I maxed out 11.8kts and sailed 9 nautical miles in about an hour twenty minutes.
In increasing winds, approximatly 15-18 reached a maximum speed of 12.6kts and traveled 5.16 nm in 42 minutes.
All of this sailing was done in the typical back and forth short distance sailing of windsurfing.
What I learned:
- Even with a large sail and increasing winds it seems that the max speed is around 12-13 kts. This could improve with properly positioned foot straps
- In low winds the boat is very fast on all points of sail.
- The boat jibs very easily and is very stable.
- As the wind increased the need for a dagger board decreased. I was able to head up into the wind about as high without the dagger board as with it.
- The hull seems to be all displacement. I was not able to pop it up on a plane even when the wind seemed to be strong enough. This might be due to the weight, length ratio. It may also be that with foot straps I could push it enough to get to plane. But if we consider the normal speed of a kayak even at 12kts its pretty fast.
More testing this week. I want to try to use a smaller sail and rig and try some different size fins. I have been using weed fin that might not be enough area for the boat.
1 comment:
Congrats. on a fantastic concept board and a perfect cruise board. You should seek a manufacturer an go into production, I would love one.
LBWS would love to publish an article on it. Feel free to send something in.
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