first (almost) sail

[jlaprad]

I finally got my sails last week. The boat has actually been done for several months. I learned a valuable lesson to order sails when you start building, not 3/4 of the way through. Anyways, it has been fun getting out and there are certainly many nice days left for this fall before the snow flies so I plan on making the most of them. Today was almost 80 here in northern MI and a nice breeze out of the SSE. The dog has taken to sailing quite well.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh319/lapradjw/whoopdedoo/sail6.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh319/lapradjw/whoopdedoo/sail15.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh319/lapradjw/whoopdedoo/sail11.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh319/lapradjw/whoopdedoo/sail8.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh319/lapradjw/whoopdedoo/sail13.jpg

[capt jake]

Nice looking boat! :) Looks like the winds were just right for a trial run.

[Hwyl]

Looks idyllic. It was worth waiting for the sails, because you had finalised your ideas on how the rig was going to set. I know most of the ideas were Oughtred's but you fine tuned them and you had options.

[Thad]

Beautiful!

[David G]

What a lovely sight. I bet that felt good after such a wait. Your sailing buddy looks quite happy too! Looks like an Oughtred design?

I did have a question about your rig. I'm a balanced lug newcomer myself, having sailed our Storer designed Goat Island Skiff with said rig for the last two seasons. I know, though, that both Storer and Oughtred use a similar, simple rigging system for the balanced lug. Is yours designed to self-parrel by attaching the halyard to the forward end of the yard, leading it around the opposite side of the mast from the yard (the self-parreling part) to a block maybe 40% along the yard, then back through a block/deadeye/saddle/fairlead at the top of the mast, then down to a cleat at the base of the mast? It doesn't look like yours is set up that way, though I know many of Oughtred's rigs are spec'd that way. Maybe not all?

I'm also wondering if the boom is supposed to be as far forward as it is?

Also, it looks like you could use just a bit more downhaul tension?

Again, these are inquiries for my own edification, not criticisms nor prescriptions.


"Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error" -- Thomas Jefferson

[jlaprad]

David, thank you for the inquiries. Part of the reason for posting was to generate response like yours. I have only rigged the sail 3 or 4 times and am still fine tuning my process. I agree that I needed more downhaul. I also should lift the sail higher on the mast. As far as the plans go the boom is right on. I made a separate line that attaches on both side of the yard around the boom and back down to a cleat for parreling the yard to the mast. We'll see how it works. In the plans it calls for a "mast hoop" to do the parreling, but it was expensive. Anyways, thanks again for all the responses. This site has certainly helped me fulfill my dream of sailing a boat that I built myself.

[TimH]

beautiful!

80 degrees....nice

[Yeadon]

I like your style.

[FSS172]

Wonderful! Congratulations. Beautiful dog too... Thanks for bringing a smile to my day.