Brian Sandle <bsandle@no-spam> wrote:
> Linkname: Gear and Maintenance
> URL:
> http://www.sailnet.com/collections/gearandmaintenance/index.cfm?articleID=ddcksn0326
> Sailing a Cutter Rig
> What are the advantages of a cutter-rigged boat?
>
> Dan Dickison responds:
> A cutter sails pretty much like a sloop, but with two jibs, the cutter
> rig can be a more versatile sail plan. If the staysail is self-tending
> (on a boom with a traveler on the foredeck), you can short-tack upwind
> without grinding headsail winches. How the rig performs hard on the
> wind depends a great deal on the size and style of the main headsail.
> With a large, low-cut genoa, the staysail may be starved for air when
> beating, while a smaller, high-clewed jib or yankee may work well with
> the inner headsail.
> A staysail almost always provides usable sail area for power reaching
> once the boat is slightly off the wind and works well until the wind
> is well abaft the beam. On a dead run however, the little staysail is
> usually blanketed by the mainsail and is of little use. Yet, a
> little-used advantage is that when running downwind, the staysail can
> be sheeted flat amidships, acting like a large anti-roll air brake.
> The most important aspect in using this rig is to make sure that the
> trim on the outer jib matches the trim on the inner one. This assumes
> that you've got the proper sheet leads, halyard tension, and sheet
> tension. Obviously you want to sheet the outer jib outboard of the
> inner jib.
> The cutter-rigged boat can be balanced better than a sloop because the
> staysail can be sheeted in or out to add more or less weather helm.
> A staysail can also be extremely useful as the wind increases because
> they keep the sail plan of the boat low and centered as the headsail
> and main are reefed. Paired with a partially-rolled genoa or a small,
> high-clewed yankee, sail area can be reduced until the staysail alone
> is left.
> ...
Then could it look like a sloop from some angle?
I don't understand many terms. Is it a ketch that is cutter-rigged?
"Brian Sandle" <bsandle@no-spam> wrote in message
news:1057113912.19801@no-spam
> Brian Sandle <bsandle@no-spam> wrote:
>
> > Linkname: Gear and Maintenance
> > URL:
> >
http://www.sailnet.com/collections/gearandmaintenance/index.cfm?articleID=dd
cksn0326
>
>
> > ...
>
> Then could it look like a sloop from some angle?
>
> I don't understand many terms. Is it a ketch that is cutter-rigged?
A ketch has two masts, the aft mast being shorter than the main mast.
Sloops and cutters have one mast. Schooners have two masts the main mast
being aft. Sloops and cutters appear the same when unrigged. The problem
is that Wallace said that he dropped them off at a ketch. Watson's boat was
a sloop or cutter. You cannot turn a sloop into a ketch overnight! If you
are alongside a ketch with any light at all those two masts are going to
stick out against the sky like the proverbial dogs' balls. A ketch could be
mistaken for a sloop only from dead ahead or dead astern when the two masts
are lined up. A sloop would never be mistaken for a ketch.
R
Roger Dewhurst <dewhurst@no-spam> wrote:
> "Brian Sandle" <bsandle@no-spam> wrote in message
> news:1057119327.240888@no-spam
>> Roger Dewhurst <dewhurst@no-spam> wrote:
>>
>> > A ketch has two masts, the aft mast being shorter than the main mast.
>> > Sloops and cutters have one mast. Schooners have two masts the main
> mast
>> > being aft. Sloops and cutters appear the same when unrigged. The
> problem
>> > is that Wallace said that he dropped them off at a ketch. Watson's boat
> was
>> > a sloop or cutter. You cannot turn a sloop into a ketch overnight! If
> you
>> > are alongside a ketch with any light at all those two masts are going to
>> > stick out against the sky like the proverbial dogs' balls. A ketch could
> be
>> > mistaken for a sloop only from dead ahead or dead astern when the two
> masts
>> > are lined up. A sloop would never be mistaken for a ketch.
Some boats you enter over the stern? Many years ago I had a 16 ft sea
scout cutter, and did not know the meaning of the name. Is it something to
do with the shape of the bow cutting through the water?
>>
>> Where is the stay-sail mounted on a cutter-rigged boat?
> Forward of the mast.
Oh, silly of me. It is the sail attached to the forward stay wire, of
course. My boat had a cabin built on it and a motor added and the little
mast I don't think had any stay. It had a Maori name which turned out to
be a bit rude, someone later told me, `Tutae Wera'.
In nz.general Roger Dewhurst <dewhurst@no-spam> wrote:
> A sloop would never be mistaken for a ketch.
Even if seen in the dark, with the mast of another boat behind it giving the
impression of a 2 masted boat?