SteveKos Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Hello all. It's been awhile since I've been here. We are just emerging from a long and (for us) cold winter. Certainly not ideal for sailing anyway. I took Aquabat out for a post winter leg-stretch on Friday, and it was nice to get out on the water again! Now for a question. I'm considering options for increasing the sail area. Mine is a cat-rigg design but I use a Leg-o-mutton sprit sail. I just love the simplicity and ease of use of that sail. However, I went conservative on the sail area for the first sail. Now I am looking at adding some sail area. I think I have a few options: - Make a longer mast and get a larger sail of either the same style or more of a genuine cat design. - Stay with the same mast and buy a larger sail with a longer foot. (This will add sail with only a slight increase in heel with the same wind speed). My modified mast step can compensate for the increase in weather-helm by raking it a bit forward). - Modify the boat to include another mast step and foot mount to bring the mast further to the aft and convert it to a sloop. (I believe this has been done before, so I am sure I can get help with this here). - Add a mizzen mast. I haven't seen details of how this can be done but I am intrigued by this otion. Any thoughts? Cheers, Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecgossett Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Call Carla, order the larger mast kit, with the larger flat topped sails with additional roach. The sail size was chosen so when a potential newbie takes out the boat in 15-20knot winds he won't capsize. Now that you've had the boat for a while go for the larger size. I will tell you with my new B&B sails I had to relearn how the boat handled. She initially seemed a lot more tender under sail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter HK Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Hi Steve I see you have a spindrift 11. For my 2c worth the easiest option is likely to be a new battened sail with a lot of roach. Possibly the most boring and reliable option. Depending on your mast you might be able to convert to a lug of some sort (standing or balanced come to mind). These can carry a lot of area and maintaining the COE where it needs to be would be quite easy. The quadrilateral sails have a lot of power off the breeze but are not so good to windward. I have a Welford golden bay dinghy with a standing lug and sprit boom and it sails quite nicely. I thought about adding a mizzen on the GB dinghy, mounted at the transom with a boomkin but in the end felt that there would be too much clutter for a small boat. Likewise a sloop might be too many things to worry about but it's certainly possible especially with a roller furling and self tacking jib. I'd probably go with option one. Cheers Peter HK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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