# Which rig (gunter, gaff, bermudan) would you prefer for a small (22') boat?



## Chucknuckle (Oct 16, 2018)

Looking at taking a smaller boat (a Grey Seal) along the coast, and wondering which rig option you would choose (gunter, gaff, or bermudan) and why?

EDIT: Important to mention, I will likely be sailing solo.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I could recomend a couple of books to help you think. 100 Small Boat Rigs by Bolger. Barnes Dinghy Cruising Companion has a short but informative section on traditional rigs as well.

A couple of thoughts. Bermuda might give you the best upwind power, but I think it might be * less atractive on a pretty boat like a Grey Seal. They also have a higher centre of effort than a lot of other good options, which might mean more heeling.

Gaff and Gunter rigs are nice (my primary boat is a 21 foot gaff rigged boat). They are more work to sail, due to having two halyards, however that also means you have a lot of control over sail shape and power, fast control too. Let your peak halyard fly in a gust and the boat will sit right up. Lower centre of effort than a Bermuda and lower mast (bridges).

Have you considered a Standing lug? I am not sure if its a good match for your boat, but a lot of modern designers seem to like them. I think both Welsford and Storer use them.

I think the biggest question I would ask, is what rig does Iain Oughtred recomend? My wager would be he would know far better than any of us what rig is best.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

I love the gaff rig, but it is definitely a lot more work than a Marconi rig. For one thing, it requires two halyards and two topping lifts. If I was sailing solo even some of the time, I'd go with a Marconi rig without a second thought.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I was just checking out the Oughtred site. He has designed a lot of cool boats.

Lots of rig options for the Grey Seal, from what I read, options are; "Plain Sloop", Gunter Sloop, ketch and Junk.

For a single hander the junk option might be nice. Only one sail to deal with, easy to sail, easy to reef.


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## Barquito (Dec 5, 2007)

I think there are a lot of really cool rigs that may work. However, the Marconi rig is most common because it is efficient and easy to handle (with proper furling stuff).


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I agree Marconi rigs dominate the world of high production fibreglass boats, however, I am not sure that they dominate small, modern wooden boats. That's one of the beauties of building a small wooden boat, you actually have the option to select what rig is best for you, rather than what rig is best for the mass market.

Personally I see a lot of cat ketches and standing lugs on small modern wooden boats, but I cant say for sure if one type of rig dominates more than the next. 

Aside from maybe looking a little funny, I can imagine technical issues with adding in mast reefing or similar on a wooden mast. I think slab reefing would be the norm.


The Grey Seal Gunter looks like a pretty good upwind rig, I cant imagine the Marconi rig is that much more efficient up wind, at least not for practical purposes. The gunter likely wood be a bit more complex to sail though. 

I frequently sail my gaff single handed, you learn tricks for handling the extra halyard. I hand over hand both halyards simultaneously until the throat is peaked up, make fast, then continue with the peak. Its not the end of the world. In terms of efficiency, sure I give up some performance to weather, but I can cook down wind. 

Heres a pic of a Grey Seal with its gunter rig. looks pretty good to me.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

As good as it looks, I'd consider a spar swinging around at head height as you drop a sail in a bit of weather an unnecessary risk.
Certainly, there are much more romantic and colorful rigs available, but the Marconi is still the most sensible for small boat sailing, especially singlehanding. Easy to reef, cost-efficient to make and very easy to handle in heavy weather on a tossing deck or cabin top.
Having sailed many a gaffer, easy is not a word that comes to mind in adverse conditions, though one advantage to the rig is being able to scandalize it.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

I assume that this is Iain Oughtred's Gray Seal. The hull lines of that design (below the water) is loosely based on the Folkboat, which was a Bermuda rig. For what you are thinking of doing I would absolutely do a Bermuda rig since they are way easier to sail and sail shape would be much easier to control with way fewer adjustments. Coastal sailing often requires a mix of beating and deep reaching/running across a broad range of wind speeds. A fractionally rigged sloop will more quickly adapt and maintain a more neutral helm across a broader range of wind. The point better allowing you to short tack into tight corners more easily. 

If you had to go under low bridges, I might consider a sliding gunther rig. I like what Iain did with the curved gaff, but sail shape and reefing would be very tricky with that the curved gaff. I have sailed a lot of gaffers and frankly this would be the wrong boat for a gaff rig. If you were concerned about reaching ability I would do a mainsail with a lot of roach. 

This is the wrong hullform for a junk rig (and yes, I know Blondie Hasler put a junk rig on a folkboat, but an acquaintance who is a fellow Folkboat fan sailed a hasler replica and swore it really killed the sailing ability of the boat except on a narrow range of reaching which is what Blondie expected to be the predominant point of sail during his crossing.) Besides having a jib to backwind is a fabulous tool on a small sailing boat, allowing the boat to be spun quickly, stopped, and reversed in tight quarters or allowing the boat to be hove to. 

Jeff


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## Chucknuckle (Oct 16, 2018)

Thanks for all the replies folks, a lot to think about. I reckon I will stick with the bermudan rig. A junk rig would be easier to handle perhaps just for the simplicity, but my gosh, they're ugly. Well, I don't like them at any rate!


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Chucknuckle said:


> A junk rig would be easier to handle perhaps just for the simplicity


I often see people talk about how easy Junk rigs are to sail and how simple they supposedly are. I find myself thinking that these people either have not sailed a junk rig, or have not sailed conventional rigs. The reality is that it is harder to control sail shape on a junk rig than on almost any other rig. There are ways to improve that situation, but it means adding additional control lines that need a lot of tending and trimming, and even without additional control lines, the mainsheet needs a lot of playing to keep the angle of attack reasonably close to where it needs to be for the sail to work as an aerodynamic device. The alternative to that is living with poorly shaped and poorly trimmed sails. Any rig is 'easy to sail' if you don't care about sail shape or sail trim. And there is nothing particularly simple about a properly rigged junk rig. Junk rigs work very well on heavily loaded, shallow draft, minimal stability boats that primarily spend their life reaching. But they represent a real compromise when dealing with more conventional hull forms and sailing venues.

Jeff


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I dont profess to be an expert on Junk rigs, but I thought it might be worth exploring . I suspect Oughtreds Junk rig is a bit more refined than Jesters rig of nearly 60 years ago.

My understanding with Jesters Junk rig was, the junk rig could be sailed from the boats hatch, to eliminate the need for the single handed sailor to to go out on deck or even in the cockpit. Sail the boat and reef the boat. That was 1960 and the junk rig was pretty crude.

However, it seems Welsford has repeated the experiment with Swaggie and I know I have read about junk rigs on Laydens Paradox.

And you have Oughtred designing a junk for Grey Seal.

I can't see any reason a Junk should be much more difficult to trim (aside from in light air) than a standing Lug. OP hasn't said whether he is in a place with decent wind or not.


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## Chucknuckle (Oct 16, 2018)

We do have good winds locally, but the junk rig doesn't appeal to me aesthetically. I want to build a Grey Seal because she's just about the most beautiful small boat I've ever seen, so I'm prepared to make some sacrifices in terms of work/handling in order to keep her looking beautiful.


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