The Revo is a great little sailer! Yes, the narrower kayaks are a little more tender than most sailboats so many prefer the added stability of having Sidekicks. I personally don't use them nor do I think they are necessary, especially for someone young and wanting to develop good sailiing skills (as long as the water is not too cold). IMO, it would be an excellent challenge for a young man to master -- at least it would keep him busy for hours! You can always add Sidekicks later if appropriate.
As you can see here, the Revo heels fairly easy, but it's not unstable:
Using the sail with pedals one can get moving right along:
The Adventure makes a dandy sailer as well:
Whoops, how did that PA get into this post? It's a fishing boat!
As it turns out, the PA sails beautifully although not very fast! But then none of the kayaks with the small sail would be considered fast without some pedal support. The PA is very stable with a sail and can handle quite a bit of wind. It can get up to 3 or 4 MPH under sail power alone.
So if you buy a sail for your son, he may have to wait for Dad to finish using it!
The sails are not difficult to set up and take down on the water. When not in use, I just stow it along the side -- they can be carried easily:
There are some articles on sailing the Revo here and on the sailing forum, along with some very handy tips on rigging. Try using the search function.
