Kayak or canoe sail without spars

[Rainbow Lake Otca]

I found what was labeled as a kayak sail at a jumble/garage/yard sale, It's a circle of international orange fabric with three clear "windows" and four webbing attachment points for lines and a fairly stiff metal strap in a seam all around the circle. The bag has lines (parachute cord) in it but no manufacturer's name anywhere or any instructions on use. A web search turned up a company in Australia that sells a similar item, only a little different as it has only a single flexible plastic 'window.'
Years ago we used two paddles and a large plastic garbage bag to good effect on a dead downwind run on Raquette Lake in the Adirodacks, There were whitecaps toward the end of the lake near the takeout, paddling or sailing it was hard to keep our 17 foot Old Town Otca from broaching. Oddly, it is a sailing canoe, but as we were camping, there was not enough room for us to have brought: rudder, leeboard brace, leeboards, mast, gaff and boom. Plus there was a short carry (Portage) which was tough enough with this beautiful but heavy wood canvas canoe.
So two questions about my circular kayak sail, Has anyone rigged one of these? I'm a pretty experienced sailor and have used a spinnaker, but would love to hear someone's practical experience. The Australian maker's site had a little video which showed line from the top of the sail, outside of everything to allow the sail to be struck (collapsed) in an emergency, perhaps the tack and clew could be tied off and the sides of the sail (luff and leach) held and adjusted by hand?

 

[MGC]

Rainbow Lake, as in South Colton Raquette flow? I have an old rudder and a sail from a sailing canoe that came from there.... a long deck Rushton.
Raquette Lake can absolutely kick. I recall a crossing from Marrion stream in our 20 foot canoe. My wife and I had our two sons and our gear on board and were trying to get around the head of Indian Point to somewhere around Watch Point to get out of the wind, but a thunderstorm had rolled in on us along with crazy winds and whitecaps hard on our starboard rail. Sailing was not on our minds although coming around and running down wind was being discussed. What prevented that was the thought of smashing into the North side of the point.
The thought of a round sail on a kayak is literally making me laugh when I think about how that wind on Raquette would take you away. I am reminded of the time I decided that Skijoring with my husky would be fun. It was until I realized there was no way to stop or direct the dog. Any husky owner should relate. Queue up hellhound train.
There are several serious canoe sailors who frequent this site. There are also several sail makers. If one of them does not chime in here, I'll PM you a couple names.
Or, they may also list in the Builders/Suppliers directory.... take a peek. https://www.woodencanoe.org/builders-suppliers

 

[John Sand]

I bought one but haven't tried it. I think there are similar sails on Ebay and Amazon, maybe one of the makers has videos.
Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

There are several companies making this type and they all work pretty much the same way. Here is a video:

 

[Rainbow Lake Otca]

Hi MGC,
Rainbow Lake in the Eckford Chain, north of Saranac Lake, near Paul Smiths. See Jamison's Adirondack Waters North Flow. Weed choked Jones Pond (aka Lake Lucrecia) then a significant carry, Rainbow Lake (bisected by one of the most distinct eskers in the Adirondacks, Rainbow River to Lake Kushaqua, then Mud Pond (below the Kushaqua Dam).
We carried over the Marion River Carry (once the location of the shortest standard gauge railroad in the US, The Railroad's equipment is at the Adirondack "Experience" Museum.
After our experience on Raquette Lake we heard the body of water referred to as "The Raquette Ocean." Sounds like you can relate. Thanks for taking time to recount your challenging experience, Also love the skijoring adventure with your husky. Away they went, never to be seen again.
Thanks for the suggestion on the builders-suppliers, I'll check it out.

 

[Rainbow Lake Otca]

Todd,
Thanks! This video is exactly what I needed. Plus, it shows how to get the silly thing back in the bag (not a simple undertaking). I'll report back if I've had a chance to try the sail out this summer.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

It takes some practice to fold the hoop, but it's not too bad. Back when I worked as a hot air balloon pilot, there was a similar hoop on the skirt part hanging down at the bottom of the envelope, only it was maybe 8' in diameter. We would stand on one side on the ground and twist on the top side. It folded down to a small enough circle to fit into the big duffel bag that the balloon stored in.

 

[Rainbow Lake Otca]

Todd,
A balloon aviator, awesome, we have flown three times, once out of our back yard as a anniversary present from a group of friends, once in Colorado with a family party and in Bagan, Myanmar (Burma) over hundreds of temples. Ballooning has a little of the stillness and movement of canoeing. On the local flight we helped the pilot and the chase crew put the basket and envelope back in the chase vehicle. Phew!

 

[MGC]

RBL, Thanks for the follow-up. And Todd, thanks for bringing up ballooning. It makes sense (at least to me) that a sailmaker would be involved in that. When we lived in the Southern Tier, balloons were a daily guest in our valley. My buddy and I once got a nice shower on the Chenango River from a basket that the balloonist (his name deliberately held back) got stuck in the current while screwing around doing touch and goes off the river. We were practicing for a race and headed downstream in the direction of the balloon and it (the basket) was getting pulled in the same direction as the nameless and brainless flier was trying desperately to get it to lift. It did just in time for us to pass below. He has since lost his license....he was fun to fly with, but some of his stunts were very questionable.
RBL, the cool random thing that happened on that day on Raquette was that we were forced to the shore by the storm. We could not get to a lean to so we put our tent up in the woods. The next morning we discovered were camped very close to an old boat hull that was abandoned in the woods. It was (I believe) identical to the Water Witch, the famous Idem class boat on display at the ADK museum in Blue Mountain Lake. It's still there as far as I know. Your Rainbow Lake is not all that far from mine....the Park is full of great places.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

I spent about three years flying an advertising balloon shaped like a big tomato for a chain of pizza stores and repairing and inspecting balloons, working with an FAA inspector on the side. It was mostly fun. For example, when you descend at moderate speed, it snows upward. It didn't pay particularly well though, and I couldn't do it forever. Switching to sailmaking had a lot less potential liability and regulations.