Here's a little item (Link Below) you will find handy when determining the location for the mast/sail and the leeboards. One thing to keep in mind about the leeboards. The leeboards hang from a pivot bolt near the top of the board. When you LIFT the board up at various angles
during sailing, the center of resistance will move farther AFT the higher you pick up the boards....making the boat fall off the wind more. This is "Lee Helm". This alters the balance between the center of effort (the sail) and the center of resistance (The boards). So after sailing the boat, you can move the entire lee board fixture forward just a little so you can have the adjustment work both ways.
So this will allow you to fine adjust the balance
while sailing when you encounter "weather helm" or "lee helm". The rudder takes care of Lee helm and Weather helm normally, but board adjustment helps take some of the effort out of steering in brisk conditions.
If you make your mast "Step" with lets say
Three different sockets in a row... fore and aft, maybe 3 inches apart, this will give you further options for balancing the boat for different loads and conditions. Eventually you will settle on ONE location and use that location most of the time.
The
Length of the boat BTW is completely irrelevant to this exercise. As a general rule, a longer boat will go faster.
BTW: Sailing a canoe will NOT be a "
Sit in the bottom of the boat" on a cushion with a cocktail in your hand experience. You WILL be required to be
Very Agile and ready to SIT up on the rail at an instants notice to prevent capsizing in a puff.
NB
http://www.seawindrc.com/sail%20maki...f%20Effort.asp