Wile E. Coyote Posted May 11, 2017 Report Share Posted May 11, 2017 Hi all, Here are some pictures and a quick write up of the sprit sail I made last year for our spindrift. One picture shows the sail furled up by letting the snotter go and wrapping the sail up with a bungee. This is from short camping trip we took at the west end of Kamloops lake last weekend. Why I wanted to have something that would: Use a short mast and spar that would be easy to pack up and haul Be quick and easy to set up Be easy to sail Be easy to get out of the way if I wanted to stop and fish Be easy and cheap to make with readily available materials - this was a "proof of concept" and not intended for long term use How was interested in a balanced lug rig (and still am) but had trouble figuring out how to do it. In the end I read more about sprit rigs and, after getting a bit hooked on some of those youtube videos of Thames barges, decided to give one a go. Since it is an experiment I've used very cheap materials and I'll see how the set up lasts, then replace it with some better when I've learned more about it. For the first go I downloaded the free plans for the D4 dinghy (http://bateau.com/freeplans.php), and scaled up the sail dimensions to get a sail area about the same as the stock sail. I got a decent quality tarp from Princess Auto, laid it out using the existing edges where possible, then used double sided carpet tape to make the remaining hems. When I was all done I did sew the edges, but I'm not sure that was necessary or better - the carpet tape was pretty good stuff. I reinforced all the corners with three additional plies. I got two 12' 2x4's from a lumber yard, ripped four square sections from them and glued them together to make the mast. I used titebond 3 to glue them. I made the mast round with a plane and spokeshave. The bottom section where the mast fits into the boat got lots of attention and is pretty round, the rest of the mast got eyeballed. The sprit is the remainder of one of the 2x4's the mast is made of, the snotter passes though a hole near the end of the sprit then is fastened to a clam cleat a little ways up the sprit - it hasn't come loose yet. Initially I used some cheap blocks from Princess Auto for rigging, but I've since started using a couple of nice blocks I got from a real sailing store, quite an improvement! So I have about $70 in the two blocks, and $45 in the tarp, wood and cordage. Observations 1. At first I didn't check sail's centre of effort. I have done since, and it is further back than the stock sail design. Though it is not terrible, I do find the boat tends to round up in gusts a little more than it really should. 2. We reefed the sail by connecting the sprit to a grommet halfway down the leech, then bungeed the peak to the tack. This arrangement worked well, but the wind quick got weaker and the reefed sail shape was not very efficient. 3. The loose footed sail is great in flukey winds when you want to row for a stretch and leave the sail in place. Also good for sailing with little kids that don't appreciate getting wacked on the noggin. 4. The loose footed sail has a lot of twist. I don't have the experience to say what effect this has on performance but we did make almost five knots with one adult, one child and camping gear. I may try adding a sprit boom at some point in the future to see what difference that makes. 5. The rig is very quick to set up and take down, and easy to brail up if you want to stop to fish, for lunch etc. 6. So far this is working really well for us and I would do it again, but next time I will pay more attention to COE, and will probably get something from Sailrite that isn't green on one side and brown on the other. At the time I chose the better quality tarp over the better looking one! 7. I did this as an experiment, but both sail and mast seem to be wearing well. I used them all last summer, and I expect to get this summer out of them too. On average I get out about once a week from May to September. I sail on lakes and rivers in interior BC, and don't sail in very high winds. I hope this has been of some interest and/or use. Matt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt S. Posted May 11, 2017 Report Share Posted May 11, 2017 Fantastic project! I think you and I have been on the same websites. Just today, I was reading about sprit sails and balanced lug rigs (I haven't finished my boat). Duckworks has a few good articles on the latter:http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/13/howto/lugsail/index.htm http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/howto/lugsails/index.htm Seems like someone could try adding a bowsprit onto their Spindrift to add a jib for better upwind performance. Here's Christine DeMerchan'ts writeup of spritsails: http://www.christinedemerchant.com/sail_sprit_sail.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer Posted May 11, 2017 Report Share Posted May 11, 2017 I got to try a Spindrift 10 with sprit rig with the mast in the standard position a long time ago. Unfortunately it was light air but she had some lee helm when close hauled. I have used a sprit in the Catspaw for the reasons Wile mentioned. My main objection was having to tack the sheets for each tack and the high sheet loads. Because there is no boom or sprit to keep the foot tight, the helmsman has to apply the outhaul forces as well as bringing the sail in to the correct sheeting angle. The lug rig would be a better choice if you want short spars. Of course the standard Sprindrift rig with it's take apart mast has the shortest spars and easy reefing but it does cost more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted May 11, 2017 Report Share Posted May 11, 2017 Graham, do you have a lug rig design for the 11N? I love the performance of the stock rig, but the long boom makes conversion from sail to row and back tough. I'd like to be able to row a bit and then sail sometimes, especially when I fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wile E. Coyote Posted May 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2017 Thanks Walt, I agree we must have some similar browser history! Sheet load is something I forgot to mention. I started with a single block at each end of the sheet, but I had to pull pretty hard. I then switched to a double block at the traveller, which worked much better, but I was using cheap blocks not meant for sailing and they would get twisted. After that I got real sailing blocks, with a fiddle block instead of the double block and that works much better. I'm not brave/experienced enough to cleat the main sheet so I just hold it, with the triple advantage it works ok. But sheet load would have to be lower with a boom/sprit boom. It wouldn't take much to try a sprit boom so I may do that, I imagine that that would reduce twist too. I could just leave it out if I planned more of a fishing/rowing trip than a sailing one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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