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jmen24 · 03-05-2010, 10:17 AM

Ok, thank you for the responses. The kit that I am modeling the components from as mentioned is a 1930's Old Town Kit, the only thing different is the rudder setup (not interested in drilling a bracket below water line), but everything else is as this link shows. So in theory I am using a canoe sailing kit, but I was not interested in paying $300-$500 for a mast and sail. I had contemplated manufacturing my own mast and boom out of Ash, but I took the opportunity to get the sunfish setup when it presented itself.

http://dragonflycanoe.com/otacc/index.html All the wood components will be manufactured by myself and the mast step will be the only permanent fixture in the boat, for obvious reasons. I build furniture as a hobby as well as a side job for my current company for custom built-ins and cabinetry.

Is there a tried and true way to reduce the size of the sail, by moving things around in the hardware and sewing the sail size down, I will have to look the sail and mast over to verify if this is even possible. I know I want to keep the horizontal boom as close to the gunwales as possible to help balance things, so if the size gets reduced the height of the mast will be shortened to keep things low.

I have heard that the balance between the mast and the leeboards is a trial adventure (as well as very critical), but is there a common ratio for mast location based on length of vessel, it will be more than difficult to relocate that aspect of things. I don't want to just pull a measurement off the XL Tripper as it is 4 feet longer and has a 8" or so wider beam, even after scaling out, it may not be the same. It is suprising difficult to find the installation instructions for the original kit, which I am sure would explain this aspect.

Anyway, thanks for the help, my port of sail will be a friends property on Silver Lake in Tilton, usually very calm and little traffic by way of boats.

03-05-2010, 10:17 AM	#5
jmen24 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 1,139 Thanks: 223 Thanked 319 Times in 181 Posts	Ok, thank you for the responses. The kit that I am modeling the components from as mentioned is a 1930's Old Town Kit, the only thing different is the rudder setup (not interested in drilling a bracket below water line), but everything else is as this link shows. So in theory I am using a canoe sailing kit, but I was not interested in paying $300-$500 for a mast and sail. I had contemplated manufacturing my own mast and boom out of Ash, but I took the opportunity to get the sunfish setup when it presented itself. http://dragonflycanoe.com/otacc/index.html All the wood components will be manufactured by myself and the mast step will be the only permanent fixture in the boat, for obvious reasons. I build furniture as a hobby as well as a side job for my current company for custom built-ins and cabinetry. Is there a tried and true way to reduce the size of the sail, by moving things around in the hardware and sewing the sail size down, I will have to look the sail and mast over to verify if this is even possible. I know I want to keep the horizontal boom as close to the gunwales as possible to help balance things, so if the size gets reduced the height of the mast will be shortened to keep things low. I have heard that the balance between the mast and the leeboards is a trial adventure (as well as very critical), but is there a common ratio for mast location based on length of vessel, it will be more than difficult to relocate that aspect of things. I don't want to just pull a measurement off the XL Tripper as it is 4 feet longer and has a 8" or so wider beam, even after scaling out, it may not be the same. It is suprising difficult to find the installation instructions for the original kit, which I am sure would explain this aspect. Anyway, thanks for the help, my port of sail will be a friends property on Silver Lake in Tilton, usually very calm and little traffic by way of boats.