On this absolutely gorgeous Friday afternoon I will try to substitute a sailing post for all you salty-dogs, rum-runners, and canvas-power junkies out there in the interwebs (a series of tubes) in lieu of not actually being able to sail this weekend.
I sailed with the homemade jibsail on the saturday of my spring break on Geist reservoir. The sail seemed to work just fine (when there was enough wind), and the furler worked flawlessly. A wider leeboard might be in the works, as it seems to overpower the current one if trimmed just a touch too far… though that may have just been the very light wind I was working with.
Overall I’d say that a homemade sail using Tyvek, upholstery thread, and common-sense is absolutely viable for small wooden boats… and is a huge money-saver. I got the Tyvek from my cousin who happens to work for a construction company, so that was free… but I’m sure Tyvek could be purchased from a construction outfit for much more reasonable prices than a specially-made sail. The upholstery thread was cheap cheap cheap as well.
Here’s more eye-candy… ignore that homeless-looking scruffy captain dude at the helm 
Just getting underway. I think I need a crew now.
Coming back into the dock on the minimal wind.
I guess it should be noted that I added some stays to the mast to balance the forces of the jibsail, they’re not complicated, they connect to my mast partner and have turnbuckles for adjustment.
