Chautaqua sails for Dave Gentry’s lovely SoF (Skin on Frame) sailing canoe. We have made five sets of these sails already. One with custom silkscreening on the mainsail.
Chautaqua Sailing Canoe Rig
The sails of the Chautaqua Sailing Canoe can be set up as balance or standing lugs. We have enormous resources on setting up lugsails here.
Well set up lug sails can be almost as effective as modern sail rigs, but typically are a fraction of the cost to set up. It is relatively easy to reef the sail or drop it or raise it on the water.
The crease in the mainsail in this photo is because of inadequate downhaul tension. A bit more downhaul on the lugsail and the crease disappears completely as this article explains.
Reef Point Modifications for Chautaqua Sail
We added a smaller reef to the standard one on the main.
Our experience with Sailing Canoes and other boats that heel easility is that tender boats end up being underpowered if the first reef is too large.
So an intermediate step reduces the sail slightly and brings the sail down lower. This reduces heeling moment considerably without reducing power by reducing sail area excessively.
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