Aerorig

[Sybarite]

http://www.aerorig.com/tests.htm

Does anybody have experience of this rig?

The tests claim that the aerorig with a smaller sail area outsails a conventionally rigged boat.

The idea of just squaring off the rig for downwind sailing really appeals to me.

??

John


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[Ohdrat]

Never sailed with one but there are a couple of large (40ft +) boats.. one mono and one cat, locally .. I think probably this is to do with costs and sail handling ability.. the Aero rig is supposed to be much easier to handle whilst the rigging is probably not cost effective for smaller yacht. Perfomance much as reported on the website above.

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[Twister_Ken]

Followed one downwind a couple of seasons back, on a breezy day. It made gybing look a piece of cake, very controlled, quite slow, no crash.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[Sybarite]

The eternal Catch 22 : costs would come down if more boats had the rig.

John

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[Jacket]

Your big problem is that Aerorig went out of business a few months ago.

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[Sybarite]

It was rigged.

John

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[snowleopard]

from the horse\'s mouth...

i have a freewing which is just like an aerorig but the mast is a wing section and rotates independantly. that makes it a bit more efficient but most of the advantages are common:

gybing is easy as the jib acts as a damper, also no shrouds to hit so you can let it go right round & it doesn't stop with a crash.

when running you square the rig across the boat, fully efficient and no risk of gybe, when a squall gets up you just ease out, till it's right out over the bow if necessary, then haul in when the wind eases.

fully self tacking, short tack up a narrow channel by just turning the wheel

the biggest advantage, which i now couldn't live without, is the ability to reef by turning downwind, letting go the sheets and allowing the rig to weathercock, no more rounding up into a rising gale.
no risk of dismasting through rigging failure

much faster on a reach than conventional, slot effect remains as sails always sheeted flat.

stresses on the hull from the unstayed rig are actually less than on a conventional rig.

the down side is cost, it's a lot more expensive than a conventional rig though you do save a lot on deck gear, especially winches.

there is no possibility of running controls back to the cockpit because of the rotation so sail handling has to be done on deck.

as has been said, carbospars has gone belly up recently but you can still get the freewing (which is cheaper) see <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.freewingmasts.co.uk/>http://www.freewingmasts.co.uk/</A>

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[Gezzer]

Re: from the horse\'s mouth...

Thanks Snowleopard you have just answered a question that I had, I saw in Rhodes town harbour last year a very large westerly ( 60ft ish or maybe more), that had the very rig that is shown in your link.
It was the biggest westerly I have ever seen, much bigger than the oceanlord etc, and well fitted out, hydraulic passarel etc, might even have had a transom garage, dark blue hull, acres of teak, anybody any ideas on what it was?

The boat was British registered, I found a crewman to ask him about the rig and I think he turned out to be the chef as all he could say was that it was a sailing boat !!, so I was none the wiser on the strange rig until now.

Thanks.


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[warrior40]

Re:the biggest Westerly

Is an Oceanmaster at 48 feet in length, they built a few later ones badged as an Ocean 49, but they are not really that big, and certainly not good sailing boats, with small, badly designed keel, short rudder, very wide beam and transom, OK for downwind though.

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[snowleopard]

Re: from the horse\'s mouth...

there was a very big aero-rigged boat called lazyjack which circumnavigated recently.

the designer of the freewing built a couple of maxis in south africa with variants of the rig.

apart from that the biggest freewing-rigged boat in europe at present is ocean highlander 4, a 55 ft cat which we brought from inverness to wicormarine last week.

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[john_morris_uk]

Re: from the horse\'s mouth...

I have been on board (but not sailed) and know the (professional) skipper and crew of a 112 foot aero rig boat normally kept in Antibes. Talked to him about the rig and how it goes. Generally happy, but a few snags with the rig on such a large boat. Send me a pm if you want to know more. John

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[Sybarite]

Re: from the horse\'s mouth...

The aerorig site gives a 154' boat with a 197' Aerorig mast under build. I don't know if it was completed. There is also a 92' polar exploration vessel with twin Aerorig masts.

Lazy Jack is a 62'

John

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[snowleopard]

Re: from the horse\'s mouth...

team philips was originally to have had twin aerorigs. i don't know why they gave up on that but the replacements were seriously wierd. as i understand it the luff track had to be made in sections with gaps as it couldnt take the bending. to hoist or lower the sail you had first to tension the mast back to max bend to close the gaps in the track so the slides wouldn't fall out.

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[webcraft]

Re: from the horse\'s mouth...

I've seen that huge cat in Caley Marina a few times - wondered if she was ever going to move. An amazing looking machine - did you enjoy the trip?

- Nick



<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com>http://www.bluemoment.com</A></font size=1>

 

[snowleopard]

Re: from the horse\'s mouth...

absolutely f*****g freezing! and headwinds all the way.

once the wind freed a bit we were really shifting, with the wind 70 deg off the bow we were doing 8 knots boat speed in 5 knots of true wind. and that was without the jib which hasn't yet been fitted. a seriously powerful machine. mine sometimes feels like driving a tennis court, that was more like a football pitch.

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