Capt. JG wrote:
Thanks Peter... I'll check it out... I have a friend who is really
interested in this sort of setup.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Peter" wrote in message
oups.com...

Thom Stewart wrote:
Jon,

My major objection, after weight aloft is maintenance. Jon, In all my
years of sailing, I can't remember a Gaff rig without Gaff boom Jaws,

.... which shows that, despite your years of sailing experience, it's
relatively narrowly based. Otherwise you'd know about saddles -
basically a leathered metal section that closely fits the mast off of
which the gaff pivots. Quite a neat arrangement.

which means a greased main and a absence of a sail track which means
sail hoops on the Luff of the sail, which also increases the chance of
jamming, which also increases the need for a slippery mast, which is a
PITA.

Also untrue. You can lace the sail to the mast. The absence of
sailtrack also means the absence of track jams when trying to lower the
sail.

In its defence though, on a cruising
rig the sail shape is closer to the shape of the Max. area of the effort
of the sail.

There's an excellent book on all things related to the gaff rig by John
Leather IIRC. Called 'The Gaff Rig Handbook' I think.

Jon, I think it's fair to say that the gaff rig isn't going to point as
high as a marconi rig. Nobody really disputes that, tho the difference
might depend on a lot of other factors than the rig itself. OTOH you
get to set a lot of sail on relatively short sticks which makes staying
a lot easier & stronger, reducing the cost of the rig itself.

As a racing rig for round the buoys, its day has gone. As a cruising
rig - got a lot going for it still.

PDW