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Andy has enjoyed dinghy sailing for 20 years, initially learning on a Laser, and experienced with Picos, Laser 3000s, Laser 2000s, and a Mystere 17 Catamaran. Last year he purchased a Scupper Pro sit-on-top kayak to explore the local estuaries of England's Devon Coast. Being a sailor, Andy says he couldn't help thinking harnessing the wind on a kayak would be fun. He shares here his efforts to adapt this kayak for a 2008 seacoast sailing adventure. I have read on a few forums of people wanting to build a mast step in order to mount a mast on a SOT kayak. With a bit of thought this can be achieved without the need to drill any holes in your lovely kayak. Here is how I did it on my Scupper Pro. The result is a mast step I just slot on, the only attachment is a line to stop it slipping off the front. Any loads my 18 square foot sail creates are easily dissipated due to the large surface area of the mast step.
Build a mast step from fibreglass. Even if you have no experience in using fibreglass techniques, building one is not too onerous.
 By
adding outriggers, I can carry a larger sail (sails) and be able to
counter the extra turning moment generated by a lee board. Here are
a couple of pics showing the build process, along with a brief description:
 I
purchased some closed cell styrofoam. It's a fairly high density so
for the size of the outriggers it provides quite a bit of inherent
stiffness. I cut suitable sized strips and glued them together with
No More Nails (American equivalent - Gorilla Grip)Next I shaped the amas using a saw and various grades of sand paper  First
I put a layer of fibreglass on the bottom of both amas colouring it
with a bit of yellow pigment to match the hull - it's not very clear
in the picture, but it shows the underside fibre glassed. Next job was to fibreglass the top and sides and finish with an extra coat of epoxy. After completing the attachment point for the amas I was ready for a first sail! As I was so anxious to get her on the water I initially tried it without a lee board. I canted the amas at about 20 degrees, that way when leaning over they were flat to the water. Upon completing the outriggers and akas, it was a lovely day so I took the boat out for the first time for a test sail. I rigged up a temporary attachment for the lee board just to see how the boat would balance.  I
was really pleased with my first sail with the amas attached. They
provided a terrific amount of stability and the height seems to be
just right. They are high enough not to touch the water when paddling
or sailing across the wind or down wind, yet when beating into wind
the boat is still comfortable when the leeward ama is in the water.
The leeboard seemed to be in just about the right position. Ideally it probably needs to be a few cm further back for perfect balance. Balancing the rig at the moment is very important as I am not using a rudder. I made an interesting discovery – I tried sailing without the rudder and the leeward ama seemed to provide a fair bit of resistance to sideways slip (I had wondered if this might be the case). Because of this I decided to try adding skegs to the amas and not using a leeboard to help with overall simplicity and also weight.
At the moment I am even thinking I might not bother with a rudder although I must admit it would be nice to have one – it would make drinking my coffee while under way a little more civilized! You can follow Andy's progress and adventures in kayak sailing on his website: RxMarineRelated articles at TopKayaker.net:
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Making
A Slip-on Mast Step & Amas For Kayak Sailing by Andy
Lyne
How
does she sail? Obviously without a lee board and rudder I am restricted
to 90 degrees at best, any more just produces side slip. I have
been out in a low to moderate force 4, close reaching and broad
reaching. This proved to be good fun and the direction can easily
be controlled with a little stern rudder. By the way, this mast
step is easily strong enough to use as an attachment point for a
couple of amas and lee board....as you can see. Instructions for
my ama project follow.
I
chose my Ocean Kayak Scupper Pro.....but even if you don't have
a lip like on the Scupper Pro, as long as there is a little taper
in the hull form, I believe you could use this technique to make
a mast step for most kayaks. (see article:
The
best place to locate a mast step on a Scupper Pro is just forward
of the front hatch. The profile of the kayak can be used as the
mould to make this mast step. 
You
now need to build on top of your mould a raised flat surface to
provide rigidity and also to give a nice surface to add fittings
etc. To do this cut some 20mm wood board to build up two sides and
a top. To attach the wood to the fibreglass mould, use epoxy fillets
and layer fibreglass over the whole piece, thus securing it all
together. Now you have a really strong and rigid structure. 