All sailboat rigging is engineered, which is to say that, somewhere along the line, someone gave some thought to how much load was…
To Engineer is Human
Posted in Rigging
Brion Toss Yacht Riggers Posts
Rigging the Bathroom, the Answer
Posted in Puzzle
In last week’s Puzzle we took up the topic of privacy in a hotel bathroom. Here is the setup: In the illustration above there…
The track ran across the property on a steep-sided, 20-foot-tall embankment. I could see the rails shining in the bright starlight. They stretched off into…
Puzzle Contest: Rigging the Bathroom
Posted in Puzzle
In the illustration above there is a hotel bathroom. The doors on either side open into adjacent rooms, which share the bathroom. In similar situations, hotels (and private residences) have put locks on the doors, so that someone in the bathroom could be assured of privacy, and all they have to do is to unlock the other door before they return to their own room.
The Old Ways
Posted in Marvels
A friend of mine is a shipwright and carpenter, so he is frequently involved with old construction as well as new, afloat and ashore.…
The Shape of Beer: the Answer
Posted in Puzzle
To review, here is last week’s Puzzle: When a beer can is full, its vertical center of gravity (VCG) is half the can’s height. When…
The Pub In Ross Norgrove’s classic book Cruising Rigs and Rigging, he tells the tale of the crew of a trading ketch in New Zealand,…
Puzzle Contest: The Shape of Beer
Posted in Puzzle
Here is a classic, beer-themed puzzle that happens to have a direct bearing on sailboat rigging efficiency: When a beer can is full, its vertical…
The Client From Hell
Posted in Rigging
Our clients tend to be wonderfully self-selecting; if they were the kind of jerks that we would rather not deal with, they probably wouldn’t…
Extravagant Purchase, the Answer
Posted in Puzzle
The old-school version of the answer is below. It is also a fuller answer, with commentary, but if you’d like to see the video…