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| Adventuring to Sail power | | Print | |
| Saturday, 26 January 2008 | ||||
Woah back there gal! Sailing the Hobie Adventure As a part of my initial preparation efforts for my planned Bass straight kayak crossing, I had deliberated between employing my trusty Adventure kayak, or otherwise upgrading it to a complete Island package. I have had a brief play with an Island and my experience told me that yes, this trimaran styled kayak would be a good choice. But a little devil on my shoulder has been whispering things like 'it's more of a sailing vessel than it is a kayak... it's fast, yes. Its stable, yes. But the argument could be made that it sits on the borderline of being described as a kayak'. So of course, fitting the Adventure with a standard sail has been the other alternative darting around my busy little mind. Up until today, however, I hadn't yet tried out the standard sail on a Hobie kayak. That all changed this afternoon, because I borrowed a demo sail from the factory for the long weekend and today I gave it a brief test in the Basin. Well I'll be dipped in sheet... colour me impressed! Man, that was fun. I was expecting it to add a few extra clicks to my cruising speed but I wasn't prepared for the speeds it actually facilitated. Even in moderate 10 knot winds (and reasonably calm waters), a fully unfurled sail afforded me so much speed that pedalling was almost an afterthought. Assisted with even just moderate (ST fin) pedal power, I was able to achieve speeds of around 12km an hour with ease... and that was without even trying. I think this experience has helped me make a final decision on how to travel. At this point I'm thinking the standard Adventure with a standard sail is all I really need. I only want the sail for assistance, after all... not to actually do all the work for me.  This is the rig that'll get me to Tassie Despite my complete newby status when it comes to sailing, I was able to keep the kayak upright the entire time, although there were moments that I would have tipped over had I not shifted my weight or quickly unfurled the fully erect sail. I was pretty confident the whole time really, but now having seen how close it can get, I'm now hoping to test out this arrangement with Sidekick outriggers attached. The added stability afforded by these could very well be rather useful in waters like Bass straight. My next test will be in Jervis bay and after that, off shore beyond the bay. I'm really looking forward to that but it'll have to wait a few days because I'll be spending the next couple of days fishing in the bay, not sailing it.    
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