[Brian Duff]

Brion,

Thanks for the pointers. I suppose my agreement ( with the couple guys I talked to locally) in thinking that removing the material at the front is that the spar ends up betting more narrow in both planes, so that as gusts hit the spar can tip off to leeward as well as aft, to open the leach and spill air out the top of the sail. The effect desired is much that which Windsurfers use to control their sails in heavy air. These boats are quite sensitive to weight and gusts, so a soft rig can make them much easier to handle (so 'they' say)

Riggers,

That said, I can see how much more difficult it will be to keep the spar straight as I try to bend inwards and aft. Ummmm...

Wish some folks from Proctor hung out on this site. I have been talking with Lawton, but his interest is more in selling a spar, not telling me how to build one. Plus he is just in sales not spar building.....

I guess I need to get down to a few local dingy clubs and carefully look over the taperd spars I can find, particularly the Penguin spars. Umm....

I have noticed that Charleston spars uses that 'J' bottom to thier tapers, which are cut on the side of the spar near the aft quarter, and the J runs to the flat forward face at the bottom of the taper...

Eager to hear from more of you Riggers...