Part of this argument about weather helm and tacking problems associated with multihulls is also due to the lack of sufficient rocker in the hulls of most sea kayaks.

Yes, the leeboard mounting position is critical but some of that can be addressed by having a slightly longer board and giving it a swept back setup to place the center of resistance in a more favorable position relative to the center of effort of the sail. If you take a look at the newer rig kits from CLC you can see that they have moved the aka mounting point to aft of the mast to address that very problem.

A proper rudder is a must for sailing and there's no way to fake it with the typical kayak blade. Most are built from plate aluminum stock that has noticable bend-off when loaded. This bending decreases the efficiency of the rudder's effect and leads to more rudder application by the driver. This eventually stalls the flow over the blade and ends the turning ability of the boat under sail. Hence the rep for multihull configured kayaks for stalling and the description of "churning up the water". Of course, you could install a rudder built from thicker stock to address this point but then you've added weight that might be better placed somewhere else. It's pretty easy to build a foil blade and they work very well for the kayak when it isn't being sailed.

Most of these issues can be corrected with a better rudder blade that has a suitable foil section, choosing a hull that has more rocker than the average boat and proper placement and control of the leeboard and its angle in the water. Initiating a turn with good forward speed and and having the boat just approaching the crest of a swell will also add greatly to the experience and keep you from using your paddle to kick you around the tack.

Since there are about ten major issues to address when considering an efficient sail rig for a kayak, it isn't prudent of me to get too far into the discussion within the context of the forum guidelines.

I do, however, think it would be cool to produce a thread that looks at the issues of designing and building a sailing specific kayak and some of the solutions that might be appropriate.

I'd also be willing to discuss, off-list, any questions anyone may have with regards to this subject if you find that more to your liking.

Chris Ostlind