Gaf rig quick question

[pcatterall]

I know they are out of fashion.
just reading on another thread about how most of the work of the mainsail is generated by the 'top two thirds'.
This would appear to suggest that the gaf rig was/is very useful.
What in simple terms is the problem with old gaffers then?

 

[Plum]

I know they are out of fashion.
just reading on another thread about how most of the work of the mainsail is generated by the 'top two thirds'.
This would appear to suggest that the gaf rig was/is very useful.
What in simple terms is the problem with old gaffers then?

Who said there was a problem? The OGA, the association for gaff rig sailing, see http://www.oga.org.uk , is thriving, with area groups all around the UK and in many countries. Certainly not out of fashion. Big event being organised to celebrate the 55th anniversary this year. I assume you are a fan of gaff rig.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[Hadenough]

I know they are out of fashion.
just reading on another thread about how most of the work of the mainsail is generated by the 'top two thirds'.
This would appear to suggest that the gaf rig was/is very useful.
What in simple terms is the problem with old gaffers then?

But a gaff main is missing the top 1 third of the two thirds isn't it? :encouragement:

 

[skipmac]

LIke all things marine (and most things in life) there are pros and cons. In my opinion a gaff rig has way more cons.

Pros
- Lower overall rig height for large sail area
- Cheaper, easier to build sails since it's supported on three side
- Looks traditional and yachty if you're into that sort of thing.

Cons
- Top of the sail sags off to windward so can't point as close to the wind as a marconi rig
- Boom adds a lot of weight aloft, partially mitigated by shorter mast and tends to flop and bang around.
- Extra rigging and gear to deal with, break, repair, maintain.
- Extra weight to hoist

 

[knuterikt]

Modern fathead mainsails could be viewed as an evolution of a gaffsail with topsail

 

[prv]

Well, obviously the sailing world as a whole has decided what's "better", but I do have something of a soft spot for gaff rig.

A couple more benefits -

• No need to go head to wind to hoist and lower the sail. Instead of running in a track on the aft face, the gaff jaws and the luff of the mainsail (either via a lacing or hoops) fit around the whole of the mast. The mast is circular, so the direction that the hull underneath it is pointing makes no difference, the sail just swings round to the downwind side and goes up and down equally well.
• Easy ability to scandalise the sail by dropping the peak, and on some boats raising the tack. Imagine if you had to drive into a carpark and park while remaining in fourth gear at all times - that's what it feels like trying to sail into or out of an anchorage with a sail whose area you can't easily adjust. Since changing from gaff to fully-battened bermudan, I basically gave up doing it.

I question the idea that the gaff (not the boom) tends to "flop and bang around" - at least, mine never did. Maintenance is more involved, but that's because gaff rigs are generally wooden and need varnishing - you'd have the same with wooden bermudan spars. There are a handful of boats with aluminium or even carbon gaffs but they're not common.

Because gaff rigs were designed to be built with less reliable pre-modern materials, they tend to have a fair bit of redundancy. Break something in the standing rigging of a bermudan mast and you will most likely lose it - there are a lot of single points of failure. It's quite a feat of engineering to support that slender aluminium pole against all the loads of the sails and the motion of the boat, and it still sometimes nags at the back of my mind on a hard beat. I never had that feeling on the previous boat, where the mast was shorter and simpler and no individual wire or fitting was critical to its survival. I also liked not having lots of superfluous mast sticking up above the sail when reefed.

Gaff rig boats do not generally sail as well to windward as bermudan ones, which is why they pretty much disappeared from the racing circuit as soon as riggers learned how to mostly avoid losing bermudan spars over the side. They do, however, tend to go better downwind under plain sail. And in the right wind my little gaff ketch used to broad-reach beautifully and surprised a number of larger three-cornered boats.

Pete