Steampunk Lugsail Land Windsurfer

Step 3 Lugsail Dimensions

I originally made this 3.46 sq. meter lugsail for my Klepper Aerius 2 tandem folding kayak.
It was about the right size except when a howling gale was blowing.
I made it from a well-preserved windsurfer sail, which had some broadseaming.
Broadseaming means making the seams between panels a varying width so as to make the sail like a shallow bowl. For more belly, add a bit of edge rounding to the bottom of the head of the sail.
For less belly, cut it straight.

Comments

[Crazzee]

Is there any way the sail could be homemade out of trash bags and whatnot, or would that not hold together?

[siggy_lxvi]

A: Garbage bags wouldn't hold. Thick canvas or tarp would work. B: what the OP is referring to as "reef points" are actually telltales. They are used to indicate whether airflow over the sail is laminar or chaotic. Reef points are used to reduce sail area, usually in violent storms - the kind of weather in which you wouldn't be using this sort of sail.

[TimAnderson]

In the diagram above, the things labeled reef points really are reef points. When using this sail with a kayak you need to reef down in just moderate winds. I failed to do that in Costa Rica in a strong offshore wind and was capsized, blown out to sea, lost my water, and although we both survived, lost the girlfriend too.

[siggy_lxvi]

My appologies, then. I've never sailed a kayak, just everything from a 15-foot dinghy to a tall ship.

[Deutschmann]

With apologies to siggy_lxvi, I must respectfully say that certain varieties of garbage bag will work in at least moderate wind; I have constructed a windsurfer with them, and never had a problem. That said, I'm using some strange variety of garbage bag manufactured by Kirkland Co., and I'm not sure how widely available they are. They don't, however, seem like they should be too hard to find.