Kayak Sailing at Tasik Temenggor

I was glad I brought the sail to Temenggor, even when I was not expecting to find wind on the forested lake. And because I lent it to Mindy, watched in envy as she and Geoff zoomed down the water with their sails. Me and Chan were left paddling in their wakes.
Although I had the sail for some time, I had never actually used it to its full potential, as I had not tried it in strong wind situation. I was telling Geoff the story of one occasion where I was on the water when a strong backwind came up, I happily went about preparing to sail but I cursed out in despair when I realized I forgot the vital piece of V-yoke (use to mount the sail) component. I almost wanted to hand-held the sail...

There are two sizes of sails for Feathercraft kayaks. Geoff used the "L" version, and even in light winds, found that the sail spilled too much wind and 'quivers'. The sail are designed to spill wind to prevent overpowering and capsizing. Anyway Geoff went on to designed a 'spider' side leg to stabilize the sail further.

I had used a kite on kayak, and found it could achieved a speed on 4km/hr on moderate winds, which is about the same speed I had ever managed with the sail on light winds. Geoff had the same experience too in Vietnam and Malaysia.

When the wind blew up on Tasik Temenggor, Geoff could not contained his joy and unleashed his sail. From his GPS, he recorded an average speed of 7km/hr and at one point went up to 10km/hr!

Mindy (my sail) used a "S" version, was having too much spillage due to the strong winds. Due to the flexible deck, a sudden gust would knock her sail sideways and she would have to constantly re-mount her sail again. This meant the wind was too strong for the sail, and a 'spider leg' like Geoff would undoubtedly helped to stabilize it.

I was having an easy time latching on to her kayak sailing, and we were both surprised that the "S" sail can pulled both of us along at a respectable 4-5km/hr. Mindy was certainly overjoyed at not having to paddle.

The "S' sail can't pull 3 kayaks? We told Chan to 'catch Geoff and sail with him'. He shot off but never did managed to catch Geoff with his "L", and expended all his energy doing so. For the rest of us, it was fun.

"Sail when you can, paddle if you must" - I somehow found myself agreeing with this saying on Tasik Temenggor.