: Hi John,
: My kayak building buddy and I want to utilize sails on our kayaks and are
: particularly interested in what we see in the Balogh(B.S.D.) Batwing
: system. What puzzles us with that system as well as your photographs is
: this: what prevents the inflatable ama on the lee side of the boat from
: submerging slightly and then spinning around the end of the arm (aka)? It
: seems to me that it would be very easy for the system
: to"stumble" when the downward force on the lee ama increases
: when the wind is being taken abeam or when sailing at high points of sail
: in regard to wind direction. Any comments/explanations/observations woud
: be greatly appreciated! Thanks from Dan and Jack in northwast Montana.

Hi Dan,
That’s a great question. As you can see in the top picture my Folbot AMA was digging into the water sometimes. I sailed in small white caps later in the day also but nothing bad happened. The Folbot Ama’s won't spin as it is locked in place by the depression button. I need to experiment by twisting the AKA more at a backward angle to see if I can make the AMA’s ride more on top of waves.

Mark Balogh's BSD sailing system, the AMA does look like it could spin in the picture. Perhaps it is made that way on purpose to ride the waves. You could call him. His system has been well tested. Jonathan Waterman in his book Arctic Crossing sailed 2,200 miles with the setup in the bottom picture. As I understand it, many people using the Balogh AMA's use a pump to blow up to get them really tight rather than just blowing them up with their mouth. I paid about $250 for the Folbot AKA & AMA's where I believe Balogh's are around $450.

John