sail rigging

[David Satter]

Is there a diagram of how to rigg your basic sailing canoe? Something where I could follow the lines and standing rigging. I mean just a simple sprit sail, lee boards and rudder. Yes , sorry meant lateen

 

[pklonowski]

This book is excellent: https://www.wcha.org/store/canoe-rig-essence-and-art

 

[Benson Gray]

Todd's book will have the most complete answer as Paul mentioned. His comments and the pictures at https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/10672/ may also interest you. The evolution of the Old Town rigs at https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/old-town-canoe-sailing-rig-evolution.4107/ could help too. Most canoes have lateen sails so you may not find a lot for a sprit rig. Good luck,

Benson

 

[David Satter]

Great , thanks that helps.

 

[pklonowski]

In Todd's book, page 254, there's a drawing for a spritsail...

 

[Andrew77]

Thanks for the info I was also looking for this.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

The basics for lateens, but without going deeply into the reasons that things are done this way. Stolen from some book, but it's OK as I know the author quite well.

 

[David Satter]

Thanks Todd I'm at the point in the restoration where I need this now. Dave

 

[Mark Riffe]

I am building a sprit rig for my canoe according to Todd Bradshaw's postings on this forum and his book. The sail will be loose-footed. The only detail that still escapes me is the location (and therefore, length) of the sprit on the mast. I've seen it in plans and photos with the heel of the sprit at a distance down the mast equal to the length of the head of the sail, approximately at mid-mast, and at the tack of the sail. I can imagine advantages for each, but would rather not make multiple sprits to test my assumptions. Any suggestions? Observations? Preferences?
Thank you for sharing your experience(s)!

 

[Mark Riffe]

Oops: I meant to say that the rig would be boomless.

 

[Mark Riffe]

I moved this topic to another thread ("Sprit placement") for better visibility to forum members.

 

[David E]

A standard Opti pram rig is useful..not reefable and a bit small for light winds on my 17 footers. I rig mine with carbon fibre mast, bamboo boom and sprit. Love this rig!

 

[floydvoid]

I posted this before and Todd talks about it in his book- Sunfish sailing has a ton of information on YouTube and the web, the rig is the same lateen rig you use on a canoe. I learned how and why to set up my canoe sail for various conditions by learning how to do it on a sunfish.

 

[David E]

I always enjoyed sailing Sunfish and Sailfish as a kid in Barnegat Bay. Those plastic robands are not so canoe like but of course cordage can be substituted for an improved aesthetic...LOL! The rig itself is way too much for my 16.5' x 36" canoes. I like the ACA rig (with sleeved luff and foot) in varied conditions up to about 16 knots, beyond which it feels like a handful! Rather weatherly in my experience if helm is balanced. As stated earlier, not reef-able so choices need to be made when setting out. I have 2 sets of spars for the rig....both feature bamboo for the yard. All best, David

 

[David E]

PS..on the illustration above, I add an adjustable kicking strap or vang. Smarter minds than mine might have opinions on wisdom of that but I like having same.

 

[floydvoid]

I’m not saying use a sunfish rig, just to clarify, 80 square feet is a bit too much. Those aca sails ( though I want one) does not allow much adjustment of the halyard placement due to the sleeve for the yard.
On an old town rig I’ve used rope and clove hitches to make a “gooseneck” to adjust my lower yard where I want it, as the metal hook is fixed in place.

 

[David E]

I've sailed my ACA rig a few times with the tack of the sail right up against the mast (I have hole drilled in the fore end of the boom which accpets a collar with a pin brazed onto it).....I suppose that, configured like, that it's tantamount to some sort of gunter, given that the yard, plumb, extends a fair bit higher than the mast. It's certainly not designed to be sailed like this that seemed to sail well with the luff essentially vertical. Left the leeboard thwart and did not seem to impact helm balance much at all. I just bought a brand new ACA rig...if by chance you're wanting a used one in good shape, def DM me as I doubt it's appropriate to discuss here. All best, David

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

I did one lateen for a local guy who would occasionally move the tack corner back to the mast, raising the yard up behind the mast and then we added a jib, set up boomed to be self-tacking and self-vanging. This kept the minute-to-minute adjustments needed for the jib to a minimum. The lateen mainsail was also built reefable. Another of my favorites was what we called the "Lat-Bat", a lateen built with a big bat-wing-style battened roach.

 

[David E]

Fantastic.....the lat-bat is phenom. Does is reef tangentially along one of the batten lines? Gorgeous canoe as well. Remembering now where I got the impetus to move the tack forward: a really nice gent up at Sugar Island, Bob Halsey (now deceased) would also add a jib to the canoe with ACA rig deployed to bring sail area up to C Class specs. One other observation on the 2nd photo.......I always felt intuitively that leeboard to leeward would sail better (or more efficiently). Well, I sail with a single leeboard anyway and somehow she seems to go better to windward with leeboard to windward. On the other tack she goes just fine as well but seems just a tad less efficient. PS....I admit also that I'm a paddle steerer....LOL!

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

Yes, the LatBat could be set up to reef out the bottom section with the addition of clew patching and a grommet, along with a reef band along the batten. Since the panel seams join pieces cut on a bias a band a couple inches wide would help prevent reef outhaul tensions from stretching the panel seam out. There is a lot more that can be done to the basic lateen than most designers and sailmakers are willing to bother with. I did one for a Morris where I paneled the sail with panels about 8.5" wide to mimic the original cotton sails, and one of the first lateens I ever built was a tri-radial cut for our old Sunfish. I used to tell my customers that from a couple hundred feet away, the work I did for their boat is going to show up a lot more than all the work they did on it.