Gaff rig for solo sailors

[Gloves]

Sailing a small classic cruising gaffer solo at 70 years old (me not the boat, which is much older), is becoming a problem. Does anybody have experience of either lighter spars or leading halyards back to the cockpit or both to lessen the chances of me suffering a hernia or going overboard?

 

[wombat88]

I got rid of the topsail, made both jibs furling, organised a hefty twin topping lift with lazy jacks and that more or less sorted it at the time.

I was looking for a nice big bit of bamboo for the gaff but then a nice bloke asked me if I wanted to sell...

It was a long time ago.

 

[Tranona]

Welcome to the forum. Many of the modern plastic gaffers have lines led aft so is perfectly possible. Suggest you have a look at examples of how they do it and see what might be possible on your boat. Barton is perhaps the best choice of hardware to do the job.

 

[Gloves]

Many thanks, Wombat88 and Tranona, for your responses. I've thought about using carbon fibre or aluminium for a gaff, but bamboo is a very interesting thought!
Great idea to look at modern gaffer solutions. My boat is only 21 feet long but built in 1924 and the spars are solid timber and heavy so I think I will have to lighten the rig to be able to lead everything aft.
Thanks again for your advice.

 

[The Q]

Running the lines aft is comparatively easy I did that on my old Lysander 17ft Gunter rig.
Many of the racing gaffers on the broads have gone over to carbon Fibre gaffs.. how expensive that is or whether you could use an off the shelf piece of carbon fiber pole I have no idea.

For one boat I built my own hollow gaff and mast.. a fair amount of work though..

 

[AntarcticPilot]

While probably not what you want, these (HABER YACHTS - Motorsailer HABER 620 Sloop) are gaff-rigged with alloy spars, and might give you some ideas.

 

[Gloves]

Many thanks for all the helpful advice. It seems that leading aft is doable and I need to source a carbon fibre or alloy spar of around 15 feet in length.

 

[jaminb]

H20 Sports Ltd Poole wetsuit, paddle boards, kitesurfing, windsurf

 

[jaminb]

Neil Pryde Carbon C30 Mast, 4.9m long | eBay

 

[Kukri]

Roller bearing blocks, generously sized. I’m cautious about making the gaff too light, as you want it to bring the mainsail down reliably.
If you don’t already have one, fit a rigid boom gallows.

 

[Rosie1963]

fit a rigid boom gallows.

IMHO this is an improvment to any rig

 

[Poignard]

IMHO this is an improvment to any rig

Rosie, if you have boom gallows may I have a picture?

I am thinking of fitting boom gallows to my boat and looking for ideas.

 

[Kukri]

A gaff boat will usually have the permanent gallows aft of the cockpit; a bermuda rig boat will have the gallows over the companion hatch (where it makes a first class handhold).

Gaff version here, with three contributors to this page… Frank Holden, Martin Schulz, the undersigned…

 

[Rosie1963]

Rosie, if you have boom gallows may I have a picture?

I am thinking of fitting boom gallows to my boat and looking for ideas.

I think where you put it depends on the length of the boom. Rosie’s boom is long and it’s swing is over the poop deck. Most Bermudans are not like this though with much shorter booms

Rosie has some clever modifications: in port or at anchor I insert turned mahogany dowels that fit into the gallows pipes to add an extra foot of headroom in the cockpit (so there is no chance of hitting your head in “anchor mode”). I also have a cockpit “conservatory” that extends off the sprayhood and hangs from the boom when the weather is inclement. Worth considering before you choose location and height.

 

[Poignard]

I think where you put it depends on the length of the boom. Rosie’s boom is long and it’s swing is over the poop deck. Most Bermudans are not like this though with much shorter booms

Rosie has some clever modifications: in port or at anchor I insert turned mahogany dowels that fit into the gallows pipes to add an extra foot of headroom in the cockpit (so there is no chance of hitting your head in “anchor mode”). I also have a cockpit “conservatory” that extends off the sprayhood and hangs from the boom when the weather is inclement. Worth considering before you choose location and height.
View attachment 129856

Thanks, that looks like a sturdy arrangement. I found other pictures of your yacht showing the gallows:




My boom is much shorter and I am thinking of having the gallows over the companionway where they would be useful to grab onto when climbing out of the cockpit.

 

[Rosie1963]

I have seen them with a hinged section that can fold-up to gain the extra height so you don’t ding you head on it when you come up the companionway when the boom is stowed - worth considering. Also, its wise to consider an option for off-centreline stowage too, as this will ease getting to the side deck from the cockpit.

 

[Kukri]

I’d make reducing friction in the running rigging a priority. It makes a huge difference. There’s a case for having both headsails on rollers, but the important one is the jib, as one usually stows the staysail early on in order to have visibility forward when in confined water.

If you bring the main halyards to the cockpit you must do the same with the reef pendants. It soon becomes a lot of rope.

Carry a Grabit boat hook.

 

[Gloves]

Lots of good ideas, thanks. My boat, the original Deben Cherub and named Cherub, has a fixed gallows identical to the ones pictured. I take the point about weight of gaff needed to bring down the main, so I may concentrate on designing an efficient blocks system to bring the halyards (and topping-lift) back to the cockpit while trying to maintain the traditional look of an almost 100 year old boat. Thanks again for all your contributions.

 

[Kukri]

I know your boat..

She has quite nice wide side decks and it’s fairly easy to get from cockpit to deck. My late father, who single handed a slightly smaller but similar boat until he was 82, always pointed out that the actual use of the runners is not to hold the mast up, but to provide a handhold when going forward.

I see she has twin topping lifts, but they come down to the same place at the extreme aft end of the boom, so the gaff can escape from them.

I recommend moving the position of the ends of the double topping lifts on the boom a couple of feet forward, and securing them to the reef combs on the boom, I am not sure that lazyjacks are essential, but I’d alter the twin topping lifts, and then decide. One very good thing is that the gaff is as long as the boom so it will always come down between the lifts if this is done.

I’m probably teaching Grandmother, but, being just short of seventy myself, I was astonished to find how much more confident I became in my ability to totter up to the mast and back when I bought myself a new pair of deck shoes. I was amazed at the difference in grip! ?

 

[Romeo]

That is a long old gaff. The good news is that a solid boat with a decent keel and a gaff rig is probably going to be easier to keep sailing than a flighty boat with a taller rig. One of the huge advantages of the gaff rig is the ability to drop it in a controlled manner quickly. As others have said some of that will be lost if you make the boom to light, and control will be increased if the topping lifts are brought along the boom. I shifted mine to where the third reef would come down to the reef comb.... if we had a third reef. The gaff just does not pop out, and always comes down under full control.

I note what others say about leading lines back, and with good efficient blocks it should be possible. Another possibility would just be to start taking out younger pals with you whenever you go sailing. Allows you to pass on the knowledge you will have built up, gives others the chance to go sailing, might enthuse others to help with maintenance, will in fact allow you to keep sailing the boat till much later in life than leading the lines back will, and ultimately finds the person that you can pass the boat on to when you have had enough, of sailing or life.