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Rerigging a traditional Cape Cod Catboat

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  • 31 Aug 2014 13:23
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    Reply # 3089705 on 1314559
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Guy
    I am glad, but not surprised to read this. I am pretty sure that most of the catboats in this category will become better in just about every sense if their gaffrigs are replaced with JRs with cambered panel sails.

    Cheers, Arne
  • 30 Aug 2014 21:33
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    Reply # 3089510 on 1314559
    Deleted user

    WOW !!

    Its been fourteen months since I joined the association , seven of those months were taken up by cruising in florida etc and one month was lost when I discovered that my sewing machine wasnt working properly...... However today we went out for the first sail with the new junk rigged catboat and BOY am I converted !! In addition a mate of mine , with sixty years of serious sailing under his belt was Gobsmacked ( as we say in French ). Most importantly, my wife was thrilled with the improvement in the boat. 

    Everything I hoped for was delivered in terms of ease of setting and reefing, quiet operation , going to wind , gybing , perfect (small amount of ) weatherhelm and did I mention gybing ?? .

    The sail and rigging can certainly be improved , and will be but we are now planning coastal cruising with confidence, whereas before , the weight of the rig and sail made the whole thing physically too demanding.

    So thanks for the encouragement and help . With your assistance we have made a polytarp sail which fits a catboat, it even works with the forestay in position !! 


    cheers


    Guy Marlow>
  • 28 Aug 2014 23:31
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    Reply # 3088495 on 1314559
    Anonymous member
    Well done, Guy and a lovely boat.  As you say, you want to have the halyard block at the the top of the mast and only to the yard sling point: no need of a peak and throat halyard.  They say junks have lots of string, but we have less than a gaffer!

    I hope the first sail goes well.
  • 28 Aug 2014 20:10
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    Reply # 3088367 on 1314559
    Deleted user

    I have added a photo to the photo gallery of the first raising of the junk rig sail I made. The sail is in polytarp and mainly inspired by Arne's articles . There is quite a bit of tuning to do yet but some extra parells should ease the creases and rerigging the halyards to the yard should improve things too. First sail planned this weekend but I wanted to post this to thank you all for the help and encouragement !!

    cheers


    Guy
  • 19 Jun 2014 07:40
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    Reply # 3009898 on 1314559
    Deleted user

    Thanks Arne, thanks Annie ,

     I absolutely see what you are talking about and agree with the idea.  I guess I am conservative in my approach and want to move stepwise. I dont mind putting in the work on an experimental sail for proof of principle but I dont want to modify  my existing mast and  rigging before testing the system. iI want to use the gaff throat bliock and halyard to lift the yard  This does mean that I do lose some of the mast height to fit a bigger sail. 

    If this works however I could modify the mast fittings to fit a higher sail as you suggest

      My question at this time is whether you see a problem with peaking the yard with the existing gaff peaking halyard as per the sketch ?

    I will also look into the idea of adding the missing panel and doing my experimentation with a permenent one reef in during experimentation.

    cheers

    Guy
  • 19 Jun 2014 01:15
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    Reply # 3009665 on 1314559
    Anonymous member

    I completely agree with Arne.  I made a sail that is equivalent to my mainsail and no 1 genoa, and although I often sail with it reefed, there are times when I really wish I had made it a bit bigger.  More panels means more increments in reefing, although as David Tyler pointed out to me, there is no necessity to reef a full panel at a time.  But those of us with tidy souls ...
  • 18 Jun 2014 09:48
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    Reply # 3009062 on 1314559
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Guy,

    With that tall mast already in place, I would have put in the 7th panel as well. Remember, the lower panels are identical so the brainwork of lofting the template has already been done. Cutting and sewing on  that extra panel only adds 1 – 2 hours to the whole job.

    And again (newbies to JR struggle with grasping this: ); you can reef faster than it takes to tell about it! On a windy day you just hoist 4 or 5 panels and go sailing; no bothering with reefing lines. I promise you this: There will always be days when you wish you had a bigger sail!

    Cheers, Arne

     
  • 18 Jun 2014 08:12
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    Reply # 3008906 on 1314559
    Deleted user

    Arne,

    you are quite right about the two rigs but let me tell you the current catboat sail is PLENTY for me and my wife without adding anything to it!! Indeed my plan is to reduce the sail to 30 sq meters at least in the experimental sail and use the existing Catboat mast without modification. I am using your chapters to make a 1.8 AR sail as you describe it but taking a panel off the bottom to fit it to my rig with 5 metre battens. I just read your article on topping up the yard and this encourages me in my thought for using both the existing throat halyard to lift the yard ( at mid point) and the existing yard halyard to top up the yard. I enclose and sketch and would be grateful for any comments.

    https://picasaweb.google.com/110295439725560563731/CatBoatToJunk?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJfxi5e_yoXXfw&feat=directlink 

    cheers

    Guy
  • 13 Jun 2014 08:39
    Quote
    Reply # 3005851 on 1314559
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    I read somewhere (probably in Wooden Boat) that many of the working catboats changed between a winter- and summer-rig: In winter it was as what we call a cat rig, but in the summer they added a fairly long bowsprit which let them set a jib. Maybe the stay was just "parked" at the stem in the winter rig.

    Anyway, if the Wikipedia is right, then the catboat stems from around New York in the 1840es. This was many years before the steel wire came into use on boats, so that stay must have been a rope of some sort. 

    Arne 

    Last modified: 13 Jun 2014 08:53 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 12 Jun 2014 18:07
    Quote
    Reply # 3005384 on 1314559
    Deleted user

    thanks Annie , and when I think of all the time and expense I went to to put the forestay in !! There is a really good reason for the forestay though - its the only place on a catboat to put burgees.

    I think that the comment about keepiing some compression on the mast is a good one though - I will have to rig something below decks .
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