NorCal Kayak Anglers

General => Kayak Sailing => Topic started by: NowhereMan on July 06, 2018, 08:27:17 PM

Title: Hobie AI spinnaker mod
Post by: NowhereMan on July 06, 2018, 08:27:17 PM
I've got the AI spinnaker kit and love the sail. But the default placement of the snuffer bag (between the aka bars) is a snagging hazard when fishing, and the ama can't be folded in. So, I almost never use it when fishing.

I experimented with a furling system (including a cool DIY continuous furler) and got it to work well. It's nice in that it keeps the sail completely out of the way. The biggest down side is that it catches some wind, even when furled. I really noticed it on Wednesday when a fairly light breeze was pushing me around enough to make it hard to fish exactly where I wanted to fish.

Today, I came up with what I think will be a better solution. I installed a mini bowsprit and put the snuffer at the front of the kayak. I don't use that space for anything else, and everything seems to work well--it's easy to fly the sail, and even easier to douse it than in the original configuration.

I'm hoping to get a lot of use out of this sail over the rest of this summer...

Title: Re: Hobie AI spinnaker mod
Post by: NowhereMan on July 07, 2018, 08:20:37 AM
And here's the only thing that permanently attached. It makes a nice handle...