Wow, thanks! Glad you found it interesting and useful.

It is, Ray is the best.

Thank you. Looking forward to paddling/sailing with you again soon (wish).

Thank you very much! Yep a lot of hours. There are more efficient sails out there but this packs small and suits what I do. Yep Billie is very good in a boat but I think he enjoyed the shore time more with plenty of splashing. Again thank you.

Thank you very much. More to come. Some waiting to be edited but a lot more to be filmed once lockdown is over.

Glad you enjoyed it! Yep Billie is quite special

Thank you. Yep my dog does enjoy it as long as he has plenty of chance to run around between sessions.

Thank you. No snow here yet so more videos to work on in the next months.

Glad to be of service. Have fun.

Glad it was helpful! Have fun when you get around to it.

Thank you. Yep Billy is always keen to jump in the canoe. Missing it at present with lockdown.

You are very welcome and your kind comments are appreciated.

It's good. Give it a try (carefully).

That Mako shark thing has got me chuckling. Thank you so much for your kind comments

@@RayGoodwinCanoe I live in Canada and own a 16ft sportspal with the option of putting a sail in the front I would love to develop these skills 😀 Mr mako lol

Yep it is a very simple rig and does well for me as it is easy to carry and rig. Billie so enjoys being in the canoe. Thanks for commentating.

Glad it inspired you to have a go. Have fun

Thank you. Appreciated.

Glad you enjoyed it

Glad it was helpful! Thank you

Its good to have safe place to practice. It can easily go wrong in the early learning stages. Have fun.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe I fully expect to get some swimming and self rescue practice in while learning to sail. lol

It was! Love my time out there sailing.

It is good fun.

It is indeed.😁

Thank you for your kind comments. Appreciated

Thank you kindly

S CHO Thank you. Appreciated

It is good fun.

Sounds like you had an adventurous childhood. Thank you for your kind comment on the videos. Appreciated

That is some first mate. Yep I think I would appreciate being rafted with that one

You are so welcome!

Hoagietime FPV: good stuff. It is good fun and this method is one of the less technical ones. Some take it very seriously and have lee board and rudders

Great fun as well. But as you say better to build up the skills in easier places. Have fun with your first canoe.

made me chuckle. Yep a bit of paddling straight before charging about under sail. Have fun

Glad you think so!

Thank you. Would have liked to see the camp towel sailing ;-)

Yep Billie is a reasonably good canoe dog but he does like to move around a lot. Yep dogs are good company.

Billie is good! Very used to being in canoes.

Fair enough! I do have a picture in my book of brolly sailing. Mind we did manage to invert the brolly in the end. Thanks Al

Thank you. Yep it does get exciting at times.

Glad you enjoyed it. There are better canoe sailers out there but I really enjoy it and know my limits.

He is good. Never can have too many eyes looking for pirates.

Thank you. Have you seen or tried any of the specialist sea kayak sail rigs?

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Nah. But im super interested now 😆. Sounds cool

It is not as efficient as using a lee board but it is a lot of fun. Thanks for commenting

Glad you think so! Thanks

callmebigpapa Yes it would but I think I would go for a bigger sail in that case. The Open Canoe Sailing Group, on Facebook, is a good source of information on that. My knowledge of outriggers is extremely limited

I am actually a member of the National Council for the Museum. A great privilege to help the museum. Yep sailing is great fun and I must practice with a more efficient rig and lee boards, as you say my current rig can only do so much. Yep it would be interesting what Bill would have made of it all. Keep well and enjoy the sailing.

Hi, Generally, in the coldest of the winter, I wear a drysuit in other than the easiest situations. It means if I take a dunk I can still continue without having to change clothing. I am supported by NRS so I use one of their drysuits. Under this fleeces and thermals (good friends use Merino wool in preference). Up until recently I have used the 5.10 Canyoneers as footwear but they have ceased production so am using a boot built for the rescue services and swift water rescue: r3sargear.com/collections/water-rescue-boots/products/bestard-sar-pro-water-rescue-boots They have worked well for me in and out of the boat. Hope that helps. Regards Ray

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question!

Thank you. As in the video the jibes are fine although the way I am set up not as fast as in a sailing dingy. A longer paddle may well help. I have been very comfortable using my beavertail paddle mainly because it is such a good steering paddle when I am working the back of the boat. But thinking about it my otter tail might give a better reach as a leeboard. In leaning forward I not only get the paddle forward but my weight changes the trim of the boat forward which helps the move to windward. Hope that helps the thinking. cheers

Thank you

Yep I like the simplicity of using a paddle as a lee board. But at the end of the day it is not as efficient as a leeboard but it does avoid carrying extra kit.

It is great fun as well. Many thanks

Hi, yep lee boards do help a lot and I even had one with me in the canoe. I thought about including it but decided against it in the end as I wanted to present a relatively simple start for most folk. Maybe I need to cover it in a later video. Maybe with my more efficient sail system that I have. Anyway have fun.

Thank you and well spotted with the leeboard. I had originally intended to include a short section on leeboards but it didn't fit time wise on the water. Perhaps I should have made the effort but there is always the future. I reckon I can sail up to 90 degrees to the wind. After than I would have to be using the leeboard and even then it is a fairly simple cut on the sail so not that efficient. I do like these simple rigs though.

Thank you

Many thanks! In the UK I get the sails and kit from: www.endlessriver.co.uk/sailing/solo-sail/

Thank you so much for your kind comment.

Yep dog is well used to it now. I get from a UK company: www.endlessriver.co.uk Until Endless river made them I had a friend that would knock them up for me.

He is such a good dog.

Hi Henry. The last ones I bought were from the Marine Superstore and 10mm size (max line). www.marinesuperstore.com/deck-hardware/cleats-and-fairleads/barton-k-cam-cleat

Hi there. No not making progress upwind, would have needed a proper leeboard and ideally a better cut and more efficient rig. The way I use it on journeys I rarely need to change tack so real efficiency in coming about isn't really that necessary: if I had a rig that was suited to going upwind then I would have to sort the change of direction and line adjustment to not lose ground. Good questions!

Sounds tremendous. What a place to canoe sai.

Yep a leeboard would help but I wanted to show the simplest system using paddle only. Perhaps I should do a second video showing it’s use? Anyway thanks for commenting.

Really good point and after using it with the crab for sailing it does leave a little loop clear but never really worried about it. I suppose I never crank the lacing up so much I cannot get a crab into it if I really need. Never varied the amount of tightness in any area when lacing. Will have a look at my own boat to check.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Cheers Ray

It is on the list but not sure when.

Hi, These are readily available in the UK and are actually a canoe pole for shallow water punting. A good number of paddling shops here stock them. So as an example: www.endlessriver.co.uk/canoe-gear/poles/ Not sure where you are based so cannot advise further. Hope that helps.

Thanks for those comments. Re camera mount: the kit is from Railblaza. I have their starports mounted on the bow and stern plates of the canoe www.railblaza.co.uk/mounts/railblaza-starport-2-pack-black.html Then the camera boom drops very easily into those www.railblaza.co.uk/electronics/cameras/railblaza-r-lock-camera-boom-600.html. I am very pleased with both the product and the resulting camera positions. HOWEVER: You must attach the camera via a operate leash to the canoe, I have seen a knock undo the locking mechanism on two occasions. one on land where I learnt my lesson, the second on the water having gone through branches. With the camera attached by strong cord to the canoe I lost nothing. Thera are dealers in Canada: www.railblaza.com/dealers/america/canada/ I have my iPhone in a waterproof case and control my GoPro via the app. Easy stuff.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Ta very much!!

Billie does like to play! Oddly enough he will never go for a swim deliberately even though he plays a lot in the water. He can swim well enough when he falls overboard or god forbid we capsized (I get a look of disgust from him in those situation).

Good question! Working away slowly on this KZfaq thing. Yep well spotted on the Leeboard.

I very sorry but I overlooked your comment. So here are the measurements: Upright on pole/mast is 57 inches (145cm). The bottom edge which is at right angles to the mast is 55 inches (140cm) including sleeve that fits over mast. The other edges run at an angle so outside edge is 72 inches (183cm) and the top edge is 44 inches (112cm). So area is a meagre 2.25 square metres or roughly 18 square feet. Again sorry for slow response but I did miss this one. Regards

Not efficiently with this rig and I have got into the habit of gybing. But with a bit of paddling to assist a tack is possible. Thank you for you comments.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe is it because you don't want the boom swipe your way, so that you position it this way and tacking becomes inefficient?

Not very. With a lee board I can make way to wind ward but the angle is small. The sail is a bit small and not cut well enough to be efficient to windward. I do have a Solway Dory rig and that is very much better and will act more like a dingy. I love this sail for the convenience but I still end up paddling into the wind.

I use either and they work equally well. Have fun learning

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Thanks. I'm sure I will😁

@@kirktongardener7180 Hi, Kirkton, I recently had a introduction to polling, Tried both Ally and Carbon . Preferred the Carbon, As found the alloy, to be cold to hold. whatever you do... Have a brilliant time on the wonderful waters. 🤗🤗🌊⛵🌊🌊🌊👍👍😜🤪😜🤘🤙🤘🤘🤩🤩🤩🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

ps the sail mast doubles as a Pole . so double bonus see Ray's polling Videos ...

I like that. Another little (golden) nugget of information to tuck away. Thanks

Really need to use the specialist kit that Solway Dory sells although I did replace the boom in one configuration with a canoe pole. The SD rigs are very good but more than I need/want for what I get up to but they do have a dedicated following. Have fun with it all.

With the weight really low in the canoe it is surprisingly stable still. Also ready to let go of the sail at any moment which takes off all the power and turning/capsize effect. Plus i practice self rescue

Excellent thank you ... 😎

Hi Vicki, what canoes do you have? I can then give a more considered answer.

Hi Ray. My go to canoe at the moment is 14' Swift solo prospector in kevlar fusion approx 28-29 lbs and am replacing my current 16' with an H2O 15 or 16' prospector in basalt/integra. I am looking at sails I can DIY and are portable. I do a fair bit of solo backcountry camping and solo canoeing. Also is your setup in this video friendly to tandem canoe or would a more forward sail be better?

@@vicki5631 Sorry for slow response. The pole is 12 feet in total so when split 6 foot each. I would think that is fine on the 15 or 16 prospector. Once used to the techniques then the 14' Swift would be a fast sailer but best learn on the wider more stable boat I think. Kind Regards Ray

Thank you for the response Ray. I appreciate the experienced advice. My greatest concern is always the safety aspect. I will follow your wise advice. We are waiting impatiently here for the water to be soft again. Cheers and kind regards.

Sadly it is not possible to really edit videos once they are uploaded to KZfaq.

Hi Graham, Best book for sail shapes would be John Bull's, 'Sail your Canoe.' Hard to get a cheap copy as it is out of print but it has masses of information on sail shapes and sizes. Mine is a simple shape and is by Endless River. Ideas: It is hard to produce these videos and I am afraid I cannot afford to have my own drone (the income from KZfaq is scarily minimal) so am very dependent of friends and when they are available. It is a good idea but will depend on having a friend available with drone and the right weather/wind conditions. I have been planning something on those lines for a while. Anyway glad it was useful and thanks for commentating.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Hi Ray, thank for taking your valuable to reply.. this open Canoeing stuff is absolutely fantastic. I've a rare condition, (5% of world population), APD, which is a social reclusive condition,, so Canoeing is such a medicine.. I'm planning to so the Scottish Lochs in May.. so really excited. keep doing the videos,, you keep us viewers so inspired. A goal, would be to do the Irish sea crossing.. your such a inspiration

Hi. I had to do a check back through some invoices. The ones I am using are: Barton 'K' Cam Cleat 10mm I am sure I have gone smaller than that on some rigs. I normally use 5mm cord so anything that will take bigger than that is good.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Spot on, thanks! A bit of googling led me to pretty much the same conclusion but thought I'd check.

I will approach Billy's agent. He don't come cheap.

kneeling. I really like the stability kneeling gives me when I am sailing.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe yes I can understand that.... is that kneeling from the seat or further forward on a thwart? I guess what I'm implying is do you assume the same trim for sailing as you would paddling or does the sail and application of forces from the wind change that?

Hi Tim, if you look closely at the bottom of the boat I had Solway Dory clip on leeboard with me. Originally I was going to use it in the video but ended up with more than enough content. Generally I don't bother with this style of sail as it is not as well cut to create shape as one made by a sail maker. You would get a slight better performance and it would be well worth the play. I have some Solway Dory made sails and they are much better shaped and bigger so I must get around to outfitting another boat to take it. With that I would definitely use a leeboard for upwind and crosswind performance.

The plan would be to fit the boat out with a lee board and side air bags, then possibly go the whole hog and buy an expedition sail kit....

Yep. But believe it or not he is a lot less random than a couple of year ago. We used to call him Billie Bonkers and the bonkers bit was well deserved.

Great boat the Penobscot: I have paddle one but not sailed it. I would think it would be fine but it would be worth joining the following facebook group and asking for comment there: facebook.com/groups/152444938788 Generally a friendly group and a lot of very very experienced canoe sailers there.

Yep a great boat the Penobscot. I would think it would do well but it maybe worth checking/joining this facebook group for some good advice facebook.com/groups/152444938788

Hi Roland. Years ago I got a friend to sow them up but now I buy them. Sail, mast foot and sailing seat by www.endlessriver.co.uk Thanks. Ray

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Thanks Ray, will check it out. Greetings from Western Canada!

Easy. I ditch the bolts and find some screws of right diameter and length.

All the poles are designed for poling off the river bed (there are two of my videos on this) so all of them are plenty strong enough with such a small sail area. Have fun

Around 90 degrees to the wind using a paddle as leeboard. With a proper leeboard I have seen someone get another 15 degrees or more.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe That's impressive. It's not easy with forward masted, small sailed, boat and no balanced position of a board, to work into the wind at all. Would be handy to pull 45deg though, ay.

Good choice of music! Some good ideas on sailing there too. I probably need to get out again with dingy sailors. Yep it is a very is very basic and I have long thought on getting a sail maker to make me up a properly cut one. Not heard of the shock cord idea: I will look to try that. Problem with a boom traveler is that it would need to be behind me, I presume, so my body will get in the way (I have tried something along these lines). Anyway thanks for the comments, useful food for thought.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Hi, While dingy and particularly racing skiffs use flexible rigs to efficiently exploit gusts, no such sailor would ever put shock chord in the sheet. However, combining extensive dinghy experience including consistent state and national placing of my youth, decades of kayaking/canoe paddling and fluid dynamics study and design, I think there may be a place for it in canoe sailing. In terms of high performance sailing, flex is a good thing but only up to a point. The basic idea is to allow the peak of the sail to twist off in a gust to automatically spill excess heeling moment in exchange for low drag. This is what the square top sails on race boats are all about (leverage to twist off). However excess twist can cause the peak of the sail to reverse camber (curve) which is of course bad for drag. Your rig appears quite stiff but adding shock cord to the sheet will allow the sail to twist off in a similar manner but success will likely depend on getting the thickness and length of the shock cord right. Would take a little experimenting to get right but, much simpler than messing about with spar flex, rig tensions etc so worth a go I think. I could give you some pointers on the subject of efficient sail plan shape if you would like. There are different approaches but the same basic issues of drive force vs healing moment. European vs mid east vs Polynesian solutions. If you want to enter into that discussion, let me know.

Thank you. I do have a bigger sail system but this is nice to pop into the canoe for general use and great for for beginners.

I do have a lee board that I can use, that would make it more efficient to windward. But the limiting factor is the sail shape and size. I is a very simple cut but not by a sail maker who would create a better shape. So I would say this particular rig is inefficient going to windward.

Hard one to answer. I have certainly done this with a 17' canoe including a crossing of the Irish Sea (22 hours in the boat). Smaller boats than that it will come down to the size of the people on board. Friends of mine sail there 16' Wenonah Prospector in that configuration but they are both small. Other than that keep the weight low.

Thanks Ray, great video and it’s got me inspired to have a proper sailing rig rather than using a tarp. I’ve got a 16’ Old Town Scout and I think I’ll have to try solo first then maybe see if another person can join in - might be a wet day!

Hi Elena, I wouldn't bother with this rig for a sit on top. I would look more at the sea kayak rigs. This article has some good information and links www.phseakayaks.com/blog/sea-kayak-sailing-enhancing-the-seafaring-experience/ Hope that helps

I think we would have to add 'used to be'. That was some 25 years ago. Mind the crossing has only been done once since.

It certainly does make a big difference. The other canoe I sail is a Venture Afon which is designed for serious white water and has a lot of rocker, very stable in open water and dry but it has little bite on the water so has much more sideways drift when going across the wind. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ir-kicZ0md-ckas.html

Nevermind! Just seen your sailing video on your Venture Afon! 14ft is well able to handle a sail. Thanks again for the videos.

@@aifs2po The Afon is a fairly wide boat so is easy to sail as it is very stable. The Firefly is only 32' wide so will feel a little more twitchy so just be careful where you practise/play to start with. It should be a very fast boat with the same sail as I am using. In fact a lot of fun. Great little boat so have a good time with it.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Great! Thanks for the info, didn't think of the width... Will leave the dog behind on the first few runs! :P

I tend to have to look every time I outfit a boat so I have no preferred brand. I have bought from ebay, amazon and specialist stores over the years and the end result seems fine in all cases. Sorry I cannot be more useful.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Your advice is always useful. Thanks again Ray and have a wonderful day. 👍

Have fun and I look forward to hearing about it

Dedicated canoe sailors will often use a stern mounted rudder for steering. When I am using the paddle on the side of the canoe that is replaced by some by a leeboard to stop the sideways drift and to enable the sailing vessel to go to windward. Hope that helps.

I will have a play with that. Nice idea

I so sorry but I don't. before a couple of companies produced these in the UK we had to get our own sown up. I think my first two were 'homemade'. For a mast foot I tried various things before we could buy them and the best I did was an inflation port for a white water rubber raft (I had to cut out the metal insert). If you do come across a company doing them in America let me know and I will pass it on to others.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe yes, I think that’s how I’ll have to proceed. Thanks for the information.