Engineering A Furl System (Part One)

Just wanted to share briefly the first steps I've made in preparing my Hobie Revolution for sailing and especially for fishing while under sail. I think I have read every post made on forums on the Internet on how to rig a Revo for sailing. I have talked to a few Adventure Island owners who have shared with me their understanding of the furl system and have studied the engineering that Hobie has put into the AI furl system. Kate at P & P Kayaks here in Kona has also been a tremendous wealth of knowledge and I want to thank everyone who made the effort to share with me their thoughts on creating a furl system.

When you look at the pictures in this article, I might have over thought this one out, but the reason for my design is based on the limited space available when dealing with the sailing mast, mast mount and front hatch on the Revo. A perfect design is the AI and my design works in concept to the AI. I also wanted an easy tear down of the furl system so that I can go back to my standard way of fishing if I choose to do so with my ram mount balls and rod holders. Secondly, keeping it out of the mirage drive pedal system was as important to my design. It might be overkill, but I am sure it will work. You will be able to see a step-by-step process of how I engineered the furl system in the members section in the next coming weeks with a parts list and video of how it works. I still need to add the cleats and blocks to the main sheet once my order arrives. So there will be a "Step Two" to this article coming shortly.

I'm real excited to learning how to sail because I have never done it before and this will add a new dimension to kayak fishing. I'm a big fan of Josh Holmes of YakAss.net who sails and fishes from his AI and I have learned a lot from following his website. Sailing has new terminology in words and sometimes when I am talking to a sailor, I have no clue what they are saying! And the best thing about kayak sailing, it's going to make kayak fishing even better because it will give me another avenue to escape. It's like listening to the Christopher Cross song, "Sailing" and just letting go of the pressures of having to catch a fish, making new videos for YakHawaii, writing new articles to keep this site fresh and so forth. I really put the pressure on me this time after making the YakHawaii website. But it goes along with the territory and it's still fun. I really look forward to sharing what I've learned and really... this is what YakHawaii is all about! So here are the first few shots of my Hobie Revolution furl system with more to follow in the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

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