Sail Sq. Ft. for Bolger "Oldshoe"?

[davidrparker]

I'm considering building an Oldshoe and would like to use my very nice Sunfish sail rig for the main sail. It is a 76 sq. ft. lateen rig. Would this be a good size main sail for this boat?

[Woxbox]

No harm in trying it. Oldshoe has way more stability than the Sunfish, so you know it's not too much sail. Some will tell you it's not enough, but all that really depends on your local conditions and what kind of sailing you want to do.
Today a bunch of us, 7 actually, spent some pleasant hours sailing our heavy, old-timey 18' shallop. It has a sprit rig that carries 75 square feet of sail. Did the boat go where we wanted it to? Certainly it did. Was it fast? Heck no. Was it a most relaxed and enjoyable outing? You bet.
One thought does come to mind - that aluminum stub of a mast from the Sunfish is sized on the assumption it's in a tippy boat that gives with the gusts. Oldshoe's stability just might be too much for the spar.

[Thorne]

Ditto what wox said about the mast -- just broke on in my dory so you need to be aware of how it works. Little boat can have a little mast, cause if the stress exceeds a certain level the boat is knocked down. Bigger boat needs a bigger mast for the same sail size, as the boat won't fall over at same the stress/pressure level for the smaller boat.

I'm using a Sabot sail on my 14' dory and it works fine, but the mast is more of a concern -- and since I've added a jib -- the most likely failure point.