Canoes and Canoeing, Pt.1
by C. Bowyer Vaux

Courtesy: Dragonfly Canoe Works

The sail plays the principal part when canoe cruising is done on open water. A sailing canoe is much more complicated than a paddler. It must have a rudder, a centreboard or keel, besides one or more suits of two sails. The canoeman used to sit on the bottom for sailing, but the deck position has so many advantages that it is now universally taken. 

Canoes are sailed exactly in the same way as a larger boat, and the canoe racing rules are almost exactly the same as those for the yacht racing. The paddle is always carried when sailing, to use in case the wind fails.

There is not a prettier thing in the world than a canoe under sail. It is a little butterfly on the water. If you want to see a pretty sight, go to one of the American Canoe Association's annual meets and watch a canoe sailing race, where twenty or more of these little fellows cross a line and sail over a triangular course in sight all the time. Every style of canoe, sail, and rig maybe seen along the shore and on the water during the two weeks of the meet, and more can be learned in a half day's study of them than in a year of reading.