Lug yard lowering

[Dick Wynne]

Has anyone solved this admittedly minor problem? I have a boat building which has a standing lug rig, where the yard hangs all-but-vertical against the mast. The boat has deck & cabin, and has all controls led aft, and can be reefed (admittedly without the forward few points tied in) without leaving the cockpit. The one operation which 'out of the box' cannot be done without going forward is lowering the main completely, since the yard has to be unhooked from the mast traveller. The yard cannot easily lower without doing this, since it would then extend out to the bow and beyond, probably fouling a stowed anchor, jib sheets & reefing drum line, and making an untidy mess of the main sail (and possibly damaging it). A proposed solution follows, has anyone tried this (or something like) and does it work?

On lowering, the heel of the yard will reach deck level, at which point the yard will need to swing back and down to eventually lay along the boom. For this to happen, and since I don't plan to be there to unhook it, the traveller will need to stop where it is and allow the yard to part company from it. How about this: The yard heel is prevented from moving forward by a loose rope traveller on it. The halyard passes through the main yard traveller via a sheave and on to the yard. When the heel has reached deck level, the yard will rotate back and down in the lazyjacks to rest on the boom, the traveller staying a few feet up the mast and letting the halyard through. It will still be possible to unhook the halyard from the yard when required.

For all I know there is a tried and tested solution for this already, but if so I don't know what it is.

[ 01-25-2005, 07:02 AM: Message edited by: Dick Wynne ]

[Thad]

Dick, Are you building Cherub II? Looking at that sail plan it looks to me that the tricing line on the top batten will control the fall of the lug, if the halyard is free to move away (aft) from the mast as I think it should be. I do like that rig. The full battens would help lots in the reefing with forward reef lines rove.

[ 01-25-2005, 07:41 AM: Message edited by: Thad ]

[Dick Wynne]

Hi Thad, This is Constance (my W boat) not C-II. But your mention of a tricing line gets me thinking. The main is boomed but loose-footed, so it might be fairly easy and very convenient to be able to trice it up now & then as a better & tidier alternative to scandalising (raising the boom - do you have that term over there?)...also could raise the yard before leaving harbour, trice the main, and having jib'n'mizzened out, set it rapidly when required. She's about 1/2 planked and now being floored, and the sails & spars are well advanced.

[Thad]

Scandalizing, yes. My word "tricing" may not have been proper, however helpful. I was looking at the sailplan shown on p19, of J. Leather's Albert Strange book. I see the lines on the battens that circle the mastworking mostly to control the sail in lowering -- just your concern.

[Jeremy Burnett]

What size is the boat? On the Nigel Irens Romilly they thought up a way of doing this that solves the problem you have by doing away with the traveller and hook.Start (fasten) the halyard at the front end of the yard or where it will be in front of the mast when hoisted,lead it round the mast on the opposite side to the yard to a small block attached to the yard.Pass it through the block then up to the masthead sheave and down to the hoisting position,led back to the cockpit if thats the way you want to go.When hoisted the halyard will hold the yard against the mast but as it is slackened when you lower you can pull the yard away from the mast merely by slacking more halyard.Parrel beads can be put at the top end of the halyard to bear on the mast if you like.A stopper knot behind the beads but before the block on the yard will control the beads and set the size of the loop.I have tried this on a smaller sailing canoe and it works well.

[Dick Wynne]

Hello Jeremy, thanks for this idea. The boat is 25ft / 1.5tons, yard 15ft long. This suggestion looks elegant & simple; however my spars are solid spruce not carbon(?) like Romilly's, so relatively heavy, and since the halyard tension will also act to hold the yard firmly against the mast on raising & lowering, I wonder if excessive wear to the mast and yard (although leathered) might result? Will discuss with builder & rigging expert.

[Ed Burnett]

Dick,

Send me an email with a fax no. and I will send through the sketch of the system we use for Romilly. It will do exactly what you want.

ED.

[Canoeyawl]

Dick, the rig that you are describing is often referred to as a Solent lug. Phil Bolger has a short treatise on rigging and reefing this type of lug rig on page 53 of 100 Small Boat Rigs, International Marine Publishing, 1984. The standard gear uses no attachment of the yard to the mast other than the halyard. I have used one with a yard about 14 feet. When reefing, the yard is brought down to the deck and the halyard reattached at the new position, kind of a pain, but the sail will set nicely. I had considered using two halyards though the mast at different places to avoid this but never did it. Just a thought.