Sail Canoe Maiden Voyage!

Finally had a nice day and some bigger water and wind! We couldn't be more pleased! We definitely have some tweaks to make, but overall everything was very successful.

If you're curious to find out more specifics, check out the build videos or ask in the comments. If enough folks have questions it would be an easy task to film something in more detail for you. As always, we'd love to hear your suggestions.

[greencommando]

6:40 AM Wednesday 27 NOVEMBER 2024. Thank you sir for sharing your knowledge and your adventure to us. Hi👋 from Malaysia 🇲🇾

[ThestGurehaundo]

That's a handsome felucca. Sail like an Egyptian...

[harrymoto]

Perfect rig for a canoe, low and self tacking. Getting it sailing was SO COOL! That moment when you realize you've harnessed nature and it's moving your boat for you; Priceless! Thanks for sharing!

[crippledkitty]

Awesome! Yeah the lateen is perfect for light winds.

[rodneyjordan]

You got 3 thumbs down. People amaze me. Two guys are having an incredible time and someone doesn't like it. Congrats on a job well done.

[roadtime]

I like the idea, probably try it myself.
Thanks for sharing this.

[paulpa]

awesome job brother. harness that wind!!!

[ilariochiera]

Try to beam reech if you want to fly. And if you scare your pants add little floats on each side like a little trimaran. You will surely have a blast. Specialy on a lake. Have fun.

[Leonated]

Hell yeah! Lee boards and everything. Weirdly fast given the small sail area. Must be the slick canoe hull working its magic

[miraglmx]

Great boat. Great Video. Just one note. I would like to see Antonio with a slightly bigger screen presence. Maybe give him a catchphrase like, "now that's merz outdoors!" or "hey now!" Let's get this channel poppin'! MERZ OUTDOORS ALL DAY!!!

[allanmarks]

Greetings from Guatemala. Thank you for posting this very interesting video. I live in a small Maya village, and it is a 20 minute walk from my house to a beautiful lake. For about a month I have been viewing many sail boat designs, to help me decide what kind of boat to build. Of all the many designs I have seen, I currently find this design you present, to be the most interesting, and the closest to the design I so far have in mind building.

Your boat is a canoe. I am planning to use a setup much like you show in this video, but I have been planning to put this type of setup on a simple 16 ft. catamaran. The only thing on the boat will be me, and the sails, masts, and controls for the sail-mast.

The sail you use is apparently a lateen sail. But it looks a lot like a crab claw sail, and I am wondering if on your sail frame you could just substitute a crab claw sail for the lateen sail. I have no idea if a crab claw sail would perform better or worse than a lateen sail, but I think it would be an interesting experiment to try out.

It does seem to me that a single big sail to control is a lot easier to work with than multiple sails. I will usually be the only person on the boat, and I have no experience sailing – so simple is good.

There are 2 weather conditions I need to deal with on the lake - when the wind is not very strong, as it almost always is in the mornings, and when the wind can get pretty strong, as it often does in the afternoons. I expect that a big enough sail should work well enough to get my boat moving even in a light wind, and that a well designed catamaran with plenty of floatation in the pontoons should provide all the stability I will need in strong lake winds. Note – the lake wind is never too strong for the boats that, no matter how strong the wind is, are safely taking about 12 to 20 people from one lake village to another. The lake winds can be strong, but nothing like sea waves. Also – I really don't want to capsize, but since I will always be close enough to shore that if I do capsize, this should present no serious danger, since people will see that my boat has capsized, and pretty soon some boat will pick me up.

Question – Do you have any thoughts about which type of sail – crab claw or lateen – would work best on a boat like you have made, in the weather conditions like I have described?

[grahamfisher]

Brilliant.... DIY
I'm about to " have a go at making my own sail .. for my Hou Prospector 16

got some hot air balloon materials..

good ideas from yours

Thank you for the video guys.
Enjoy your time on the waters

🤗🤗👍👍🌊🌊⛵🌊🌊🤪😜🤪😜🤘🤙🤘🤘🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

[misterbulger]

I want to make some mylar sails... I do believe that's what a space blanket is made of. Also racing sail boats have mylar sails.

[branni]

This is awesome! Have you managed to reef/furl the sail? Such a great idea/design as you can still row and paddle but also sail! Thanks!

[LNM]

Ypu can't argue with that. Fuckin brilliant, absolutely fuckin brilliant lads.

[rodmanjohnson]

FANTASTIC! I have the same canoe and I'm working on an outrigger, but this looks more simple . . .

I'm wondering about the cable(?) loops you've got attached to the black rail? You've used the to connect pulleys & such. T

The lateen rig does seem the way to go . . .

[Schallerotto]

Congratulations for the Idea! I'll try that! What is the sail's pole made of?

[Helliconia]

Thought you'd like to know. That rig is already around. Google the Romy sail rig. Looks good. Yours i mean simple set up. No special mast. With the spar between the two uprights it should be self tacking

[tadatada]

Ballast can be most important thing in boat! Read about Swedish warship "Vasa" :)

[LNM]

Excellent stuff !! I can only assume the thumbs down people did so in error.