A few years back boats for RAID (distance sailing) seemed to be getting more and more complicated – but two of our boat designs, recently the Viola 14 Sailing Canoe and the GIS, buck this trend with outstanding performances of simple light boats.
Joost Engelen 2019
So had the tent pitched and was completely installed by the time the first boats started to arrive 1-1.5 hours later.
Light and Medium winds – other boats paddle and are towed. Viola sails
Joost Wrote: Back from the “Zaanse Raid”, a 3-day raid event. Participated solo with the Viola 14 carrying full camping kit including 10 liters of water and food for a couple of days.
Note the folding lightweight paddling seat in the back of Viola. Plans for the folding paddling seat are here. It is to get a bit more height when paddling a wider canoe.
The boat performed very well again. Day 1 we had to tack up a channel for some 9 km in Bft 3 (7 to 10 knots).
Literally went twice as fast in comparison to the other boats.
Did not paddle at all where the others were reverting to rowing and towing (there is a tow path next to the channel). Pic below.
Exactly where was the sailing performance difference?
From where we turn West on the canal to where we went South near the lake we had to tack up. 8 km.
The Viola was very quick there. Three reasons:
- The boat goes upwind well.
- The boat tacks very quickly, so I am half way already when the other boats are still finishing their tack.
- Steering and handling is quick, so you can easily adjust for the wind shifts. Already noticed this before during the 2017 Dorestad Raid but this really confirmed it.
The boat is just so quick to tack and can adjust immediately to wind shifts. Unbelievable really.
On large open waters the boat is still quick upwind, but obviously the differences are smaller (the much larger boats carrying more sail can keep up with it).Clearly the boat was weighted down much by all the kit.
So had the tent pitched and was completely installed by the time the first boats started to arrive 1-1.5 hours later.
What about sailing the Viola 14 in stronger winds
In the Dorestad RAID last 2017, the viola was the smallest entrant.
The first day was extremely rough with almost all participants pulling over to the side of the canal. Joost in Viola thought they might be having a discussion – but it was the rough conditions with upwind sailing. So Joost kept going.
He said it was a very unpleasant sail, but that Viola had no problem with the leg and kept going when the larger boats could not.
This was the fleet with the tiny Viola rafted up that year
Performance Summary
A nice picture is developing of excellent performance in Light and Strong winds in a light and portable sailing package.
More on the Viola 14
The Viola plywood Sailing Canoe plan has the characteristics of a performance sailing dinghy with the portability of a wooden canoe. More Information on the Viola 14
