Deck or Keel stepped mast?
 

Hello Spar Talk folk,
Thank you for hosting this forum! This is my first post here. A little about myself... I have done some coastal cruising, and a fair bit of SF bay sailing. We have a Catalina 22 SK, and purchased a Cape George Cutter 36 last October. Funny thing about the CGC, it was never rigged! I have been doing some research and I have the feeling that shortening the rig sailplan (about 5 feet), from double to single spreaders, and deck stepping the mast may be the way to go. We plan on cruising, and SF Bay sailing.
Thank You for any advice you care to give!
Fair Sailing, Wes Hoffschildt

A deck stepped mast requires generally heftier scantlings than keel stepped, so what weight aloft you save with shortened rig and single spreader is partly or perhaps fully off-set by the thicker mast walls.

And you lose sail area. I'd rather have a suitable sail area and a good reefing system than be stuck with excessive genoa as the only way to move in normal light winds.

At the minimum, I'd spend a good deal of time and maybe money with the company to see just how wizard this idea is.

G'luck

Hi Wes,

As a fellow Cape George owner, let me say congrats on your acquisition. Super good boat. When putting my CG 31 together, I found Todd Uecker, the owner of the CG marine works, extremely helpful--always ready to answer questions, send drawings, offer advice, everything. The Marine Works website has his contact info. There is also a Cape George cutters website (run by a CG owner, not the company) where there is a photo gallery and owner's forum. I find it by Googling 'Cape George Cutters' (not sure how to post urls and all). There are some super geeks there who will give you any information you want, often too much, in sometimes painful detail.
Best,
Ben

The boat was designed with a keel-stepped mast; changing it to a deck-stepped mast would require a non-trivial structural alteration of the hull. And then there's the rig. When you get through, you will have changed a lovely Lyle Hess design into something else at great expense, probably without improving it. If it has too much sail area for SF Bay, tie in a reef.

Jim Fulton

Deck or Keel stepped mast?
 

Happy New Year and thank you for the feed back! I have met Todd and toured CGMW up in Port Townsend back in Oct. We were very impressed with the craftsmanship that goes into his boats. If you get a chance check out the 45' cutter they are currently building.
Although my tendency is to keep the Cape George 36 as the sailplan shows I'm keeping an open mind about the mast location, size etc. because I'm in the unique position of simplifying the rig.
Fair winds, Wes Hoffschildt

Hi Wes,

Your mind being open and all, have you looked into schooner-rigging? not really more simple, but certainly more beautiful. Or to shorten a single mast, what about a gaff-headed rig? I gaffered my CG 31 and it sails beautifully, and the rig really matches the hull. Also far cheaper to make and easier to handle.
Ben

gaffered CG 31
 

Hi Ben,
Do you have any photos of your CGC 31? I'd love to see her! I have started working with a rigger in Santa Cruz to develop a plan for our 36.
Wes

Hi Wes,

If you email me, zenithdistance@yahoo.com I'll attach some pics in the reply. Not good at posting URLs, but if you search 'Ben Zartman' in the Cruising World magazine website, there's a few pics there from articles I've written.
Ben