Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board

Re: Are Deluge sailing rigs safe?

Posted By: Rod Estvan
Date: Tuesday, 5 September 2000, at 4:28 p.m.

I have a Deluge V rig. Like one of the prior posts the lines from the V rig did not stay attached to my paddle. I now use sailing cleats and work the lines with my hands. Clearly this means I can not use my paddle to brace and that is somewhat risky if your Kayak is narrow. My kayak is 24 inches in the beam and it is not that bad. I have found that the Deluge cannot be used more than a few degreees off the wind. Staying truely down wind is not always as easy as it sounds.

I have found that you need close to 10 knots of wind to make it work effectively. But the closer you get to 20 knots the more you have to let up on the sail. I have dumped a couple of times and the thought of trying to roll up never entered my mind. I had no trouble wet exiting with the sail in the water. I was able to turn over my kayak and reenter without detaching the sail rig while I was in the water. I flipped it out of the way and used by paddle float to reenter.

At about 15 knots of wind I have checked my speed by GPS and have gone as fast as 9 knots. But the number of times I have gotten the wind in just the right direction with moderate waves have been few and far between. So I do not use it much. Since I have a sail boat, I guess I get enough sailing in and don't need to try to use the rig too often.

Rod

Messages In This Thread

Re: Are Deluge sailing rigs safe?
Rod Estvan -- Tuesday, 5 September 2000, at 4:28 p.m.

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