clothespin scarf

[Ian McColgin]

Ahoy Lee,

Added thought on staying: Usually the aft lowers should come in about at the throat and, as you play with your rig with some professional help adding a staysail inside the jib, this is a grand spot for the staysail stay to land. These stays cannot bother the gaff with full sail, though they could limit your travel when reefed. On schooners where I confronted this problem, I didn't worry much as the leeward shrouds go slack anyway.

By the way, that gaff can get well out with sail twist and you'll want the spreaders hinged such that they can move fore and aft without stressing the base. The spreaders must not be overlong. Imagine a straight line chainplate to mast tang. If more than half the spreader is inboard of where that line intersects the spreader, the geometry is such that the shortest distance, which the rig will assume under tension, is the correct allignment. This, by the way, is also important for the dolphin striker if you have one, except that should be free to move athwartships.

Wait a minute. The bit about spreader length. That's how I learned and always assumed but I don't know that for an empiracle fact. Perhaps Brion would comment.

Any way, fear not pulling the lowers back a little if it makes you feel good.

If you're adding mast height, consider designing for a topsail. This is going to tower above the jib stay tang. Whether part of the single pole or seperate as a top mast, it should be light and disposable. Let it fail first. It helps the topmast or topmast section to build in a bit of foreward bow to be straightened when the topsail is set, thus giving nice leach tension.

G'luck

Ian