Since I got my kayak back in May I've had an ambition to turn her into a sail boat. She's incredibly light, around 8kg, which was one of the selling points. So I'd want to make a rig light to keep her portable. After a lot of reading on the science of sailing (I've sailed since I was a lad, but never really took it too seriously) I decided I could build something out of aluminium profile. The best way to describe this is "Meccano for grown-ups".

I researched, sketched, researched again and redesigned. Eventually I felt I had a design that could work and started sourcing parts from various sellers. Aluminium profile for the frame, paddles for the leeboards and rudder, a mainsail and mast from a one-man shop in the North. I found a second-hand Laser Pico jib on ebay, shortened it by trimming the foot off and re-stitched it with a hand awl. The mast, leeboards and outriggers are attached with clamps normally used for TV set scaffolding.

The mainsail is a boomless sprit, so the sheet needs to be attached well aft and outward to get a good sail shape. I made a rope traveller with another section of profile, some cord and a sliding sheet block that should allow the sheet to swing into position through tacks and jibes. This serves a dual purpose, with rowlocks on the underside for attaching the rudder paddles.

Finally finished, she's packed up ready to go. Now for the moment of truth, testing the rig on the water...