Yes, the mast for the Ingeborg pattern of sail is shorter, but uncomfortably far forward, I feel. The difference in length of battens is 4000mm vs 4500mm, and Richard particularly needs a rig that is easy to handle. Weighing up the pros and cons of each, I go for the taller mast, every time.

Sabre 27 with Ingeborg sail at 30 sq m.

Welcome to Richard, who has just joined us here. Richard has been talking to me about the possibility of converting his Sabre 27. I remember this class from when I lived in Warsash, as they were built in Southampton between 1969 and 1979. It's a fairly moderate, non-extreme design, and would be fine with a junk rig.

Initially, we were thinking that the best place to put the mast was through the inclined forward face of the coachroof. That position is well forward, and not ideal. I found it impossible to put one of my planforms onto a mast in this position, but Arne's Ingeborg sail with AR = 1.9 and scaled down to 30 sq m was a good fit.

A better fit to Richard's needs would be to adopt the Weaverbird planform, also scaled to 30 sq m, to keep the yard and battens to the minimum length and weight, for maximum ease of use and lack of stress. This would need the mast to be put through the forehatch aperture, as is commonly the case. If this is acceptable, I think this planform is the one to adopt. The mast could be one of the Aluminium Lighting Company's tapered poles at 177mm diameter, and I hope this wouldn't impede access to the forecabin too badly in this position.