1935 on the intcanoe.org website. Be sure to use the "previous" tab to start at the beginning.

[@rickhawkins218]

@@tea9554 Thanks, i will check that out.

[@largonutke0vxl635]

Any issues with the leeboards riding up under pressure?

[@tea9554]

Yes they can sometimes ride up, which can affect the weather helm

[@LukePighetti]

any videos of it underway?

[@tea9554]

Sorry, no videos worth posting when underway

[@RaulPerez-vy3lj]

Que medidas tiene el velamen?

[@tea9554]

It is difficult to describe the shape of a trapezoid. Perhaps the best method to describe the dimensions of this particular sail is by coordinates, which are in feet. x=1.07, y=0; x=9.10, y=0; x=4.22, y=10.30; x=0, y=4.53. The dimensions around the perimeter are then 8.03 (along the bottom), 4.65, 7.15, and 11.40. The area is 54 square feet.

[@deltafour1212]

Just letting you know, I am SOOOO "stealing" your idea @ 3:00. In fact, I'm going to "steal" your whole design. You just solved my headache

[@tea9554]

I am glad that this was of interest to you. The mast thwart/step combination is very solid when wedged into the canoe, and it can be installed or removed quickly with just one wing nut. It eliminates the need to drill holes in the canoe for the mast thwart or to permanently epoxy the mast step.

[@deltafour1212]

​ @Tea That was exactly the problem I was trying to solve. I didnt want to drill holes in the canoe do epoxy. I wanted a simple jig you can setup and tear down without any damage to the canoe and you just cured my headache and sleepless nights , trying to figure out a design

[@jackhoughton942]

Looking into doing something very similar to an old canoe my grandma has and i was wondering if you have plans or dimensions for the sail and mast height

[@tea9554]

The dimensions of that standing lug sail which is 54 square feet are as follows: The foot (along the boom) is 8.03 ft The leech (trailing edge) is 11.40 ft The head (along the yard) is 7.15 ft The luff (leading edge) is 4.65 ft The diagonal measurement from the clew (corner at the back of the boom) to the throat (corner at the front of the yard) is 10.17 ft. The diagonal measurement from the peak (corner at the top of the yard) to the tack (corner at the front of the boom) is 10.77 ft. The total length of my mast is 11.33 ft

[@andylewis248]

Your yard needs to be at 40% from the throat of sail, not peak. That’s why you don’t have good luff tension, sir.

[@tea9554]

This is way beyond the basics, but we can all benefit from learning from someone with more knowledge. The end of the yard at the top of the sail is the peak, and opposite end of the yard is the throat, but what is the 40% that are you referring to?

[@andylewis248]

@@tea9554 attachment of halliard to yard 40% from lower end.

[@doneddy2204]

Can you reef the sail?

[@tea9554]

At about the 1 minute point in the video you can see that I constructed the sail with a line of reef points (short pieces of rope through the sail), but I have never actually used them.

[@sebell69]

great video (learn alot of the terminology in english to boot)

[@tea9554]

Glad it was helpful

[@John-B69692]

A fellow sailor here... Install a fairlead in front of your sheet cam cleat so your sheet stays in place. Make it tall enough (Upsidedown U) so you can pull sheet up and out of the jaws when easing. Put a stopper knot at the end of the sheet that's bigger than the fairlead opening so you don't loose the sheet through the fairlead. I like your setup.

[@tea9554]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge

[@andylewis248]

And you need to get that rudder stock out of the water!

[@tea9554]

Yes, the rudder mount should be short enough and mounted high enough to stay above the water line and therefore not drag.

[@butchyboy69]

Good ideas shown here! Thank you for doing this.😊

[@tea9554]

Glad you appreciated it

[@kuttyogatonyarastavi24]

Hi, with this type of solution, you can also travel on the sea for a long time?

[@tea9554]

You can sail for as long as you have a breeze, but an open canoe is not safe for travel on the sea

[@branni6538]

These prevent healing and capsize too huh?

[@tea9554]

The lee boards do not prevent healing (leaning due to the force of the wind on the sail), so the canoe could still capsize just like any other canoe. I sit on the bottom to keep the center of gravity low. I haven't ever capsized, but I have been close.

[@largonutke0vxl635]

Would you mind sharing woods used? Mast thwart looks like oak? What about mast? Any issues with leeboards riding up under pressure?

[@tea9554]

The leeboards will tend to rotate some under pressure so I keep those wingnuts very tight. I was not at all selective about the wood species used. The mast thwart and leeboard thwart are both oak because I happen to have some scrap pieces of oak that size. I don't know what species the other lumber is. Most lumber in my area is douglas fir or hem-fir, so that is probably what the other lumber is. Any lumber species that doesn't have bad cracks or knots is probably strong enough.

[@largonutke0vxl635]

@@tea9554 Thank you so much for the reply. I can’t wait to build this. Will teach grandson to sail this summer using this rig.

[@edherwick6995]

Excellent video. Thanks!!

[@tea9554]

Glad it helped!

[@karelhilversum6725]

Can you build me a rig?

[@tea9554]

Sorry, but I am not interested.

[@gdaynate7219]

Excellent video - thanks mate