Alternative rigs

62816inBerlin's picture
Submitted by 62816inBerlin on Sun, 12/02/2012 - 13:59

Forums:

Of course the straight-mast Bermuda rig has become firmly established, at least in the racing fraternity, but of course there are always inventive boaters who would like to try out their own preferences. How about this: a junk rig - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsg2K3rTHnE ?
Unfortunately the weather was not really sailing weather when the clip was filmed.
The fans of junk rigs point out that they are easy to handle, especially where reducing sail area is concerned. Unfortunately the class rules are of course strictly "one-design" so this will be a one-off !
I'd be interested to see this boat in a real wind.

Cheers,

Gernot H.

62816inBerlin's picture

62816inBerlin

Tue, 01/29/2013 - 11:33

Our coastal cruising friend msf60khz has taken advantage of the mild January weather in England to film his lower aspect ratio gaff rig, see :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TckssQ0Ubxw

Our lakes are frozen over now but the warm front has passed over, so a thaw is setting in.

Cheers,

Gernot H.

soapysails's picture

soapysails

Mon, 02/18/2013 - 21:40

Unable to post pictures of "Phoenix" our Mirror-11 on this site, You are welcome to visit SMSA-WV's Face Book page and click PHOTOS at the top. You will see the shots taken when we found her and the work that has been done to date. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sewell-Mountain-Sailing-Association-of-Wes...

dictate's picture

dictate

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 00:42

Where I launch from, downriver travel is prevented by a large sluice and upriver beyond a mile and a half by a railway bridge and after another mile by a road bridge; after them, 8 miles of clear water.
The top of my mast will "just" pass under each but lowering the mainsail and sailing jib only is a real test to be avoided.
The river has high flood banks on either side which, in places, cause constant changes in wind direction and strength, especially approaching the narrowing before and at the bridges.
A lower rig had to be the answer and for my sins, this is what I have come up with.
The gaff is a specimen that was likely to be firewood but the bottom half was salvageable.
The sail was also a "has been", was saved for any possible patching requirements and has served its purpose as a prototype.
The sprit was (it has been shortened) a jib stick and was used in preference to the bamboo that I had originally intended for the job, because it was significantly lighter!
Due to a recent hospital appointment and another shortly, my sailing for this year has ended prematurely, so a report on the sailing outcome will have to wait.
However, it would be interesting to know if any forum member has any experience of this rig elsewhere and how it performed.
PS Ignore Mast Rake and lack of jib. (Not fully rigged)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.290408447822673.1073741828.100...

mirrorpete

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 03:27

That is a really neat solution to a difficult problem. I am anxious to learn how it sails when you are finished with your hospital visits. Hope your medical problems are not too severe and you enjoy perfect health soon.
Pete

dictate's picture

dictate

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 18:20

Thanks for kind wishes Pete; nothing severe but just problematic.
What might prove to be severe is my "busting a gut" to try this out!
Thankfully have another boat to do some work on for a family member which will help to pass the dark months.
Thank you again.

Dick

PuffinInTegel's picture

PuffinInTegel

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 20:38

Dictate aka Dick's photos of his rig, I've used the Facebook link URLs:

and a detail of the "sprit" :

That rig should work just as well as the "gaff" rig shown in the YouTube cruising videos. However I'd simplify it by replacing the "sprit" with a full-length batten and keeping the gaff to the mast by means of a hoop or lanyard with parrel beads on it. Then you can eliminate the cleat (which you can't reach when the sail is up anyway) and extra halyard. Look at the pictures of some modern racing skiff and catamaran rigs - the mainsails are often almost square at the top and held in shape by a full batten.

That's a pretty colour scheme your hull has!

Speedy recovery, Dick !

Gernot H.

dictate's picture

dictate

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:26

I knew that this would coax you out Gernod!
Good points; taken on board.
Presumably you are suggesting that the "hoop" would be located at or immediately below the gaff-band to ensure tension across the top of the sail?
Thanks for good wishes and, by the way, can't claim credit for the "pretty colour scheme". That was the way the previous owner finished all of his boats, not just Mirrors.
Dick

62816inBerlin's picture

62816inBerlin

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:32

I have no reef points in my mainsail but would like to add some. My experience with rolling the main around the boom confirmed that the gaff obviously drops away from the mast and the boom drops lower as a result (there's a picture of the situation on the forum thread http://forum.mirrordiscussforum.org/node/251 ) so I intend to experiment with a hoop and parrel beads attached where the halyard is shackled to the gaff so that the gaff is kept near vertical when the sail is reefed. The boat sailed remarkably balanced in the "reefed" condition (see after 12:50 minutes into the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa2zNOLOpqY).
I was prompted to mention the "square" tops by pictures of new Shearwater rigs (I crewed on a Shearwater in the mid-1960s !!) such as https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/309945_2... and Shearwaters always had fully-battened mainsails.
Cheers,
Gernot H.

curlew's picture

curlew

Sun, 10/19/2014 - 22:47

Hi Gernot
There are many ways of reefing a Gunter, but the two-halliard system seems to be a proven method, so long as you don't mind the extra string. With my gaff rig, the same halliards can be used for my Gunter or Gaff sails without any modification. If you use a hoop, as you suggest, you cannot drop the sail quickly in a squall. By the way. I have uploaded a reefing video on Youtube.
Good sailing.
david

JPH

Thu, 09/08/2016 - 21:45

Has anyone ever seen a lug sail on a mirror ?, I am toying with the idea of a conversion for mine.

62816inBerlin's picture

62816inBerlin

Mon, 09/12/2016 - 11:13

I appreciate that people like to put "traditional" rigs on traditional-looking boats. But why should one put an aerodynamically less efficient rig on a more or less modern design?
The only "old school" rig that has an advantage IMHO is a junk rig, the advantage being in the ability to reef it by simply letting it down by the halyard. I suppose a junk rig can be classified as a lug. Disadvantage is that you really need an unstayed mast, calling for a lot of reinforcement at keel and deck level.
A roller-reefed variant of the junk/lug system was used on "Miss Cindy" ( http://turtleislands.net/tmc/), but then she is not a Mirror dinghy!
Cheers;
Gernot

P.S. Tony has updated his account and I have now found a picture of Miss Cindy under full sail:

Miss Cindy at sea