Morgan Ohlson ) writes:

Now.... what pros and cons is there in designing a rig and letting the
sailmaker sew proper sails?
.... or are there any clear benefits (like price) to adapt to some existing
common class rigg+sail?

a cheaper home made sail will help you decide what kind of sail the boat
should eventually have. TF Jones has had 2-3 sails on some of his dingys
before he was satisfied. He buys all his sails or has them made. I like
experimenting with small sails I make myself, and I like saving money.

Jones writes, and he's right, the only thing a jib does on a daysailer is
give the crew something to do. (For solo sailing it a nuisance. Our club
used to have a solo dingy race where you had to set the jib and main
yourself. We tied teh edns of the jib sheets together and cleated the jib
on every tack so it wasn't much use.) JA Marchaj did wind tunnel tests on
a variety of small boat sails and found they all performed pretty much the
same. the bermuda sloop rig with jib pointed marginally higher but was no
better all around and worse on some points of sail. I prefer a simpler cat
rig (no jub), especially when I'm making the sail myself and trying to
save money. For low coast and easy handling I've been using sprit sails
which need no hardware but other people prefer other rigs.

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