The sail that I've drawn for Annie is a kind of low AR version of Weaverbird's sail, to keep both the batten lengths and the mast height within reasonable manageable bounds. The battens are 6m long, shorter than Tystie's when she had the fantail rig, and the mast's overall length is just over 14m, which is a big mast and a major woodworking project, but is achievable by Pol, as he's in the timber trade.

But whichever way you design a 56 sq m sail, it's a very big sail. It takes a fair amount of physical strength and stamina to make, to rig, and to use such a sail. That's why, having tried a single sail of that size on Tystie, I decided to move back to a two-sail rig.

It would be easier on the crew and on the accommodation layout to convert Annie into a JR schooner with the conventional 2:1 ratio of main to mizzen, though this would put the mainmast over the centreboard case, which might need some clever engineering.

I find it harder to visualise a ketch or yawl configuration that appeals.

POL BERGIUS wrote:

Bryan, that is very instructive information, and most eloquently put!! And yes, we do put aesthetics quite high on the list. I agree with you totally about the look that Footprints has. She is a terrific looking boat and I think Annie would suit the sail plan as she does. As do Fantail, Weaverbird and quite a few others. It's a subtle thing, but an important one.

Because the sling point is where it is, presumably this is what allows you to sweep the sail across the mast when off the wind and I wonder if, with other sail plans that have the sling point closer to the throat, this is more strenuous on the rig or maybe just inadvisable? With potentially 56sqm of sail we'd need to be careful about that.

...... I've been interrupted and may have forgotten something that I wanted to write. meantime, thanks a lot!

Cheers, Pol.

Pol, I can understand your desire to have a new rig that looks as good as I imagine the current gaff cutter rig does, and the low aspect Fantail shape would probably be a good aesthetic match. Certainly issues such as yard sling point and sail canting have ready solutions, but I'd be mindful of David's comment that you may be nudging the upper boundary of size for a Fantail sail. Having experimented with this design in a CAD package, I can see that it's quite sensitive to changes and David did an outstanding job with the original design in terms of getting the batten lengths mostly the same, having the battens and yard remain inside the topping lifts when reefing etc. Given the wealth of experience on this site (not me) I'm sure that a planform can be developed that matches your needs if the Fantail sail isn't recommended in your case. I'd certainly be following that thread with great interest!