why does this boat have a boom like the kind on a windsurfer, does anyone know, I saw her on the Hamble last week, she looks like a racing kind but why the boom?
When comparing stayed vs unstayed rigs, one could say there is an analogy between the old biplanes with diagonal stays everywhere holding the wings together, and a modern Boeing or Airbus rig, where there are no stays in sight anywhere.......
Carbon fibre = light
Carbon fibre = stiff
Carbon fibre = good response characteristics ( means that when it bends, it goes back to straight very quickly)
Carbon fibre = easy to get different bend characteristics in different parts of the mast to get better sail shape
Not a particularly new design. Gary Hoyt's 70ft Freedom schooner Kriter Lady II had three 65ft freestanding masts and was built for the 1981 Two-handed OSTAR race.
just a different rig set up - why have one mast when you can have 2. I would be interested if anyone can come back and say how much power the rig delivers compared to conventional.
The Nonsuch rig is a damn fine idea for sure - same as the Freedom, the Wylie, and various other variants.
We raced against a Nonsuch catboat in Bequia Easter regatta a couple of times - they were a Canuck cruising couple, with everything on board; we were a 'cruiser-racer' the same size, stripped out - and they hammered us. Conclusively.
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Carbon fibre = breaks sometimes, most inconvenient, but good news for c.f. mast makers
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But you can stick carbon back together again, unlike aluminum. Wood isn't too clever when it breaks either, but it makes better firewood. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Really? Richard Matthews, boss of Oyster, didn't seem able to do so when his mast went pop on the 2005 ARC. Instead he had a nice holiday in the Cape Verdes.
They are Cat Ketch rigs. Freedom boats specialised in them but there are many other makes of boats that use this design. Many of which have have been successful in racing. More importantly they are regarded for there ease of use.
Sure you can repair them. Don't you remember Yves Parlier in the Vendee Globe fixing his in New Zealand? IIRC he repaired the spar and stepped it all on his own, whilst living off mussels gleaned off the shore to conserve his seagoing supplies.
It was so cold that he had to rig a home made autoclave so the resin would cure.
With my unstayed carbon rig the manufacturers advise 10% less sail area for the same (or greater) power. The big difference comes off the wind when a conventional main is stalled rather than having a laminar flow.
What they've got is a grown-up Laser rig and you know how well they go!
'Our' Julie 'Powerskipper' got an award from the RYA, top power boat instructor 2006, I think it was, was in the last copy of RYA news. I'm sure she is far to modest to broadcast it on the forum, but come on Powerskipper, lets hear about it!!