Emigre's current sailplan & aluminium mast.
Sloop?, cutter?, ketch?, In mast furling?, in boom furling?, slab reefing?, two reefs?, three reefs?, fourth reef or trysail? These are all questions that get asked when sailors are trying to decide how to best set up their boat for ease of handling and safety.
I’ve had the opportunity to sail on a number of boats in the past 12 months, all of them with different systems for handling their sails. I’ve been watching on of my favourite Youtube channels “Odd Life Crafting” build and rig a new mast to fit to their old steel yacht and this got me thinking about how I would rig Emigre in an ideal world.
Masts & Standing Rigging
If money was no object, I would quite happily part with Emigre’s tree trunk of an Aluminium mast to make way for a modern carbon fibre rig.
Ideally I’d have a tapered double spreader carbon mast and a leisurefurl aluminium boom. The mast would be a cutter rig with a furling self tacking staysail and a genoa. The sails would be a good quality cruising laminate.
I would retain the symmetrical spinnaker rigging but i’d replace the two spinnaker poles stored on the bow with carbon fibre ones to make them easier to handle when setting spinnakers or lowering the mast using the tabernacle located at the deck step.
Mast lowering systems are very common in Perth, Western Australia because boaters often sail in both the Swan River and the ocean. I keep Emigre tied up at the Fremantle Sailing Club which is on the ocean however I sometimes take her upriver to the Royal Perth Yacht Club where i’m also a member. This requires me to lower the mast to go under the Fremantle bridges.
Why Carbon Fibre?
Most people who know me are aware of my dislike of carbon fibre, particularly on older style yachts such as emigre. This opinion is purely aesthetic. If given the choice I would absolutely have a carbon fibre mast, as long as it was painted white to suit the aesthetic of the yacht.
The reduction in weight is the major benefit over aluminium masts. Less weight aloft means that there is a less accentuated pitching or yawing motion when the yacht is sailing, making the ride more comfortable and reducing heel.
Don’t you have a boom furler, and hate it?!
Yes, yes I do. However i’d hardly call it a furler. It’s simply a rotating boom in which the mainsail rolls around. It’s difficult to operate, cumbersome and requires walking to the mast to raise, lower or reef the mainsail. It also causes a significant amount of wear to the mainsail.
My ideal system would be a Leisurefurl boom furler, these systems made by Forespar in the USA provide easy and safe mainsail handling from the cockpit of the yacht.
I was initially sceptical of the system as I’ve heard horror stories of other boom furling systems however what convinced me to take the Leisurefurl seriously was a video from British yachtsman and journalist Tom Cunliffe. Tom has a Leisurefurl aboard his Mason 44 and has sailed many thousand trouble free miles.
The benefits of the Leisurefurl system are:
Super strong cast aluminium gooseneck and boom vang attachment points.
Simple and clutter free design.
Well made and easy to service.
Custom fit to each yacht.
Built in sail cover!
Heavy duty mandril inside the outer boom.
Sail flattening system for reefed main.
Manual redundancy if furling line breaks.
Infinite reefing possibilities.
Full batten sails with efficient roach.
Mainsail weight close to deck level instead of aloft in the case of in mast furling.
No stack packs, lazy jacks or other clutter that needs constant replacement.
Drawbacks: The price! (This is my ideal rig and sail plan!)
Sold!
Furling Self Tacking Staysail
The furling, self tacking staysail is an absolute must for my ideal sail-plan. No more lugging the staysail on deck, hanging it on and hoisting/dropping it. I would have a simple oversized harken furler with a heavy duty construction Dacron sail. The staysail is excellent when working to windward in a stiff breeze or or reaching. The self tacking boom makes handling easy with only one sheet running back to the cockpit. The self tacking staysail doubles as storm jib which is permanently in place, ready to deploy.
Furling Genoa
Like most cruisers these days, I wouldn’t look past a good quality furler to handle the headsail aboard emigre. I would go for a heavy duty harken system as in my opinion they are the most robust design. I would have a heavy duty double taffeta cruising laminate sail with Sunbrella UV protection and a foam luff to improve its shape when reefed.
In an ideal world, I would have a second number 3 headsail to exchange with the genoa in areas of stronger wind.
Standing Rigging
To hold the mast up I would have massively oversized dyform stainless steel 1/19 wire. Yes, its overkill and heavy however the extra weight is more than compensated for by the reduction of weight in the mast! It will guarantee a better nights sleep.
Emigre would be the easiest to sail Duncanson 35 on the planet. Possible the most overcapitalised too!
Comments