Turning a 14' rec kayak into a sailboat
Dan Reiber, Mayfield Village, Ohio

My goal is to design a relatively inexpensive DIY plan to convert a 14 ft sit-in recreational kayak into a sailboat. As you can see in the on-the-water photo, the design consists of:

 - ACA lateen main sail. This is a one-design 44 sq ft sail from a racing sail canoe.
- Tripod mast. It is easy to raise or lower, and it centers most of the lateral-resistance and center-of-effort forces onto the aluminum cross pipe that holds the leeboard.
- Outriggers These are inexpensive PVC thin-wall 6” dia pipes, sealed at both ends with 1-gallon plastic bottles. They are bent slightly upward toward the front.
- Leeboard It is a modified Mirror Dinghy daggerboard.
- Rudder The kick-up rudder, tiller, and tiller extension are made from spare parts.

The bare-bones initial design is shown in this photo. Stainless-steel hose clamps of various sizes abound. I had to overcome some structural problems involving the tripod mast. Two tripod tubes are connected to the aluminum cross pipe with a special fitting. It is made from an iron pipe collar, slit to hold a stainless-steel tab, welded in place. The tab fits up into the tripod tube, and a thru bolt locks them together. The forward tripod tube locks to an eye strap, hose-clamped to the aluminum deck pipe, with a pushpin. The double push-rod to the rudder was replaced by a more conventional tiller. I found the design to tack and gybe easily, but it was not particularly fast compared to other 14 ft. sailboats.

The last photo shows several important modifications resulting from test-sailing the initial design. At my sailing cub, I compete in handicap racing with Sunfish and Lasers, so my sailing designs must be reasonably fast. These modifications made a difference:

- Splash guards. These are very important for kayaks moving rapidly thru waves.
- Jib sail. Definitely faster and worth the extra lines and gear.
- Jib sail guide/guard. Keeps the jib from snagging on the lateen spars.
- Raised outriggers. Think of them as training wheels to prevent a capsize.
- Gunwale seating. To keep the kayak flat and the outriggers out of the water for less drag, you must be able to quickly and easily shift your weight laterally.

The real test will come this summer when I test-sail it in white-capping conditions!

About the tripod mast: A recreational kayak is designed for paddling, so may not have the structural integrity to support a mast as does a sailboat or sailcanoe. If the conversion to a sailcraft includes a cross pipe to support a pair of outriggers, then a tripod mast might be appropriate, especially if the leeboard is attached to (pivots on) the cross pipe and you want a raked mast. The forward leg of the tripod could be the mast itself, and could extend well above the connection point to the other two legs.  The major forces of wind and water would be exerted more on the cross pipe, less on the kayak hull.

If you sketch top and side views, you would find the leeboard's position coincides with the center of effort of the sail on a raked mast for a balanced rig. Also, if the tripod tubes mount to the cross pipe outboard toward the outriggers, the boom could swing further out before hitting the tripod tubes.

The mast must have a rope slot along the aft side so the mainsail can be hoisted beyond where the tripod attaches to the mast. Possibly, this connection could be a slide bracket that would allow the mast to be removed for storage or trailering. The tripod mast assembly should be sufficiently strong to support a mainsail with jib and spinnaker when sailing with the added stability of outriggers.

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