Thom Stewart wrote:
While we are on the subject;

What are the advantages of the gaff rig and the advantages of the
Marconi?

The gaff is the better shaped sail for delivering force from the wind
but the disadvantage is the gaff, which provides excess weight aloft. It
also give more driving force with less heeling

The gaff also exerts less stress on the hull, and when you want to take
it down, it comes down easily & quickly. One of the disadvantages is
that the gaff tends to twist more.


The Marconi has less weight aloft because of no gaff but needs to go up
higher to control the shape of the working part of the sail. This extra
height increases heeling force

When we figure Rig Ratio the marconi will always be a "Higher Ratio" rig
by the nature of its shape.

A Gaff will always have a "Lower Ratio" rig because of the Gaff, around
3/4 to 2 /1 due to the shape, As efficent as the marconi but by
necessity has to be kept low because of the weight of the gaff.

Oh, I dunno, there are some pretty low aspect marconi rigs around...
some are called "leg o' mutton" rigs... and some high aspect gaffers.
L.Francis Herreshoff designed a number of relatively high aspect gaff
rigs, with short single-halyard gaffs.



Now on "Spitfire" they increased the height by using battens instead off
a gaff boom to decrease the heeling force and added another sail abaft
the other mast.

A much more efficent set-up with less heeling pressure.

The modern sails with the top two or three battens full-length and the
lower battens short is a nice practical & efficient sail.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King