404 
FOREST 
AND STREAM 
SEPTEMBER, 1917 
HOW TO SAIL THE OPEN CANOE 
IV. NAVIGATING THE EQUIPPED CRAFT-THE AMER¬ 
ICAN CANOE ASSOCIATION’S RULES FOR SAILING RACES 
By JULE F. MARSHALL 
(Technical words and phrases are printed 
in italics, to impress them on the reader’s 
memory .) 
T HE canoe equipped for sailing, as de¬ 
scribed in the three previous articles 
of this series, is a mechanical device, 
nearly perfect and awaiting our bidding. 
Now that she is rigged, we will take her 
out for a sail. Our inspection shows that 
her fittings are securely fastened; thus we 
the water, aft. The canoe sheers off, al¬ 
lowing the wind to exert pressure on the 
sail, which causes the craft to bear dway 
on a beat into the wind. This is also known 
as tacking. If you keep her headed to¬ 
ward some particular point, an apparent 
straining pressure is felt on the paddle, 
know r n as weather helm. To relieve this, 
the sheet is eased out until the sail is draw¬ 
ing with all its power and without a flut¬ 
ter. I\ow effort and resistance have 
A 
/ 
A craft with advantages that no other yachtsman can boast of 
avoid possible accidents due to negligence. 
With everything ship-shape, the canoe is 
placed in the water and the canoeist takes 
his place, sitting on a pad in the bottom 
of the canoe, and in the center so that the 
canoe lies on an even keel. The canoe is 
then paddled away to deep water, free of 
all obstructions that may cause entangle¬ 
ments or back-drafts. 
Pointing the canoe’s bow into the eye of 
the wind, lower the leeboard into position. 
Then hoist the sail and after drawing all 
the play out of the halliard cleet it secure¬ 
ly. With the sail blown straight back over 
the center of the canoe, without wind pres¬ 
sure on either side, we find ourselves in 
stays. Now drop the steering paddle into 
reached a nearly perfect medium of ease, 
and the craft springs away like a fright¬ 
ened deer with all its speed and grace. As 
the course of the canoe is changed, the 
angle of the sail is altered likewise. 
When you have caught the knack of sail¬ 
ing thus, you will find that on either side 
there is a sponsor of safety, no matter how 
strong the breeze may be. If the paddle is 
lifted out of water, the canoe will at once 
luff up into the eye of the wind. If the 
sheet is loosened, so that the wind is spilled 
from the sail, the canoe will immediately 
come to an upright position and headway 
will cease. In either manner, collisions 
and danger of upsets from sudden squalls 
can be avoided. 
Hold the canoe up on an even keel as 
much as possible. But if she must heel 
over, let her go—and you will experience 
the real thrills of sailing. Keep your seat 
in the bottom, but shove your legs as far 
outboard to windward as possible. In this 
way a severe exertion on the sail can be 
counteracted and a good balance main¬ 
tained. The legs can be swung in and 
out to accommodate the varying pressure 
of the wind. By this method of balancing, 
the canoe-man may remain in a reclining 
position and thus keep the weight of live 
ballast low. 
Never sit on the gunwale for balancing 
purposes. This not only results in sudden 
spills, but is too great a strain on the sides 
of the frail boat, which is already standing 
all it can from the pressure in opposite di¬ 
rections, exerted on sail and lee-board. In 
light breezes, often the swinging of an 
arm or a leg inside the canoe will effect 
enough balance to counteract the changes 
in wind pressure. 
B EFORE coming about from one tack 
to another, assure the canoe a full 
headway of speed by running off the 
wind a point or two. Change your paddle 
to the windward side and start steering, 
at the same time gradually drawing in the 
sheet. The canoe will come up into the 
wind and wear around on the opposite tack 
without losing headway, and without the 
aid of a forward stroke of the paddle. 
This process of coming about can be 
hastened in two ways. The first is by 
leaning well forward in your sitting po¬ 
sition, causing the bow to be forced down 
so that the canoe pivots on that end—which 
likewise allows the wind to blow the 
heightened stern around. The second way 
is by leaning the canoe on its leeward side 
and changing as it comes about, so that 
the pivoting is done on its rounded side 
and the straight under-water stems are 
lifted out of the water. The stems, when 
deep in the water, resist the turning. 
On the reach, which is sailing at right 
angles to the direction from which the 
wind is coming, it will still be found nec¬ 
essary to use the lee-board. But beyond ' 
that point, with a quartering breeze, the 
canoe will sail best with the board raised 
This is due to the fact that the canoe’s 
length compared with its breadth lends a 
considerable amount of lateral resistance. 
Running free, or straight before the 
wind, the sail is carried outboard at about 
a right angle to the length of the canoe. 
This direction, which is the simplest point 
on which a boat may sail, is in reality the 
most treacherous for the open canoe. Al¬ 
most all short-length sailing craft will 
u’allow when running free, but can be 
nursed back on the course by means of 
the rudder. But the canoe has no fixed 
fulcrum for propulsion or steering and it 
was never meant to have any. So in a 
heavy wind you will find that two hands 
