Dipping lugs in Louisiana??

[Steve Paskey]

Just returned from a brief trip to New Orleans, where I spent a morning browsing through the Louisiana State Museum at the Cabildo in the French quarter.

They've got a bit of stuff relating to boats, including an entire room on the Mississippi (mostly steamboats) and material relating to shipping (coffee and etc).

There were several illustrations of harbor or coastal scenes dating from the 19th c. (i.e. 1845 to 1880 or so) that included depictions of small open sailboats with rigs that were clearly and unmistakably a dipping lug sail -- a boomless lug with the tack attached to the stem.

I've read somewhere that the dipping lug was used on the gulf coast during the 19th c and earlier, but can't find anything on the net. Anyone out there know more about this?

Thanks!

[ 02-07-2003, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: Steve Paskey ]

[Todd Bradshaw]

It's not all that surprising. Those were working boats and a dipping lug makes a simple, practical, reasonably efficient workboat sail, especially if you tend to sail long periods on each tack - situations like fishing. As a recreational sail, it's often more trouble than it's worth to have to dip the yard on every tack and when tacking frequently you may actually lose more time dipping than you gain by having no "hindered" tack, which is why they aren't very popular these days.

[Tom Galyen]

Check Howard I. Chapple's book "American Small Sailing Craft". The New Orleans Lugger page 282.

Also the San Francisco "Dago Boat", page 286.

Happy reading.

Tom G.