: Hi People,

: I have a Chesapeake 18 that was my first build many years ago ,
: hanging in the rafters doing nothing , as I now use either my
: Shearwater 19 Baidarka or my Point Bennett when seakayaking .

: Which is'nt often , now that I'm primarily into Flatwater Marathon
: Racing.

: So, I'm considering building a pair of Amas (floats) and turning
: the thing into a trimaran with a 7 m2 windsurfer rig on it.

: Anybody out there had any expierience with this sort of thing ?

: I have done a lot of sailboat racing, and done one trip in the
: Pacific , and we have sails on both Baidarka and PB, so the
: sailing thing is covered.

: My main question is will 7m2 be enough to get this thing really
: going or will I need more sail area ?

: Thanks

: Bris Paul

I did something similar but with about half that sail area. Performance was disappointing until I discovered the ama had more drag than the canoe; speed picked up dramatically when I raised the ama out of the water. Unless the amas are very slick it pays to mount them high and just use them as reserve stability in the event of a gust, otherwise run 'em dry. Might be less of a problem with more sail, i didn't get around to trying that.