Sailing Canoe Questions

[Rockriver]

Hello folks. Im new here and have to say I'm a few years to late. lol.
Always wanted to build a nice sailboat and finally got serious and started small.

Im building a sail canoe now thats 16' x 45" from just building. wasted a ton of wood to. I have a few questions or ideas id like to run past you.

First, Im about to start building an outrigger of 8 feet or so and had an idea. Could I build a small tough kayak or pram to use as outrigger but easily unhooked, pop off hatch, and paddle off in. I don't see why not but I don't know anything about building boats.

I also had an idea for attaching gunwales. I've got screws showing now but thought about drilling hole for 3/8 dowel to replace screw. Also thought about drilling on 20 degrees or so to give it the oval look when cleaned up? Again, please don't hesitate to enlighten me if I'm off base. lol.

lastly, how about a guard or strip of osage from bow to stern on hull? That stuff is hard as a rock. Heavy to and dense so I thought 1/4" down the center may be a good idea? Thanks for any help at all.

Tons of good info on this site! I won't sleep for days now. lol thanks, Shane

[cut3times]

You may want to take a trip up to Spooner and visit the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum. I believe there is a sailing rig on a canoe that might help you decide how to design yours.

[Todd Bradshaw]

16' x 45" and double ended should be pretty decent dimensions for a sailing canoe. You could essentially be looking at something that sails similarly to a Sunfish, only faster. Adding any outrigger probably will reduce performance and the ability to tack easily enough to make it a questionable addition at best.

When you consider that most folks don't feel comfortable in kayaks with beams narrower than a minimum of 22"-24" at the waterline, you would be adding an awfully fat outrigger and reducing performance even more with the kayak idea. If you really want to head in that direction, you probably want to reduce the main hull and go for more of a catamaran-style boat.

[johngsandusky]

Welcome aboard RockRiver!
Is this an established design or an original? I sail a 15'x28" canoe. It's pretty tender, I use ballast to help keep it up. At 45" beam you ought to have plenty of stability using just yourself. Do you have any pictures?
Todd is a real canoe expert, take his advice seriously.

[Rockriver]

Absolutely right about the kayak. I knew I was overlooking something. I’ve got a couple I can experiment with. Will be a lot of drag. I’ve never sailed anything but thought an outrigger was needed on a slim boat such a a canoe.

As as far as the style I’m building, I have no clue. This all started when I decided I was gonna build a kayak and paddle across Lake Michigan on the maiden voyage. And yes I hear the titanic theme to. Lol. I just couldn’t get the time I needed. We made the trip but I took my 12 foot ocean kayak. Rode the ferry over and paddled back to Wisconsin.

This project started with a two week boundary waters canoe trip but I was gonna build mine. I started with the bottom just guessing and re cutting to get this far. The length mark I made but I missed the width cause I didn’t think ahead. Now I got this monster so I thought I could try to sail it cause it looked like fun. Gonna rent a canoe in Minnesota for my trip or just take my kayak and go lite.

I epoxied a quarter inch strip of Osage down the hull last night as sort of a rub rail. Little more faring and it’s epox time.
somehow I ended up with a slight kick in the keel at the back. About 2’ before the end, the keel leads to the left about a quarter inch. My plan is to grind as much as I can and hope it’s enough unless I hear different. I will take some pics and see what y’all think. Just wish I had found this site waaay sooner. Thanks a lot for the tips/advice.....shane

[Greg Nolan]

You might want to check out the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association and its forums and website -- http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php

Some of its its members are very experienced canoe sailors. Here are a few pictures of various sailing canoes, taken at the WCHA's annual Assembly held every summer.

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[Rockriver]

I’m in over my head. I’ll name this one reef as it will surely be one. Lol. After lots of reading, I pretty much done everything wrong. The pics are horrible but you can see the keel problem. I did get that fixed. Straight as a string. The inside is fiberglassed in the seams and I’m getting close on the outside. Just trying to clean up all the liquid nail I used as “body filler” before I knew better. Lol. The bulkheads are glassed, interior seams glassed, keel straightened and glassed one coat. I’ll get better pics outside.

Im gonna finish this boat and if nothing else, I’ll keep it on the river slough and kids can play on it. Thanks for all the advice and I’ll surely take it....Shane
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[ahp]

45 inches is pretty beamy for a 16 ft canoe. I rigged an Old Town Otca for sailing, with a very low aspect ratio sail and found it was quite stable, and it had only a 32 inch beam, if my memory serves. Old Town sold sailing rigs for their canoes and I don't recall any outriggers.

[DeniseO30]

I’m in over my head. I’ll name this one reef as it will surely be one. Lol. After lots of reading, I pretty much done everything wrong. The pics are horrible but you can see the keel problem. I did get that fixed. Straight as a string. The inside is fiberglassed in the seams and I’m getting close on the outside. Just trying to clean up all the liquid nail I used as “body filler” before I knew better. Lol. The bulkheads are glassed, interior seams glassed, keel straightened and glassed one coat. I’ll get better pics outside.

Im gonna finish this boat and if nothing else, I’ll keep it on the river slough and kids can play on it. Thanks for all the advice and I’ll surely take it....Shane
9AB2CE99-511E-4532-A1D1-CB081A1065F3.jpg
33D9FDBD-62F2-432E-BC8E-B63E158AA4A2.jpg
.

Welcome aboard! Your name brings back a almost forgotten dream, I was going to name my wooden boat business "Rock run canoe and boat" but it never happened...

What I'm looking at doesn't look all that terrible, I don't know why you think you did everything wrong, what I do see, is the possibility of going with a centerboard or daggerboard instead of looking for outboard stability.

Building to learn to sail is a mistake (IMHO) people make because they don't want to learn via someone else, or take lessons. Sail and build just makes more sense instead of build to sail, if you think about it you may agree, or get angry.

Looking forward to more photos! I post photos almost as quickly as I write so don't try to keep up with me 🤣



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