Joost reviews his family’s use of the Viola Sailing Canoe for RAID events but also sails it with his kids. His wife also enjoys sailing it despite years away from sailing and plans to sail it solo in a RAID event for the first time.
Article by guest writer and Viola 14 prototype builder Joost Engelen.
From conventional sailing dinghies to the Goat Island Skiff to Viola 14 Sailing Canoe
I grew up as a child sailing an optimist from the age of 7, then spent much time sailing windsurfers (short boards) and occasionally helming Europes, Lasers and 470s and more. From my student years I mostly sailed small open keelboats until we built our Goat Island Skiff GISwerk.
The GIS sailing dinghy, built from a boat plan from Michael Storer has been tremendously successful in sailing and rowing RAIDS and shows that for performance and ease that less is more.
This boat we mostly sail 2-up, but also with the kids who are now aged 6 and 7. I have also sailed the GIS alone often. We also have a 12ft Chris Koper designed Chickadee scow that is a very exciting boat to sail. But it requires a trailer and needs much rigging time.
Do Viola 14 Specs make it a light sailing dinghy or a dinghy style sailing canoe
So where does the new Michael Storer designed Viola 14 canoe fit in? The answer is the combination of the following:
Sailing performance; AND
Light weight (34 kg / 75 lbs) and very modest dimensions which make it very easy to slip the boat into the water anywhere; AND
Ease of rigging. In 5 minutes you can be on the water sailing.
Main dimensions of the Viola 14 sailing canoe:
Length 425cm (14 ft)
Width 100cm (40 inches)
Draft board lifted 10cm (4 inches)
Hull weight 34 kg (75 lbs)
Small fathead sail 4.7m2 (50 ft2) – 1 reef
Large fathead sail 6.0m2 (65 ft2) – 1 reef
Balanced lug rig 6.3m2 (68 ft2) – 3 reefs
It comes from 4 sheets of 4mm quality plywood. Boat Plan is $100 and available from Duckworks and my other agents
The Viola 14 is designed for a different niche to most sailing canoes – a direct appeal to Sailing Dinghy Enthusiasts
The difference I see with most sailing canoes, the exception being the International Canoe and the 16-30 canoe, is that sailing canoes are typically not dinghy style performance boats. Rather, aimed at sit-in leisurely sailing or expedition type of sailing.
What separates the Viola 14 canoe from the International canoe and 16-30 canoe is that it is far more easy to rig and has a great deal of sailing stability – much more like a sailing dinghy.
Obviously one should not mind getting wet and like a sporty sailing dinghy. But if you are game for that, this boat may be the one for you without there being a need for being an expert sailor.
Since the boat only weighs 34 kg (75lbs) and the dimensions are very modest at 425 cm (14ft) length and 100 cm (40 inches) width. So it is just so easy to take the boat with you and to slip it in the water.
As a family we often bring it along with us in the weekends to a small lake nearby. We take turns sailing whilst the other one minds the kids. When the conditions are right, our children love to go out sailing for a bit. The sailing canoe hull makes for a good playing platform for them. Paddling, turning the boat over and recovering it, jumping from the boat, etc. gives them in a natural way a good background for future water sports.
Stability of the Viola Sailing Canoe
I stand up to remove and raise the mast on the water. And also stand to hoist the sail.
This boat is very stable compared to normal sailing canoes.
Three Rig Options for the Viola 14
There are 3 rigs available covered in the boat plan and website for the Viola 14 and there are some significant differences between them.
Small fathead sail 4.7m2 (50 ft2) – 1 reef
Large fathead sail 6.0m2 (65 ft2) – 1 reef
Balanced lug rig 6.3m2 (68 ft2) – 3 reefs
If one is lightweight and/or generally sailing in stronger winds, the smaller 4.7sqm fathead sail may be the best choice for sporty dinghy sailing.
Although the sail area is limited, the RSS sail is powerful. The smaller rig is easier to handle than the larger fathead sail due to the shorter mast and smaller sail area.
All rigs use standard aluminium tubes but the lug rig has the option of using a specific windsurfer mast to make the yard and boom.
What is the Viola 14 like to handle for Men and Women.
My partner Viola had been out of sporty sailing dinghies for 20 years or so. She really likes how this boat handles. From the start she has felt very confident to go out sailing in it. She has capsized the boat a few times and finds the recovery easy enough. In her own words, after the first sail,
What a fun and easy boat to sail!
Expect to hike the boat from Bft3-4 (7 to 16 knots) depending on body weight and course.
The size of the 4.7 rig is quite deceptive. It is not small in proportion to the volume of the Viola and looks quite like a large sailing dinghy rig.
The boat is very stable for a sailing canoe and one gets used quickly to tacking and gybing the boat. This boat needs to be handled like a responsive sailing dinghy. I feel that she is a good training boat to work up the skills to fully master a performance dinghy. Knowing how to work the tiller extension and the mainsheet, using the sail controls and properly balancing the boat (getting one’s body weight in and out and forward and aft).
More Power for Dinghy Sailors – The 6.0sqm squaretop laminate sail rig
In order to get the same powered up feeling and sailing experience in lower wind speeds as Viola had for myself, I felt that a larger fathead rig would be good.
This sail is much bigger and more like a Laser to handle: the boat will tip over when you are not in it due to the higher centre of effort of the sail and the higher weight aloft. I found sailing it a blast though as the sail has so much power: you are in constant planing mode on all courses with sufficient wind speed.
I can only recommend this rig however for the heavier sailor and/or one who has some experience with other small performance dinghies. The capsize recovery is also a bit more difficult, but Viola has also managed fine recovering the boat with the large fathead sail in a Bft 4 (16knots)
6.3sqm Balance Lug Rig with three reefs for RAID and Expedition sailing (and low bridges)
The lug rig has the softest feeling, but it is the most flexible one in use.
The fathead sails both have 1 reef, but the lug sail has 3 for proper cruising. This is the rig that I used on the boat in the 2017 Dorestad event where I used all 3 reefs having to deal with wind conditions ranging from Bft 2 to Bft 6 (4 to 27kn).
The shorter lug mast is easily stepped and taken down again when afloat. This is necessary when sailing in the Netherlands because of the many bridges one needs to negotiate. Raising the sail is very easy due to the lightweight carbon yard and boom (I bought a second hand carbon windsurfer mast and cut it to make both) and the sail area still being quite modest at 6.3 m2 (68 ft).
Transitioning from sailing to paddling and vice versa is easy since the boat is stable enough to stand up and walk about in it to handle raising and lowering the rig and the cockpit is large enough to take the rig when paddling.
Canoes are easily driven craft and the Viola 14 canoe is no exception. Also reefed down she makes much speed and under paddle power she can more than keep up with the fleet.
Dorestad RAID – The boat won the “Pride of the Fleet” award in the 2017 edition for being so versatile, capable and fast.
And was by far the smallest boat. It excelled in both light and strong conditions
Rough Water Capability of the open cockpit of the Viola 14 Sailing Canoe
The boat’s layout is open and people have wondered how she copes with waves.
In general she does okay in a chop and most of the water is deflected by the flare in the hull and the wide gunwales. Some water obviously will make it into the boat and the boat, but not a serious problem on the tougher days of the RAID event.
For shorter sails no problem at all if one is dressed appropriately for the conditions (drysuit or wetsuit if so needed); for longer expedition or cruising sails it is something that one needs to carefully consider.
I have not fitted a self-bailer (yet), but this is something that would really fit the type of boat and make the capsize recover process even easier since no bailing would be required). I am sure that this will also be covered in the plans or additional website information.
