Re: Bolger on Gunters
One important distinction between a Solent lug and gunter rig may be
the proportion of the yard above the halyard. Since a gunter yard is
conceived as a sliding topmast, the object is to have the shortest
doubling consistent with strength, putting the halyard attachment
near the "throat." The leverage of the long yard on the sliding
gunter irons is what creates a binding problem. A Solent lug, on the
other hand, has the halyard attached close to the center of the yard--
even above it, allowing the yard to remain approximately vertical in
lowering while falling clear of the mast. It's very similar to the
jackyard on old racing cutters.
Both are strictly small-boat rigs, although larger boats like
Chesapeake skipjacks have sometimes used small clubs to extend the
mainsail head above the hounds.
-Peter Belenky
the proportion of the yard above the halyard. Since a gunter yard is
conceived as a sliding topmast, the object is to have the shortest
doubling consistent with strength, putting the halyard attachment
near the "throat." The leverage of the long yard on the sliding
gunter irons is what creates a binding problem. A Solent lug, on the
other hand, has the halyard attached close to the center of the yard--
even above it, allowing the yard to remain approximately vertical in
lowering while falling clear of the mast. It's very similar to the
jackyard on old racing cutters.
Both are strictly small-boat rigs, although larger boats like
Chesapeake skipjacks have sometimes used small clubs to extend the
mainsail head above the hounds.
-Peter Belenky
> I think the Otter design has a Solent lug.I think that preference for the Solent lug over the gunter is one of
Bolger's more inexplicable idiosyncracies. All the complaints about
the gunter may well be true, but most apply to the Solent lug as well,
and the latter has the additional feature of having the yard become
completely uncontrolled when lowering the sail. In the write-up on
Wolf Trap 30, PCB notes the yard "is unpopular for reasons easy to
imagine" (quoted from memory). Very easy.
Ian Oughtred is a fan of the gunter. If you want details of good
gunter rig, he is the one to look to, IMHO.
Peter
> A Solent lug [which Bolger has used on several designs]I think the Otter design has a Solent lug.
> looks similar, is hoist similarly on one halyard, but is a lugsail,
> without any attachment of yard to mast other than
> the halyard and parrel.
From "103 rigs..."
"The object of a gunter rig is to set a small sail on a short mast. It also
has the useful effect of eliminating bare spar above a reefed sail. The
benefits of the rig are more attractive on paper than in practice. It's
prone to jams, and unless the mast and yard are proportioned better than
they usually are the sail doesn't set well. Unless the mast oscillates, the
aerodynamics are poor around the lower luff, losing some if not all, of the
gain when reefed."
A gunter has a yard aloft on one halyard, rather than the two halyards of a
gaff. The spar aloft is [according to Mr Bolger] always in line with the
mast, attached to the mast at the spar's lower end by some kind of sliding
fitting; jaws, or a slide on a track for example. A Solent lug [which Bolger
has used on several designs] looks similar, is hoist similarly on one
halyard, but is a lugsail, without any attachment of yard to mast other than
the halyard and parrel.
cheers
Derek
"The object of a gunter rig is to set a small sail on a short mast. It also
has the useful effect of eliminating bare spar above a reefed sail. The
benefits of the rig are more attractive on paper than in practice. It's
prone to jams, and unless the mast and yard are proportioned better than
they usually are the sail doesn't set well. Unless the mast oscillates, the
aerodynamics are poor around the lower luff, losing some if not all, of the
gain when reefed."
A gunter has a yard aloft on one halyard, rather than the two halyards of a
gaff. The spar aloft is [according to Mr Bolger] always in line with the
mast, attached to the mast at the spar's lower end by some kind of sliding
fitting; jaws, or a slide on a track for example. A Solent lug [which Bolger
has used on several designs] looks similar, is hoist similarly on one
halyard, but is a lugsail, without any attachment of yard to mast other than
the halyard and parrel.
cheers
Derek