Looks like it'd be good for kids or people without much strength.
Since it keeps the sail upright it could lead to the board sailing away on its own if you fall off
I would imagine that it would flip the board over once the rider fell off.
The only thing that I cant figure out is, if that happened how would a child flip the board and rig back over.
I guess I will have to work it out.
The use of this would need to be supervised and in the right conditions.
I personally find this really dangerous if you fall off the board as it is pretty feasible that the board will be blown away from you ... ![]()
This is the stupidest thing that's ever exited the Starboard factory, iFart in it's general direction. We had one sent to our club in Dahab, we used it and then we fed it to a rabid camel.
Because it's limited to 29 degrees or whatever, it's impossible for the sail to be raked far enough to steer. And when you fall off it either capsizes or sails off without you.
Kids can uphaul a kids rig all day long, this isn't the problem. And they need to be able to steer using the rig, that's the first thing that needs to be taught.
Yeah it looks a bit dangerous, ie falling out of a boat and the boat sailing away.
It could have a use for very small children who are not strong enough to lift even the smallest sail and is used under very close supervision. Its good to have a bit of innovation.
Probably ok in a very controled environment, but if using modern light kids rig shouldnt be necessary.
We used to use one at the school here. It's not a bad idea for 0-10knt days to get kids out who are not strong enough and usually on the front of the Tandem or being towed behind an instructor. You do have to be careful to use it on a wide board so it doesn't capsize like an optimist and not to use it with kids not being towed or carefully watched because if they let go and fall off, the board and sail will keep cruising off across the water.
I can see a good us for the idea! When I was sailing in Italy, Lago di Garda the wind had a very bad habit to drop dead (aka less than 10kt ) at the drop of a hat, some clouds killing the lift effect, I used to stay in Torbole in a camping ground on the beach and 90 times of 100 the wind would drop when at the Riva side of the lake, I remember swimming back pushing my kit from Riva to Torbole about 4 KM swearing all the way. That little gadget could be handy to keep the sail up while laying on the board and (kind of) sailing back to base! Just an idea!![]()