As is so often the case with me and sailing it was blowing like crazy until literally the second I put the kayak in the water and then the wind completely died. A bit frustrating but we decided to use the opportunity to do a little bit of sail rolling practice on camera. I deliberately did this before practicing any other rolls just so my roll would be as bad as possible to simulate more of a real life scenario.
The first roll that I did was with the sail sheeted at 45° to the axis of the boat, which is a pretty common position, you’re almost never close hauled in a kayak.
In this position I wasn’t able to roll with the paddle in normal position but I was easily able to roll with the paddle extended. Side sculling skills were very helpful in allowing me to pull the sail up to the waters surface and get a breath before attempting the roll.
After doing a few of these rolls I sheeted the sail all the way in and predictably the scooping action prevented rolling up until I released the sheet. This is why I’m adamant about only using an open clam cleat on the sheet. Whether it’s a sudden gust or a rolling scenario, I need to be able to swipe blindly to get rid of that line.
My roll technique is horrible here, but that’s also pretty normal. After a lifetime of paddling I’ve yet to see anyone come up from a real life combat roll with their head down. My rolls look lovely during Greenland rolling practice but this is how things tend to go down in the heat of battle.
I don’t feel like everyone needs to have rolling skills to safely paddle a kayak but everyone should have some way to get back into a safe situation. This is even more important with a sail because unlike regular paddling where accidental capsize is actually pretty rare, with a sail you WILL end up in the water from time to time.
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