Formal protest concerning nautical terminology
 

I am in the process of adding an inner forestay to my sloop-rigged boat.

All the old literature says that, once complete, my boat will be referred to as a cutter.

However, some sailors have chosen to use a new term. Apparently they figure the new boat is a cross between a sloop and a cutter and they choose to call it a "Slutter". Some may think it amusing, but I dont.

I object to this term, and ask good sailors and riggers everywhere to reject it.

thank you

Yeah, we don't say that S word around here....

locally we call those sort of hybrid things "Cuoops"

ummm...






to be serious, your boat is still a sloop. it just has two headsails. it is still a sloop.

I agree, your boat is still a sloop. Still, I do like both alternative titles.

Cutter?
 

Hello,
Actually, it could be argued that most cutters aren't cutters, either. Just because the mast is further aft and the sailplan incrementally different, does it really deserve a different name? With every other basic rig, you either have to add an entire other mast, or else put the stick right up in the eyes of the boat. A cutter? I don't think so, not unless a topmast is involved, and preferably with a reefing bowsprit.
Seriously, as I heard it the earliest usage for Bermudian two-stay configuration was not cutter, but "cutter-rigged", a nice distinction. The masts were, and are, all designed to accommodate sloop loads, with the highest at the top, unlike with 'true" cutters. So they are all double-stays'l sloops. Ah, but usage will drift.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss