gaff topsail

[tritonofnor]

Hi. I have a friend who has just bought a gaff rigged day boat built by Curtis & Pape. Whilst we have worked out how to rig the main and jib, neither of us have any gaff experience and are wondering how to rig the topmast and topsail. Any help would be very much appreciated!

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[snowleopard]

different boats have different systems. as an overall view you could do a lot worse than read Gaff Rig by John Leather.

you refer to a 'topmast'. the term refers to a fixed extension to the mast which fixes on brackets at the masthead. i suspect that what you have is a yard-headed topsail where the topsail is laced to the spar. in that case you need thre or four lines:

1. the halliard attaches to the yard about 1/3 up from the base, traditionally with a topsail halliard bend though i found a rolling hitch works better. if you have a fitting to attach the halliard, so much the better.

2. a downhaul from the tack of the sail to pull the luff taut after hoisting

3. a sheet led through an eye on the end of the gaff

4. the optional 4th line leads through an eye or block on the mast to pull the foot of the yard in tight to the mast. this rejoices in the name 'timminoggy' and was used on cornish working boats.

if you experiment with the topsail in no more than force 2 you'll soon work out the best way to rig it.

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[Plum]

Good advice. On my Cornish working boat the timminoggy is mounted to the gaff near to the jaws and with this arrangement you do not need item 2 in your posting. But as you say, there are many ways to rig a topsail, probably more ways than any other sail!

A simple sketch of the Cornish rig is shown here http://www.friend.ly.net/~dadadata/boat/cob/COB_sea-boat.html

or here http://groups.msn.com/SandbarsandDriftwood/topsail.msnw

The topsail can also be rigged with a yard at the aft end of the sail. This yard is callead a jack-yard and examples can be seen here: http://www.formsys.com/Aorere/Aorere.html

Tom Cunliff's book on traditional rig sailing "hand reef and steer" is a good addition to John Leather's book.

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[Mirelle]

Agree with all that.

Basically the topsail exists to provide the owner of a gaff rigged boat with the excitement that people with pointy headed rigs get from their spinnakers.

I would just add:

1. Never try to set the topsail with the boat head to wind, eg on a mooring. It will foul something as the mainsail shakes.

2. Personally, I favour setting and handing it to windward, so that it lies flat against the mainsail on the way up and down. Remember to lead the hauling end of the topsail sheet along the gaff to a small block at the jaws, then down, to reduce the riskl of coul ups. Ed Burnett, the doyen of designers of modern gaff rigged boats, leads it inside a hollow gaff!

3. Don't be afraid of a jackyard as well as the topsail yard; it gives you a bigger sail and makes it easier to set as it is more tolerant of errors on sheeting angle (i.e. the position at which you attach the halyard to the yard)


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