On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 23:37:38 -0400, Rodney Myrvaagnes wrote:

On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 09:42:21 GMT, Morgan Ohlson
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 21:44:48 GMT, Jim Conlin wrote:
If there's a one design or manufactured boat whose design you like and whose parts are available, you might well
save a buck or shorten the debugging period by using it.

My thought was that it may, in some way be more difficult to "adopt another
child"... so it could be more difficoult.

But... perhaps that is worth the effort to just buy well proven sails and
rig.

Three dinghies from the 1950s and 1960s, the 5-0-5, Flying Dutchman,
and Contender share a 10-square-meter medium-aspect ratio mainsail.
Any good sailmaker who does dinghy sails will have patterns.

The Finn dinghy also has a 10-sq-mtr sail, but with a lower aspect
ratio. Also known to sailmakers. The Finn has an unstayed mast. The
others have headstay and shrouds, but no backstay.

Like the Finn, the Contender is a cat-rig. The other two are sloops,
but very different from each other.

I would look for an obsolete mast and boom from one of these classes.
If it is no longer competitive it will be cheaper than a new one. Old
FInns had a wooden mast and boom.

Another possibility is an off-the-shelf 10-sq-m windsurfer rig, with
the sail and spars matched to each other. You would have to devise a
mast step to hold it up as an unstayed rig.

Can sails intended for a stayed mast be used with a nonstayed?

I don't really feel comfortable to buy a very worn mast. I don't find that
worth it since I gonna sail in no-mans-land, Scandinavic northern nature
preservations under harsh conditions.

Mostly it will be nice lakes, but the demands is put to meat the harder
conditions.

Aren't there any big differences between my slow, safe daycruiser and thos
fast racer dinghies?

I must consult a little on area too... I think (see also new thread in
rec.boats today)


Morgan