Walt wrote:

Heavy spar that needs to be hoisted - this implies more complicated
rigging for the halyard(s) instead of the simple no-mechanical-advantage
systems on a marconi rig.

What, no winches on your Marconi rig???

Lady Kate: 16' by 3"to 4" (shaped) gaff main. No winch needed. Simple
block setup. All running rigging visible and easily fixable. Good
exercise. [If incapable of much physical effort due to
age/infirmity/sedentary lifestyle, or just lonely, you could add a
winch.] Downside is lots of line: you do need to learn ropehandling, no
longer a common skill.

Flying Tadpole
----------------------------------
www.flyingtadpole.com

Paladin wrote:
"Peter" wrote in message ups.com...
|
| 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
|

It is antiquated. It is too heavy aloft. It has too much weather helm when the wind gets up. It is
much harder to reef. It requires more running rigging. Only stupid people would go gaff instead
of Marconi.

Paladin
(Have Blue Water Yacht - Marconi Rigged - Will Travel)

Hah.

All you are is a handful of acerbic bytes on the net. You hide your
identity so that you can pretend to be a competent human being, but
it's still obvious that you're not. Your opinion is completely
worthless.

I'd suspect you'd loooooove junk rigs then.

PDW

Paladin wrote:
It is antiquated. It is too heavy aloft. It has too much weather helm when the wind gets up. It is
much harder to reef. It requires more running rigging. Only stupid people would go gaff instead
of Marconi.


It's pretty clear you've never sailed a gaff rig.


Peter wrote:
Hah.

All you are is a handful of acerbic bytes on the net. You hide your
identity so that you can pretend to be a competent human being, but
it's still obvious that you're not. Your opinion is completely
worthless.

I'd suspect you'd loooooove junk rigs then.


And be just as incompetent with one of those, as with a gaff.

DSK

Neal,

I do remember that a "GooseNeck" is a fitting on the "MAIN BOOM" A
permanent one position fitting connecting the Main Boom to the Mast. It
doesn't get hoisted as would a Saddle or Boom Jaw on a "GAFF BOOM "
:^))

Your sailing ignorance has been demonstrated very well in your post.
Thanks Doppy, I don't think a reply is necessary on my part, thanks to
you.


http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ILLDRINKTOTHAT

Neal/ Paladin,

Take your "Blue Water Yacht and travel" please do.


http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ILLDRINKTOTHAT

Doug,

The only Gaff Neal is acquitted is a Gaff Hook that has been used to get
"Know Nothings" out of the way


http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ILLDRINKTOTHAT

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
No problem... I question my sanity every morning.

As well you should. Of course I tend to be suspect that you haven't come up
with a definitive answer by now.

Max
:-)

No need to suspect. I haven't. If I do, I think I'll be in trouble either
way.

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

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
No problem... I question my sanity every morning.

As well you should. Of course I tend to be suspect that you haven't come
up with a definitive answer by now.

Max
:-)

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 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.


OK Thom...a lot depends where the halyards are led, particularly the
throat halyard. If it's in column, the jaws simply become steadiers and
the gaff, which is hoisted parallel to the water, should hardly touch
the mast on the way up. The most pressure against the mast comes when
the throat halyard is at full hoist, and the peak halyard is peaking
the sail. When under way, there's no pressure of the jaws against the
mast, properly set up.

I do have leathered gaff jaws, also a tumbler to ride against the mast,
which it doesn't, making it totally redundant. There's no point in
greasing the mast: it's not needed and all it does is collect sand, grit
and grot.

Also: most gaff rigs have far too many hoops or rope parrels on the
luff of the sail. usually, only two or three are necessary until you
get into the ship size, and they're only needed for sail control in
hoisting and lowering, not for shaping the sail.

Weather helm was rarely an issue on Flying Tadpole: one used the weather
helm to help lift the boat bodily to windward, bat that was a deep
rudder. Lady Kate, with a tiny rudder, is set up as a cat yawl: most of
the advantages of a catboat, few of the disadvantages. And after Flying
Tadpole II's four sails, a mere two are child's play.

--

Flying Tadpole
----------------------------------
http://www.soundclick.com/flyingtadpole
http://music.download.com/timfatchen
http://music.download.com/internetopera

Flying Tadpole wrote:
Walt wrote:

Heavy spar that needs to be hoisted - this implies more complicated
rigging for the halyard(s) instead of the simple
no-mechanical-advantage systems on a marconi rig.


What, no winches on your Marconi rig???

Nope. No winches. No motors or electronics either.

Lady Kate: 16' by 3"to 4" (shaped) gaff main. No winch needed. Simple
block setup. All running rigging visible and easily fixable. Good
exercise. [If incapable of much physical effort due to
age/infirmity/sedentary lifestyle, or just lonely, you could add a
winch.] Downside is lots of line: you do need to learn ropehandling, no
longer a common skill.

So even with a block system, raising the mainsail is "good exercise".
I'd say that's a disadvantage over a marconi rig. Not a big one, and
perhaps outweighed by other considerations.

OTOH, the need to learn ropehandling should go in the "advantage" column.

//Walt