Brian Sandle wrote:

Linkname: Gear and Maintenance
URL:
http://www.sailnet.com/collections/g...eID=ddcksn0326


Sailing a Cutter Rig

What are the advantages of a cutter-rigged boat?

Dan Dickison responds:
A cutter sails pretty much like a sloop, but with two jibs, the cutter
rig can be a more versatile sail plan. If the staysail is self-tending
(on a boom with a traveler on the foredeck), you can short-tack upwind
without grinding headsail winches. How the rig performs hard on the
wind depends a great deal on the size and style of the main headsail.
With a large, low-cut genoa, the staysail may be starved for air when
beating, while a smaller, high-clewed jib or yankee may work well with
the inner headsail.

A staysail almost always provides usable sail area for power reaching
once the boat is slightly off the wind and works well until the wind
is well abaft the beam. On a dead run however, the little staysail is
usually blanketed by the mainsail and is of little use. Yet, a
little-used advantage is that when running downwind, the staysail can
be sheeted flat amidships, acting like a large anti-roll air brake.

The most important aspect in using this rig is to make sure that the
trim on the outer jib matches the trim on the inner one. This assumes
that you've got the proper sheet leads, halyard tension, and sheet
tension. Obviously you want to sheet the outer jib outboard of the
inner jib.

The cutter-rigged boat can be balanced better than a sloop because the
staysail can be sheeted in or out to add more or less weather helm.
A staysail can also be extremely useful as the wind increases because
they keep the sail plan of the boat low and centered as the headsail
and main are reefed. Paired with a partially-rolled genoa or a small,
high-clewed yankee, sail area can be reduced until the staysail alone
is left.
...

Then could it look like a sloop from some angle?

I don't understand many terms. Is it a ketch that is cutter-rigged?

"Brian Sandle" wrote in message
...
Brian Sandle wrote:

Linkname: Gear and Maintenance
URL:

http://www.sailnet.com/collections/g...m?articleID=dd
cksn0326


...

Then could it look like a sloop from some angle?

I don't understand many terms. Is it a ketch that is cutter-rigged?

A ketch has two masts, the aft mast being shorter than the main mast.
Sloops and cutters have one mast. Schooners have two masts the main mast
being aft. Sloops and cutters appear the same when unrigged. The problem
is that Wallace said that he dropped them off at a ketch. Watson's boat was
a sloop or cutter. You cannot turn a sloop into a ketch overnight! If you
are alongside a ketch with any light at all those two masts are going to
stick out against the sky like the proverbial dogs' balls. A ketch could be
mistaken for a sloop only from dead ahead or dead astern when the two masts
are lined up. A sloop would never be mistaken for a ketch.

R

Roger Dewhurst wrote:

"Brian Sandle" wrote in message
...
Roger Dewhurst wrote:

A ketch has two masts, the aft mast being shorter than the main mast.
Sloops and cutters have one mast. Schooners have two masts the main
mast
being aft. Sloops and cutters appear the same when unrigged. The
problem
is that Wallace said that he dropped them off at a ketch. Watson's boat
was
a sloop or cutter. You cannot turn a sloop into a ketch overnight! If
you
are alongside a ketch with any light at all those two masts are going to
stick out against the sky like the proverbial dogs' balls. A ketch could
be
mistaken for a sloop only from dead ahead or dead astern when the two
masts
are lined up. A sloop would never be mistaken for a ketch.

Some boats you enter over the stern? Many years ago I had a 16 ft sea
scout cutter, and did not know the meaning of the name. Is it something to
do with the shape of the bow cutting through the water?


Where is the stay-sail mounted on a cutter-rigged boat?

Forward of the mast.

Oh, silly of me. It is the sail attached to the forward stay wire, of
course. My boat had a cabin built on it and a motor added and the little
mast I don't think had any stay. It had a Maori name which turned out to
be a bit rude, someone later told me, `Tutae Wera'.

In nz.general Roger Dewhurst wrote:

A sloop would never be mistaken for a ketch.

Even if seen in the dark, with the mast of another boat behind it giving the
impression of a 2 masted boat?

On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 05:42:51 GMT, Geoff McCaughan
wrote:

In nz.general Roger Dewhurst wrote:

A sloop would never be mistaken for a ketch.

Even if seen in the dark, with the mast of another boat behind it giving the
impression of a 2 masted boat?


Sloop is a mast with a mainsail and a headsail.

Ketch is a shorter mizzen mast abaft (towards the stern from) the main
mast

A cutter rig is like a sloop except the mast is not a far forward,
making a longer fore-triangle for the headsail. The headsail area is
rigged with two headsails on two stays; the forestay and the staysail
stay.

Thus, a sloop has more power from it's mainsail (because it is larger)
and is balanced with the headsail.

Ketch rigs use smaller sails that may be easier to handle. But ketch
rigs do not go upwind as well and are not as fast as a single, taller
rig. I don't see very many new boats with ketch rigs unless they are
over about 60'.

The cutter has a smaller mainsail that may be easier to handle. It's
headsail can be large. With a roller furler, even a large headsail can
be set or furled quickly and easily. A stays'l can be used alone or
with a reefed mainsail in rougher weather. The cutter is a versatile
rig and is my rig of choice.

But any well-found boat will get you around and you'll have fun.

Maritime Pacific wrote:
On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 05:42:51 GMT, Geoff McCaughan
wrote:

In nz.general Roger Dewhurst wrote:

A sloop would never be mistaken for a ketch.
Even if seen in the dark, with the mast of another boat behind it giving the
impression of a 2 masted boat?


Just look at the date on this!!!!!!!!!!!

R