Layman needs help w/ canoe sailing

I recently decided I will build a sail for my canoe. There are many sail kits available to buy for canoes but I do want to make my own. One problem, I don't know the first thing about sailing. Could someone point me in the direction of a web site that has basic sailing information including terminology and types of sails. A lot of what I am reading I don't understand because I don't know sailing terms. And authors discuss advantages and disadvantages of different sail designs. I don't know the first thing about these different designs.

I would be greatful for any help, thanks.

P.S.
My canoe is 17'6" and I plan to build the frame for the sail out of aluminum.

 

Try finding - Canoe Rig: the essence and the art : sailpower for antique and traditional canoes by Todd Bradshaw it has some pretty good info including how to design and make your own sails

 

Markseven, My first sailing vessel was a fifteen foot grumman aluminum canoe. I fitted it with outriggers and a sprit sail. The mast is twelve feet tall and the sail is polyester taffita. she can be way over canvased in strong breezes but she sure is fun to sail. I steer with a paddle which is needed when we tack.Your sail doesn't need a frame, e-mail me for more detail. Ross Hill, Bel air, Md

 

By Frame I mean Mast and all that other stuff I don't know what it is called so I just called it a frame. Ssor do you have a leeboard on your canoe. (if thats not the right word I mean the fixed rudder like thing that goes into the water on the side of the canoe).

Is a spirit sail a brand of sail or style/type?

 

I learned to sail by outfitting a 16' fiberglass canoe for sail, so I know where you're coming from!

I think a lot of the details depend on the construction of your canoe. For mine, there was a rounded aluminum gunwale that would have been hard to clamp anything to it. And I didn't want to make any changes that would affect the ability to use the canoe without the sail rig. The seats on this particular boat had fiberglass pans with aluminum tubes through-bolted to the gunwales and bent in a U shape to drop the seat to the correct level. We'd also replaced the aluminum center thwart with a plywood portage yoke.

I got some aluminum extrusions from a hardware store that I attached to the bolts holding the front seat and led them straight back to bolt to the center thwart. I mounted the leeboard thwart to these rails with U bolts so I could slide it fore and aft to get the best balance for the boat.

The boards were made of 3/4" thick mahogany and probably extended into the water about 3 feet. The chord IIRC was about 8" - 9", so aspect ratio was around 4 or 5. They were shaped to a flat-bottomed airfoil section with the flat side to the outside. The boards included a handle that extended up and a bit aft. I led shock cord from the handle forward to the seat and had a pendant from each handle with a hook on the end. To lower the board, I pulled on the pendant and hooked it on the center thwart. To retract the windward board after a tack, all I had to do was cast off the pendant. The rake in the handle allowed the shock cord to hold the board out of the water.

I never got around to making a rudder for it - just steered with a paddle. That was actually quite handy - hold it as a rudder on the windward or give an occaisonal sweep stroke to head down. The boat was so well balanced that it didn't take much steering.

To hold the mast, I just cut a hole in the forward seat pan right next to the aft tube. I glassed a wood block with a hole in it to the bottom to form the mast step. I used a lateen rig from a Sunflower sail boat (same as the styrofoam Snark's). It was the right size and the canoe and boards were so much more efficient that I could literally sail circles around a Sunflower.

Good luck!

 

Markseven, Yes, I used a leeboard, otherwise you go sideways almost as fast as you go forward. A sprit sail is an irregular rectangle with one long edge laced to the mast and the other top corner held up with a long stick, the lower end of which is supported at the mast with a rope called a snotter. The lower back corner (closest to the stern) has a rope attached to it and pulled to control the position of the sail. This is the least complicated method that I can think of and it can be refined to any extent that is desired. Remember that you must counter the thrust of the wind on the sail either with an outrigger and streamlined float or by shifting your weight towards the windward side of the canoe and be always ready to let the sail spill the wind in a sudden gust.(You let the control rope out some) Just to confuse you the control rope is called a sheet. I know, the sail looks more like a sheet but sailors have to name things kinda weird so that non-sailors won't know what we're talking about.

 

Check Out this site

I am working on a similar project. I am thinking of using 1 and 1/2 inch conduit tubing as my spar. I will probably use a white poly tarp and gromet tool to make the sail. It will probably be about 60 sq feet. I am building my canoe with a centerboard, but adding lee boards to an existing canoe seems like it would be easy enough. Good luck, canoes move real easy so the rig doesn't need to be complex.
http://www.friend.ly.net/~dadadata/boats.html

 

I found this book online here it is it might help you. It discusses rigs on small boats. http://www.glen-l.com/free-book/rigging-small-sailboats.html#contents