Sailing passport 12

Just some feedback from long time sailor on sailing a passport 12. As a life long sailor who owns an old Bluewater pocket cruiser I thought I'd provide some feedback to folks thinking about getting a sail for their passport. I believe the furler kit should be sold with all sail kits. There are no halyards and having a means to lower or reduce sail is a safety must especially in open waters. I sail out of Oxnard and take the passport out to oil platform gina. 4 miles out.

On the passport you cant mount the furler without purchasing a hatch for the bow to provide access to tighten bolts that come with furler kit.

The passport rudder is not deep enough to provide steerage in choppy conditions. If you are heeling you can loose steerage. Hobie needs to provide a larger rudder in my opinion. The rudder for sailing they do offer will NOT fit in a passport. There are some other solutions in you tube.

That being said...sailing a passport is a blast. The 34 inch beam and boyant sides provide more stability than I thought. The mirage ST fins are sufficient in my opinion. And it's a revelation to this old sailor that light pedaling provides excellent tracking. You can surf swells pretty easily..it looks like the bow will pearl but it does rise up and scoots along pretty good. Old sailors at first will be turning the tiller like a sailboat at first and sitting facing forward is always interesting...of course you will capsize on occasion. Part of the fun. I had no problem righting the kayak but you may want to try it first in a harbor.