Sail Rig

[jeff]

John, did you ever give consideration to a full batten main vs. the gaff rig? I would be curious to know what you think and design issues that may arrise. thanks. Jeff

[John C. Harris]

If I thought it'd be a tiny bit faster, I'd be all for it, because slow sailboats are Evil. But I don't think it'd be an improvement. You match rigs to hulls the way you match engines to a chassis. You'd have to change a dozen other things, none of them trivial, to make a tall mainsail actually faster than the carefully proportioned gaff rig.

One thing I'm going to do on my boat eventually is to build an ultra-light gaff. The stock one is just right for rugged use, but after 30 months of sailing the boat I'm thinking about disguising a carbon fiber gaff with wood veneer and going for 1/3rd the weight. You'd feel it in puffy conditions.

[athan]

Would an aluminium gaff be of an option?