Ready made canoes designed for sailing.
Solway Dory in the UK have been designing and building sailing canoes for over 30 years. They have a range of superb canoes and rigs for those who would rather buy an off the shelf boat. An advantage of purchasing a ready made boat is that the canoe and the rig will perform. You won’t have to ‘tune’ the foils (lee board and rudder) or the mast position to set the boat up properly for sailing.
The Curlew Open Solo Sailing canoe
Length: 14ft 6”
Beam 40 inches
Stripped weight 75lbs
The Curlew is designed as a solo sailing canoe. It’s undecked which makes it easier for one to mount it on the car roof. The short length means it tacks a bit easier than some of the longer canoes.
The curlew is usually rigged with the Solway Dory single Bermudan Sail rig but can be fitted out with a Lug sail ketch rig (SD’s expedition rig) if preferred.
Left: The Curlew under sail
Osprey Cruising Beach Canoe
Length 16ft
Beam (with outriggers 10ft)
Weight (main hull 90lb) Rigged and assembled (189lbs)
The Osprey is a proper trimaran and typically rigged with a Bermudan ketch rig. The boat can carry two adults and can be taken to bits and assembled in 10 minutes and is car-topable. This is a serious set up and is sea worthy enough to tackle some serious trips. It’s also Solway Dory’s fastest, most comfortable and easy to sail canoe. The sail area is 75 sq ft ( a Mirror Dinghy carries 69sqft with main & jib)
Little Egret
Length 14’3”
Beam 30”
Weight 45lbs
Cost (with rig) £1750
The Little Egret is a lightweight solo sailing canoe which is also efficient for paddling. It’s light weight means it is quick to deploy. Paddling is easy but the novice might find it a bit tippy on plat water. The canoe can be rigged with SD’s expedition rig as a single lugsail. The rig includes a lee board but not a rudder, with the Little Egret you use the paddle as a steering oar (think Viking)
Solway Dory also design and sell decked sailing canoes, we haven’t featured them here because we are focusing on open canoes. However, we would recommend checking out the SD site at www.solwaydory.co.uk
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