Sailing tender with standing lug rig?

Ladybirdgaffcutter

Ladybirdgaffcutter

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How bad are these on the wind? I have slightly fallen in love (best way to choose a boat!) with one little gem, and the minimalist simplicity of rigging/derigging seems attractive.

Any comments, have you sailed lug, is it wonderful and the old boys knew what they were doing? Unable to make any ground to windward?
A practical form of inshore transport... or a bijou bauble? TIA
 
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I have sailed GRP lug dinghies on the Broads. They sail perfectly adequately, if not gloriously. Going to windward if fine so long as the rig is reasonably balanced and the centre-board profile is okay; you can of course improve both of these things if required. Some dinghies can be very tender as you move up to the bow, which makes hoisting sail interesting. I personally prefer a boom (which the boat in your image appears not to have).
 
Don't know about dinghies, but full-sized luggers had a reputation for being very fast and good to windward.

Maybe that was just in comparison to square-riggers, though :p

Pete
 
My 15ft double ended glued clinker boat has the option of lug or gunter sloop. I have the latter and it is quite close winded. I normally can easily outpoint similar lug rigged boats. BUT, if I was doing it again, I would plump for the lug. Easier to rig, as no stays, one sail and fewer bits of string. Having a boom does make the sail work better, but can bump your head. The extra pointing ability is only really noticable in company ;o) A well designed lug can be quite good. As above, foils make a difference. Mine are shaped to a nice aerofoil section.
DW

Here is a nice one from a master of the art: http://www.vivierboats.com/produit/morbic-11-2/
 
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Having sailed a full size lugger (Barnabas) it was very fast maneoverable and went about as well to windward as my 1970s GRP ketch. Raising and lowering sail to tack on full size lugger was a hard job requiring coordinated effort from 4 crew, but that's not the issue for a dinghy and different for standing lugs anyway. Standing lugs wont sail so well on the obscured tack as dipping lugs but I don't know how much difference it will make
 
Ladybirdgaffcutter said:
How bad are these on the wind? I have slightly fallen in love (best way to choose a boat!) with one little gem, and the minimalist simplicity of rigging/derigging seems attractive.

Any comments, have you sailed lug, is it wonderful and the old boys knew what they were doing? Unable to make any ground to windward?
A practical form of inshore transport... or a bijou bauble? TIA
Click to expand...

When I was looking at a sailing tender, I considered gunter was the way to go, because it's easy to get hold of an old mainsail from any suitable bermudan dinghy and make it set much better than that!
Maybe if the hoiked the yard up a bit , they could lose some of that appalling crease?

At the time our mooring was up a channel, half the time a beat to get there, so I couldn't be doing with anything that wasn't pretty fair to windward.
AIUI, a good, well-set lug rig is OK to windward, but to get something 'good' will require input from a sailmaker who understands these things, who will deserve being paid actual money for his time. If you're up for that, that's great to hear, but tenders are usually cheap and cheerful around here.
 
As for set, one hauls the yard up and cleats it off, then heave on the down haul to get the luff tight, usually with a 4 part tackle.
Popular in past fishing boats as cheap, no stays, so can be struck quickly and the mast is forward and out of the way for working the gear.

Here is thev slightly larger version of my boat: https://www.classicmarine.co.uk/boa...nders/item/205-tirrik-double-ended-beach-boat where you can see the two rigs and the designers comments.

Not idea as a tender, due to the pointy ends, but gives an idea.
 
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A little gem of a boat is never going to sail brilliantly to windward anyway. Oppies with a somewhat similar rig seem to manage it, so that if you want a handy rig for a pram or small dinghy, with short mast and spar(s), a lugs'l will do as well as any.
 
My Iain Oughtred Puffin (10ft) goes well to windward with her standing lugsail but she has a fairly high aspect ratio dagger board. I also had yawl-rigged Drascombe Dabber with a lug main that was also capable of going well upwind. The challenge is to set the sail well with no creases, unlike the photo!
 
johnalison said:
A little gem of a boat is never going to sail brilliantly to windward anyway. ....
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I disagree.
There are some fine small non-bermudan boats which go very well to windward.
Just because many owners of traditional-type boats choose to opt out of caring about performance doesn't mean the best of the boats are not capable of it.
It's worh a look at for instance the Fowey River OD's or the Lymington Scows. When raced by the right people, these are handy little boats. Same is true of dozens of classes around the coast. Not unique to the UK either!
 
Ladybirdgaffcutter said:
How bad are these on the wind? I have slightly fallen in love (best way to choose a boat!) with one little gem, and the minimalist simplicity of rigging/derigging seems attractive.

Any comments, have you sailed lug, is it wonderful and the old boys knew what they were doing? Unable to make any ground to windward?
A practical form of inshore transport... or a bijou bauble? TIA
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Lymington Scow.
There are many similar scow's in the west solent, originally designed as a sailing tender. They are actively raced & point reasonably well. The Lymington version is the more expensive version due to promotion of the design rules by John Claridge the builder. There is a Beaulieu Scow, Keyhaven Scow & Christchurch scow. Some are clinker, others not. You may have to pay around £3k for a secondhand Lymington scow.
 
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lw395 said:
I disagree.
There are some fine small non-bermudan boats which go very well to windward.
Just because many owners of traditional-type boats choose to opt out of caring about performance doesn't mean the best of the boats are not capable of it.
It's worh a look at for instance the Fowey River OD's or the Lymington Scows. When raced by the right people, these are handy little boats. Same is true of dozens of classes around the coast. Not unique to the UK either!
Click to expand...

I'm sure there are some excellent small boats, with or without lug or gaff sails that can be taken well to windward, but I have the impression that other things being equal a bigger and longer boat will point higher and go to windward better than a small one, and with the kind of small boat pictured the choice of rig is not going to be critical. I've had many happy weeks in/on Broads dinghies but their windward performance was hardly in the same class as my then Firefly.
 
We have a leg of mutton rig for our hard dinghy. Super simple to rig. Sleeved sail on a windsurfing mast. No standing rigging. Simple boom. Dinghy sails to windward very well
 
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