Our own Resourceful Sailor, Joshua Wheeler, sent us this fun short clip of his canoe moving right along under square sail. Joshua calls it a "work in progress” and says if it were a fore and aft sail with a leeboard, “I’m quite certain I would have rolled the canoe. It was a little sketchy as it was.”
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Interesting. A couple of rigging suggestions:
Either fairleads or blocks to control the sheets and braces.
The sail would draw better with braces at the ends of the yard.
A boom attached at the clews would also help shape the sail.
A downhaul attached to the boom. If you want to be fancy, the downhaul could set on a track to allow location adjustment and improve upwind capability.
A leeboard would be good. Most of the canoe sailors I know use a single leeboard and use body location to keep the boat on its feet. Cruising class sailing uses fore and aft location of the live ballast to maneuver the boat similarly to the way a sailboard works, eliminating the need of a rudder. A paddle in the water on the lee side can also work in lieu of a rudder.
If the canoe is a Grumman, there is a hole in the stern for rudder attachment. I believe that Marathons have a similar hole.
This is great- I have a closet love of canoe and kayak sailing. Well not so closet lately since getting a Falcon sail rig for my kayak! I really like that square sail and I am wondering, looking at it, how similar the aerodynamics are compared to a junk rig sail? Especially as you are not fore and aft and are moving right along. I still can’t get my head around how having a sail right in the bows of a canoe/kayak works upwind, but it does. Got me thinking now if a tiny windsurfing rig would work from a seated position. Easy to let the pressure off if it gets too much. Keen to see where you go with this next!