The International Canoe has a rich history of controversy going back over one hundred and twenty years: cruisers vs. racers, lead ballast vs. gunwale sitting, the cutaway bilge, the "standing rig", the sliding seat, the "footbath" cockpit, the Brits' fat sloops vs. the NA skinny ketches, pricey high tech materials and lately the assymetric spinnaker. Each issue a match between the familiar and the novel, the practical and the exotic, the status quo and the search for higher performance.

26 UK Boats Converted

According to the UK web site (www.intcanoe.org) - posted spring 2001 - 26 UK boats are now Assymetric Canoes (ACs) through conversion or new purchases. Wow. Only a couple elsewhere in the world with the debate still open here in NA. Canadian Tim Wright is taking a different twist and is sailing a 12 Sq. M. IC and Bob Lewis reports with great glee that 505s don't have a chance any longer. Check out the photographs.

Rob Michael (UK) Reflects

Rob Michael writes:

The asymmetric development came from a frustration of doing the same old thing year in & needed a change but there isn't anything out there as good as a standard canoe anyway, so hence the turbo. I have been playing with standard kites for years to improve the downwind performance, but the kite boom was always the drawback when gibing so with the increase in popularity in asymmetric kites using a bowsprit, gibing has become no problem at all.

The main design problems I had to overcome as its a singlehanded boat was to launch & retrieve it with only one hand. 18 months of drawings & models & I came up with the systems I now use. I still thought that the kite would probably be too much of a handful to sail in stronger winds & had no intention of doing it for anyone else. But how wrong could I be? Without exception, anyone who has seen it in action has wanted to convert, not even having actually tried it for themselves. It has proved easy to hoist & drop,the size has increased all the way up to 18.5 sq.. m & is easy to sail in any winds. Sailing up wind in a breeze & tacking are still the hardest part.

It has taken me the last 16 months of racing it in all conditions & 5 kites to come up with the right kite size/shape & material. This is critical for ease of use, visibility & max performance against all the other classes we race against. I have to date converted 17 boats & have 3 under conversion with 4 lined up. These including the current world champ, 4 National champs & most of the comparative fleet. So I guess you could say its happening.

Rob writes also that Bill Beaver (US Pres.) & Dave Gilliland (US) payed him a visit & he showed them how he does the conversion. Dave has bought a kite off Rob & is getting Bill to convert "Arrested Development"? for him. ...So I guess you could say its happening.

Nov. 99 Rules
The Sailing Committee of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) met Nov. 13/14, 1999. Alan Powell (UK) presented on the use of spinnakers in the UK. In general, those who had adopted spinnakers were enthusiastic about the experience. It is agreed that this is a development which will continue and it is essential that it proceeds in a controlled way so as to ensure that the class not split. Rules to control the use of spinnakers were drafted as follows:
  • Delete Appendix 2 - paragraphs 6a and 6b. These were restrictions around the convexity of the foredeck.
  • Add Appendix 3 - a few main points of which are: bowsprits/poles can not extend more than 1800mm from the stem when fully extended. Likewise, the spinnaker tack cannot be further forward than 1800mm from the stem. The bowsprit can't stick out more than 500mm from the stem when spinnaker is doused. This point requires further experiment - 500mm is the shortest reasonable extension for an 1800mm pole fitted on the centerline. The head can't be set above the contrasting band. And the spinnaker shall be sheeted to a point no further aft than 2680mm from the stern as measured on the centerline.
Assymetrics in Action Photos
There are some photographs of assymetric ICs in the photo gallery - be sure to check it out.

Deja Vu
The latest controversy around flying assymetric spinnakers parallels that of the sliding seat in 1886. Distaste for "acrobatic stunts and gymnastic racing machines" was the argument against the seat while proponents insisted that the seat allowed a dryer, more comfortable sail and gave the necessary advantage to keep the canoe upright in a blow. In time, more sliding seats were fitted to canoes until the advantages were obvious. After several years of debate the Regatta Committee of the ACA officially adopted the sliding seat. The Brits on the other hand flip-flopped on allowing it before formally ruling the "abominable device" out and would not consider it's adoption until Uffa Fox spearheaded the formation of International Canoe rules in 1933. The debate over adopting assymetric spinnakers however sees the Brits moving ahead with change while others remain tentative if not altogether opposed. Reports from trials in the UK claim that the kite makes sailing ICs downwind easier and much more fun.

Rob Michael (UK) Conversions
Tony Marston (UK) took some photographs of an early assymetric conversion by Rob Michael. Check them out here. The pictures will have to tell the story for now. Rob Michael has a very detailed drawing of the conversion and pumping launch/douse system which I do not have yet but I intend to write him for a copy to hopefully post on this page. Reports are that it is very efficient and quick to launch and douse (four pumps).

On the system and pics Tony writes: "Chute is carbon fibre..Runs from exit hole to V bulkhead; fabric attached to rim on the carbon chute tube (from memory). Pole runs in own tube, both chute and pole tube very carefully sealed. Chute tube drains 2 ways : 1 through small 1 inch approx IA carbon tube to hull at deck exit end (you can just see it in one of the photos) and 2. by way of a low level extending groove at the bottom of the chute tube. its hard to describe Rob's very well thought out fittings layout. The halyard hoists the kite, pulls the pole out and pulls the tack to the end of the pole in one operation. This is similar to most of the assymetric kite systems. The pump up hoist and pump down handles are located forward of the carriage. Look carefully at the pics - you will see the handles."

Look hard at the Vee bulkhead shots to see the chute-bag and pole sleeve. Both the chute and pole sleeve are carbon.
Drawings/ Ideas/ How To's

Please feel free to send ideas/drawings/comments to me and I'll post them here.

Below are some drawings of layout ideas based on International 14's. Click on the image to see blow-ups and text explanations. ** This is not active yet **