Solid Wing sail on Hobie 14

Guys

I have been thinking about making a solid wing sail for my Hobie 14, just as an experiment. Probably out of ply, epoxy and fiberglass. What do you think? Do you reckon that it could work well?

Cheers

Pierre

You should take a look at the A-Cat worlds...there was a wing mast competing. My initial thought is that the 14 would be a horrible platform for a wing mast...too unstable and weight sensitive. I shudder to think about what would happen to the mast during a violent pitch pole.

The wing sail that was at the A cat worlds was all carbon fiber and mylar shrink film. It was built by Ben Hall (Hall Spars) who has a (nearly) unlimited supply of carbon, epoxy and curing ovens.

You will never be able to get one light enough for a small boat without going that route. Ben saved some major $$$ (or in your case, ££££) by owning a company that just happens to make carbon bits. He also had access to the technology developed by the C Class Cat wing sail programs.

A Hobie 17 would be a better platform, but why bother? The performance gains are not that significant. Ben placed about where he would have with a soft sail in the A-cat worlds.

If you want to spend a bunch of money just to look cool, knock yourself out. But I bet you'll run out of money and motivation before you've got a finished product.

I see your point, but the wing sail on the Team Invictus C Class cat was not made of carbon it was made of spruce and ply. I reckon I could make one fairly cheaply. Though, it is true that the Hobie 14 would not be a great platform for a wing sail.