The light solution for existing sea kayaks: Metamorphose as you like your kayak into a dragonfly !
The implicit wish of many sea kayak enthusiasts
- You are a sea kayak fan, you like her easy operation and direct contact with nature she allows.
- When it’s windy, you are however frustrated to be overtaken by various sailing crafts that go faster than you, effortless
- Mounting a sail on your kayak would allow you to sail farer, but you are not convinced by existing kits :
- A simple pocket handkerchief added to the kayak hull is limited and may be dangerous.
- An heavy trimaran kit often asks to modify the kayak, take long time to get prepared, and becomes bulky as soon as wind vanishes. But what to do then to get it safety left ashore ?
WINDYAK technology on your nautical bike
We have imagined to adapt innovations developed for WINDYAK (beam and floats folding, rig furling) on a module that can be fastened/unfastened in 10 minutes on/from your craft: this only consists of unscrewing and then screwing again a few bolts.
- Folding/unfolding on water allows to keep all your kayak uses, while affording trimaran sailing capabilities, too.
- Total kit mass is around15 kilograms, and beam, floats and rig can be dissociated from the kayak in a few seconds to keep easy hoisting to your car roof, or go paddling using only the kayak hull, with a very limited additional weight (3-4 kg)
A quasi-instantaneous unfolding
System size reduction compared to original WINDYAK allows an ultra-fast unfolding in less than 2 minutes, to pass from kayak to sailing trimaran configuration.
- Heave up and swivel the beam round with the help of your two hands to deployed configuration, in front of the man hole; tighten the tackles fastening the beam to the kayak. You have then just to unfold successively each float (by pulling the related unfolding rope, and simultaneously, by loosening the second one maintaining it folded).
You are then ready to erect the rig:
- Move back the rig (based on a junior windsurfer mast), stowed on starboard side, to be able to lift the mast foot over the deployed beam ; then bring the mast to the fore. Now slip the mast foot onto the jointed sailboard type mast step. Rotate up the bipod previously folded on fore deck and wedge the raised mast against it. Harden the stay tackle to strongly gather them together.
- To unfurl the sail, you now just need to lower the sleeve by hand ; hook sheet and tack points and you will get a true 3m² sail.
- Each float integrates an anti-drifting fin permitting some acceptable windward navigation.
- If there is no rudder on your kayak, use your paddle to steer, just like ancient Viking boats. This works well and, thanks to this trick, numerous kayaks may thus potentially be equipped with a sailing kit.
First kit prototype is sailing !
Developped for a leading model of french sea kayak builder POLYFORM, the first prototype went to water beginning spetember 2007; it is currently being optimised.
