Wider sheeting base and stay base for sailing canoe?

[wtarzia]

(Question 1) On my 16 foot outrigger sailing canoe, I use a cat-ketch rig made from Nutshell and Shellback standing lugs. I am going to add a kind of sheet traveller pole to give the main-lug a wider sheeting base than the 20 inch wide canoe hull can afford. I am hoping for a little better sail tuning for the main-lug. About how wide should that sheeting base be, do you think? I am guessing it should be about the width of a dinghy transom for this 54 sq ft sail, so from 4 to 5 feet?

(Question 2) Though I am planning on building stiffer wooden masts to decrease mast bend and thuis decrease putting draft into the sails as the wind gusts, for a while I will be stuck with my bendy 2 inch diameter wind-surfer masts. The main mast bends the most, so my first priority is to stiffen it up with stays until the new mast is made (yes, I will have to rig-out the stay on the side opposite the outriggerfloat/ama). The mast is 10 feet long with a 20 inch bury. About how wide should the stay base be?

(Question 3) When I start the new wooden mast for the main-lug, I will be laminating Douglas-fir and covering with a layer of ~6 oz glass. I was planning on 2.5 inch diameter, tapering to the top end a little to perhaps 1.75 inch. Does that sound about right to avoid too much bend for a lug sail? Apologies if I have asked this question before; I delayed building for too long and lost track of some replies I printed out (dim memory...). Thanks. -- Wade

[DGentry]

Wade, I've sailed and raced and just plain looked at a whole pile of different dinghies. IMO you are planning on a lot of truly unnecessary complications and expense for your boat.

Your sail is all of 54 square feet and your mast 10' high? Well, even though I have not seen your boat, I can confidently say that you absolutely don't need a traveller, or shrouds, or to wrap your new mast with fiberglass. Literally tens of thousands of small boats, many with much larger rigs, have done without all of that.

Your new mast will be stiff enough. Fiberglass will make it heavier and more expensive, but not appreciably stiffer. You could do some research into the many, many dinghies with similar sized rigs and see what they've done, and how big their masts are.

Rather than with a traveller, if you want to control your sail shape, try tightening the outhauls, or the downhaul - or increase the halyard tension - or, as a last resort, fashion a simple vang to the boom (try a search for "vang sheeting").

Good luck!
Dave

And, this is just my non-naval architect opinion. You might consider consulting the designer . . . .

[Thorne]

1. Don't bother, as above.
2. Don't bother, you'll just wreck your existing masts.
3. Don't bother to glass the mast -- gluing two DF 2x4's with epoxy and then shaping to close to what you spec should work fine. You can leave it unfinished and a bit thicker, then shave it down until it is just right -- then varnish/finish it.

[wtarzia]

OK, I see that I need not glass the wooden masts. I've read something here about vang sheeting but I don't think I have the enough angle. My boom is pretty low -- just high enough to allow the gear for the downhaul. The outrigger boom and the narrow hull doesn't give any space for a properly angled vang sheet (I think), thus the traveller idea. -- Wade