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single handed sailing a double kyak http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=15155 |
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Author: | Gary57 [ Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:33 am ] |
Post subject: | single handed sailing a double kyak |
I have a Hobie Mirage, two person kyak. I am contemplating purchase of the sail kit. My question is: Can one person sail a two person kyak or will the balance problem be prohibitive? Also, what about the outrigger kit, would that help single handed sailing a double kyak? |
Author: | stobbo [ Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:01 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: single handed sailing a double kyak |
I have an outfitter. You can sail them singlehandedly (from the rear cockpit) but you need to put a bit of ballast (e.g. poly bag of water/sand) in the front well to hold the nose down. Be aware that the sail does not have much area & it doesn't propel the outfitter very quickly at all two up; it does better with just one person on board. Also the boat is quite stable with 2 people on board and you can get a good old bend in that mast which deforms the sail causing it to become less efficient. If I were going to sail the Outfitter on a regular basis, especially 2-up, I would think about staying the mast & running a jib to improve sailing performance (see the posts from me & others on this subject). Or, if you have the oasis, think about 2 sailing kits and rig it as a schooner like someone else has done - this would seem to me to be the ideal solution for getting better sailing performance out of the Oasis (and you could then even then add a jib and a reacher to the schooner set up if you really wanted to go mad ! aaahh, the possibilities... ) 2 other suggestions: 1. when sailing single handed don't forget thet you have a spare set of pedals & fins in the front which you can use as a keel... just stick an appropriately sized rod thru 2 of the adjustment holes in the drive to lock the fins in the downward position & you're done. 2. get the larger sailing rudder: the longer boat needs this what with the extra carrying capacity & waterline length & it will definitely need it when sailing IMHO. |
Author: | stringy [ Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:03 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: single handed sailing a double kyak |
G'Day Gary, What Stobbo and Roadrunner said!! Before I got an AI I regularly sailed my Oasis solo. It's great fun once you ballast the front. Simplest method is a dry bag about 40 litres in size filled with water and located in the front footwell. With a single sail I didn't see a need for the Sidekicks as the Oasis stability was great. I added a second sail for the front passenger and that was when Sidekicks became necessary. I really like them because they eliminate that chance of a capsize. I use them in the up position so they are rarely in the water. By hiking out a bit you can easily prevent heeling and with the Sidekicks out of the water drag isn't an issue. Being inflatable they store nicely inside the hull when not needed. A search of this forum will yield lots of great info. Look out for posts by Kepnutz, Skua, Soyjer, Stobbo and of course Roadrunner just to name a few. |
Author: | stobbo [ Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:36 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: single handed sailing a double kyak |
Hey there Roadrunner, Stringy & other Oasis owners ! While we are on the subject of sailing/singlehanding the Oasis can you give me your impressions of the boat as a tandem? I have the Outfitter & am a bit disappointed with it to be honest because the front passenger gets so wet in it if there's any kind of wavelets; it seems that any wave-splash at the bow ends up landing over the feet & lap of the front passengers... Given that it has at least something of a foredeck (which the Outfitter lacks) I was wondering if the same sort of thing happens in the Oasis or if, in fact the foredeck catches and deflects the bow-spray before it gets into the cockpit & over the crew? |
Author: | stobbo [ Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:12 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: single handed sailing a double kyak |
Guys, I think we are in concensus - while neither of us has been in both boats logic does suggest that the forward seat will be drier in a boat with a long foredeck. I would love to try an Oasis to compare them but Hobie Yaks are pretty scarce in NZ at the best of times & those Oases are rarer than polar bear poop here. ...looks like you play on some pretty nice water over there ! |
Author: | stobbo [ Thu Sep 24, 2009 12:46 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: single handed sailing a double kyak |
Roadrunner, good pictures & interesting that you have time in both oasis & outfitter. D'you still have them both? I play in the Hauraki Gulf round Auckland. It is a very benign marine environment generally but we do frequently get sea breezes in the summer afternoons with noticeable wind-over-tide chop as well as the normal windblown sort at certain states of tide. So the conditions regularly vary from calm as a millpond (like your first and third lake moods photos) in the morning ("what a great day, lets all go out in the kayaks") to on the nose wind blown chop on the way back very much like the second of your lake moods portfolio (but I suspect quite a lot worse to be honest - it is always difficult to see exactly what the conditions are like from a photo). This is a typical 'on the way out' photo: http://www3.snapfish.co.nz/slideshow/AlbumID=1742579006/PictureID=72417129006/a=70809460_70809460/otsc=SHR/otsi=SPIClink/ From the colour of the boats in the other pictures my guess is that the second picture is taken from an Oasis rather than an Outfitter. I wonder what your passenger would have thought about driving through those waves in the Outfitter instead ? |
Author: | Roadrunner [ Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:55 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: single handed sailing a double kyak |
Stobbo, nice picture -- I like your little pocket seat! We're on our second Oasis now and really like them. The Outfitter actually belongs to the local dealer. He keeps his demonstration fleet at my house (no room at his store) and I find it advisable to take a boat occasionally down to the lake for a water inspection upon which I'm obligated to operate the boat in various conditions, just making sure that everything is ship shape! He's very appreciative and I don't mind helping him out. |
Author: | stobbo [ Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:22 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: single handed sailing a double kyak |
Sounds like an excellent arrangement; now all you gotta do is work out a cunning plan for getting him to pay you for the storage... |
Author: | picah [ Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:51 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: single handed sailing a double kyak |
Roadrunner: Question from a newbie - I do not see an aft hatch cover on the oasis (at least not the new ones). Is your pic from a prior model year of the oasis? I presume that your small block for the main can still be attached to the rear lift handle? Do es it interfere with the rudder (larger sailing version) when stowed? Sorry if I am showing ignorance here Thx Ron |
Author: | picah [ Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:28 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: single handed sailing a double kyak |
thanks for the clarification Winglet is very cool - any info on how you built it?? regards Ron |
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