Aphers Posted February 2 Report Posted February 2 Not being one to opt for obvious or easy answers, my Spindrift 11N has, over the past three years or so, sported three different masts, five sails, a boom, a sprit, a yard, and a wishbone. This all came about after running out of time and money on my build. Being located in the north of Scotland where appropriate donor rigs are scarce and materials to build one to plan were hard to source, I initially adapted the only rig I could find, which came from an OK class dinghy. I used the OK mast, with a sail from a 420, and a boom made from a section of broken mast. In theory it was almost exactly the correct dimensions for the boat. In practice, the very heavy section OK mast was a bit of a nightmare. It weighed around 7kg and was almost impossible to step unless conditions were very calm. It was impossible to climb around it to get to the bow because the weight aloft made the boat so unstable. The 420 sail was also in very poor condition, so I later had a sail loft modify the original OK sail by adding an eye, which made it fit the slightly cut down mast. Didn't solve the stability problems though! Fast forward a year and a chance encounter on a beach in Martinique. I come away with a partial windsurf rig. Four piece mast and a 5.5m² sail. Used loose footed, this became my go-to rig for about a year. It was fairly practical and performed well, but holding the sail out on a run became a bit tedious. The shorter, lighter, mast transformed the stability of the boat though. A friend then gave me a sprit rig which looked good but had a very flat cut sail and didn't really work well at all. I later used the mast from this rig, plus sections of the windsurf mast, to try to create a tall but light mast so that I could use the OK sail again. But the resulting mast was simply too bendy and lost its shape as soon as I put on halyard tension. So I binned that project. Next upgrade was when a friend found a wishbone on the beach, which I added to the previously loose footed configuration. Now we could really sail! Performance was good on all points of sail, and I could add a purchase to the sheet, reducing the loads to a comfortable level. I used this rig for another year or so and was very happy with it. But the sail gradually began to suffer from UV damage, and became increasingly baggy. And setting up or putting away the rig was a pain because the wishbone, which is close to head height, needed to be lashed in place every time, which was awkward. These things are designed to be set up lying on a beach, not within a boat. And now on to the latest rig: a chance encounter with another cruiser, a swap for a box of beer, and I now have a lovely, crisp, unused, tan brown sail for a small gaffer. It's only 4.3m2 (compared to 5.5m² for the windsurf). I hastily lashed something together, flying out as a standing lug using a broom handle as a yard, and without a boom. Early days but so far I am very pleased with it. The sail can be raised or lowered in seconds. Luff tension is easily adjusted with a downhaul. The short yard is very easily stowed. It's all just effortlessly practical. Of course windward performance isn't quite as good, and the loose foot means high sheet loads as I prefer not to have a block whipping around on the clew. But I think these compromises are worth it. All in all, it's been an interesting exercise messing about with this little boat and the different incarnations of the rig. No doubt it would have been easier just to have built to plan in the first place, but where's the fun in that... Original rig. Note the bundled up excess sail. Photo taken in Menorca, Balearic Islands. Windsurf, with wishbone. Surprisingly good. Photo taken in British Virgin Islands. Current rig- standing lug. Excuse the lack of luff tension in this photo! Antigua. Quote
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