Traditional sail color

[Scott Dunsworth]

What color of sail ( tanbark,egyptian ) would be considered traditional for my penobsoct 14. Also I am using the lug rig and read in Phil Bogler's book 103 sail rigs about the benefits of using a dipping line. I think I understand the reason for this, but can someone diagram how this is setup and used?

[Todd Bradshaw]

Egyptian is probably more correct when you get right down to it. Tanbark colored sails were a result of a preservative applied to what was originally natural cotton color (similar to Egyptian) and historically, it was common to bark sails on workboats, but not on yachts, recreational boats, etc. Even on working craft, part-time sails, like topsails that were only used when the weather was right were often not barked like the rest of the boat's sails.

That said, Tanbark colored sails are pretty well accepted for traditional boats, even if the boat probably wouldn't have really had them in the past. Sometimes the dark color just really looks great on the hull. Interestingly, there were also other colors generated by different chemical preservative treatments. Red, black, green, blue, yellow and others were sometimes seen, sometimes quite bright.

If you show-up at a traditional boat show with bright green sails, you may have some explaining to do, even if they are technically correct but most people will let you slide without question with Tanbark.

I assume Bolger's dipping line turns a standing lug into a semi-dipping lug and is attached to the heel of the yard to temporarily pull it down and back so that it can be shifted to the new leeward side of the mast when tacking. I am not aware of any "standard" way to rig the loose end of the dipping line such as blocks, fairleads, etc.

I might suggest just letting it hang loose. Tie or anchor the end to a thwart or something to keep it in reach and see if going through the dipping process every time you tack seems worth the trouble in terms of performance gained by not having the sail up against the mast on one tack. Since the dipping motion temporarily peaks the yard to almost vertical, you'll also need to ease way off on the sheet during the process. With practice, it should be a fairly smooth process, though if you are steering the boat and handling the sail dipping and trimming chores solo, it may be a lot of stuff to do all at once.

[Scott Dunsworth]

Thank you Todd for the help. I will probably go with the Egyptian. My boat will never be in a boat show but I do want it to be as acurate as possable and to look right.
I did'nt think about all of those lines and steering at the same time. It will probably be a sight to behold watching a beginner tangled up in all of those lines.
Thanks again!