Gaff topsails - How to and how not to hoist

[George.]

Dalia's gaff topsail used to be a piece of work - literally. I jokingly told people that it gave us more trouble than the other five sails combined, and it was true.

I had it set up so it was hoisted hanked on to the hauling part of its own halyard. I saw that in one of the Holy Books of gaffer sailing, and it seemed sensible enough. I also had it rigged with a yard, which had to be tied on. Setting up took forever, hoisting and dowsing involved a troublesome beginning and end, what with trying to haul on the halyard while sorting out the hanks going by your hands, etc.

Today, I finally set up a standing leader line for the sail, to which it is hanked by two hanks - one on the yard and one on the sail, about midway up the luff. I also installed another three hanks so that I can hank the sail on to the yard, rather than tying knots.

What a difference! Sets up in less than a minute, goes up and down beautifully, sets better, and takes half a minute to unhank and bag once it is done. Why didn't I do this months ago?

Goes to show you - not everything you read in the Holy Books is the best way to do things...

[John B]

I'm having some topsail strife ATM. I had it recut and its not a pretty look. :eek:

This leader line ...is this a jackline from the deck to the masthead?
How far away from the mast and what sort of tensioning do you have on it ? Bottle screw?

[PeterSibley]

I went sailing last weekend on a friends boat.He has set up his topsail per the description given in WB 131 by the Carrs of Curlews topsail.

An absolute joy smile.gif smile.gif easy and straight forward.Two strings only....now for a bigger one !

[PeterSibley]

George...rereading your description ( I'm a bit slow at rigging descriptions ;) )...it sounds like the Carrs also?

[George.]

Don't know the Carr rig.

The leader line is a 16 mm. polyester line from about 1,40 m. below topmasthead to the pin rail. I tensioned it by hand.

The topsail yard has a hank on its lower end, which runs up the leader line.

The trick was to get it set up so the hank is just at the top end of the leader line when the topsail is fully hoisted. That way, even if the leader line gives a bit, the topsail yard's lower end will still be held tight against the topmast.

A second hank, just below the middle of the luff, helps a bit with the set, but mainly makes the hoisting and dowsing easier by controlling the lower half of the sail.

The leader line is tied to the pin rail, which is abour 40 cm. away from the mast. But up there where it counts, it runs close enough to the topmast. If I tied its lower end close to the mast itself, it would make trouble for the gaff during hoisting the mainsail.

[George.]

BTW, the secret to a good set is the topsail yard. It is only 2 meters long, for a topsail luff length of 8 meters. But by holding the top 25% of the luff nice and stiff against the topmast, it makes all the difference in the world.

Believe me, I know. I tried it for months without a yard. :mad: :rolleyes:

[John B]

The Carrs/curlew topsail system.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid136/p824707668e8ba0ef3e30f784a31bd088/f7549154.jpg

three strings ;)

[ 12-19-2005, 05:17 PM: Message edited by: John B ]

[Ed Burnett]

George, if your topsail does not extend beyond the top of the topmast you should not need a yard to get the top of the luff to stand well.

That said, if you were hanking the luff to the fall of the halyard I can see why you weren't satisfied initially (some of the "Holy Books" are more porous than divine). The (rather hairy) sketches below show the standard system that I use these days, which seems to work pretty well.

http://www.burnettyachtdesign.co.uk/images/Topsail1_001.jpg
http://www.burnettyachtdesign.co.uk/images/Topsail2_000.jpg

There is nothing really new in this - its pretty much standard on a lot of old boats. Getting proper tension on the downhaul and leader should remove the need for the yard.

For a fidded topmast, the leader would normally terminate with a soft eye around the topmast a couple of feet above the top of the main mast. A thumb at this point stops it sliding down when the sail is not set. The topsail itself needs a big cutback in the luff to allow it to clear the main masthead.

The bit of my divising on this system is the method of stowing the tackle (tightening it against the stopper), which avoids the problem of having to find and untangle the gear before you can set the sail.

The Curlew system is very effective for yard topsails, but for jib headed sails hanking to the luff tends to drag the sail closer in to the mast than is ideal as you hoist and lower. Being able to release an independant jackstay allows the sail to blow aft a little way and thus clear of all the gear at the masthead.

[PeterSibley]

George there's a very good article on Curlew's topsail in our sponsors magazine.....Number 131, Nov '96. smile.gif

[George.]

The system I set up is the one Ed illustrated - minus the tackle.

And you are right, Ed, the topsail extends a bit above the topmast. When we measured for it, we hadn't hauled the mainsail peak halyard tight enough, so we thought the whole thing would be lower. Either that, or the mainsail "gave" a bit after its first couple of hard sails, and started to peak higher (sailcloth purchased on a lowest-cost basis redface.gif ). But rather than re-cutting the topsail, and losing a bit of sail area, we adopted the yard.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

The happiest people with topsails are Thames Barge skippers, because the d*** thing is hooped to the topmast and never comes down!

[George.]

...which means someone has to go up...

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Not usually. Heavy, oil and ochre dressed, cloth, and the headstick has enough weight to stop it fluttering up. Just ease the sheet a bit and drop the halyard and it will fall into place.