Submitted: 07-29-2009 by forrester 
I bought a pacific action 1.5 sail and put it on my Valley Roto molded Nordkapp. The short answer is the sail is awesome. I have had so much fun with the thing. When they say it adds a new dimension to kayaking its true. I have 2 friends that each have a sail. One is a wind paddle, and the other is a spirit sail. Those sails are okay for simplicity and portability. But the Pacific Action beats them in speed and kills them in maneuverability. I can sail 90 degrees off straight down wind / I have 180 degrees of practical sailing available. I have confirmed this with my gps multiple times. The other sails can not do 1/2 of that.
The cleats that come with the sail are horrible. I rigged 2 ($5 each) jam cleats to my boat and now it only takes 1 hand to adjust the line. Now I do not have to let go of my paddle to adjust the sheets. One other downside that is hard to correct is the bulkiness of the sail when it is down. It just gets in the way. As soon as I know sailing is over I head to land to take the rig off. There is no practical way to completely remove the sail away from land.
I cannot wait for my next long day wilderness trip. If it is a down wind leg I am going to beat my group to the next camp site by a lot. Nobody can beat a kayak with a sail in the right conditions. I highly recommend the Pacific Action sail. Consider buying the larger sail and remove some of the mast for a home made sail of a smaller size. |