Russian River Sailing

This is the most fun I've ever had sailing my 2008 Oasis. I know some sailors have the furling kit only and no amas, I use only amas and no furler. I rigged the furler per instructions but could never get a fair lead without the pedals hitting the line. I've never had a capsize with a full sail and amas but unfortunately I did bend the mast on this outing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rz3li-RZLI

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Craig T.
2008 Oasis
1990 Catalina 25

This was the second time I bent this mast, the first was when I tried to launch in some surf and got turned beam on and rolled. It wasn't to hard to straighten but it bent again in the same spot (where the mast exits the tube) so I bought a new mast. After reading some older posts I think I'll try reinforcing the lower section of the mast and moving the amas from the lower to the middle or upper position.

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Craig T.
2008 Oasis
1990 Catalina 25

Easiest solution on hobie kayak sail masts is to drill the bungy cord out of the mast, and just jam a fiberglass pultrusion into the mast, then put the cap back on.
You can buy 4ft long driveway markers at home depot for $2 bucks, they work fine. You will never bend another mast even in pretty extreme conditions that you really shouldn't be out in anyway (lol).

My opinion is the PVC furlers that most everyone have been using for years work a little better and only cost $2 bucks to make (but thats just my opinion).

It's also pretty darn easy to add a rotating mast topper, just get a 1/4" to 3/8" socket adapter (in most cheap socket sets) and jam it into the top of the mast. Basically you end up with a 1/4" dia pin sticking out the top about an inch.
On that pin you can place anything you like. For example take a $3 dollar white walmart cutting board drill a 1/4" hole in the center, then cut the 4 corners away leaving a X shape, now you can drill a small hole at the end of each X leg and have yourself a nice 4 stay mast. Just shove the cloth cover at the top of the sail over to one side.
Or you can get some 7/8" to 1" dia tubing about two ft long, drill a 1/4" hole thru the side, now you got a nice mast topper, you can now add a jib and spinnaker to your kayak (bunches of us have done all that stuff just playin around.

That might be getting too overboard, just try the fiberglass driveway marker trick for now, then move on from there.
As far as removing the bungy, when was the last time you broke the mast down into two pieces for storage (if like me, that would be never...) I just glued or pinned the two mast halves together, actially just a tape wrap around the joint does the job (that's what all of us with TI's do (the TI also has a two piece mast btw).
Hope this helps
FE

Looks like you had great fun. Shame about the mast.

Or you could do away with the amas, then you wouldn't be able to exert so much leverage on the mast and it shouldn't bend (unless you have a lot of weight aboard). With less ability to load up the mast you won't go as quickly but you should find the sailing experience a lot more challenging and engaging when you have to use skill to avoid a capsize whilst getting the best performance you can out of the boat.

I sailed for a few years without the amas and never as fast as I do now. The problem was the wind gusts, I was constantly dumping the sail to stay upright. And it's a lot more fun hitting waves knowing I have the stability of the amas. I do agree, as some have mentioned, that the amas slow you down when they get buried, I'm going to try the middle or upper position. I will also try to rig the furler again with the pedals set at five. That looks like it will clear the drum and line though I'm not sure how it will work with long legs!
Here is a similar clip of some sailing I did in Bodega Bay last week with a little less wind. I remembered to mount the gps this time, my top speed was 4.5 knots:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqd7P9NAdu8

_________________
Craig T.
2008 Oasis
1990 Catalina 25