Hi,
I am almost done with the harryproa design I have settled on. It will
be a trailerable boat, 35' lw, 24' ww hull, collapses to 12' beam in
the water and 8.5' beam for trailering once you remove the crossbeams.
Hull weight (not including rig, crossbeams, rudders or equipment) is
1000 lbs, so I figure sailing weight, with crew and provisions of
about twice that. There is 1 double bunk, and the cockpit can insert a
board to make a single bunk up there. Materials cost for the hulls is
$10,000.
I have run into some issues with the rig, and I would like advice.
Given the constraints of easy singlehanding, and low cost, I would
like as much sail area as I can get, since I often sail in 5 kts of
wind. I would like at least 400 sq ft of sail, preferably more. I have
been looking at various used sail outfits to get an idea of sail
dimensions, and the luff/foot ratio seems to run between 3:1 and 4:1
for the most part, usually closer to 3:1.
My concern is the boom length. The ww bridge deck is 8' from the lw
hull, so any boom longer than 8' must clear the hardtop, which is 8'
8" off the water.
I also have fantasies about being able to ship this boat around inside
a shipping container, meaning that nothing can be longer than 40', so
the mast will need to be in at least 2 pieces.
The only sails I can find with a foot of 8' or less are Tornado cat
sails, or similar, with a sail area of 120sq ft or so, so even having
2 of them in a schooner rig does not get my sail area close to what I
want, although I could have 1 piece masts if I use those.
If I go with an easyrig, with the boom 9' off the water, I need to
raise the lw hull height from 4' above wl to at least 6, so that I can
reach the sail from the lw hull deck. The good side is that the foot
can now be about 13' (I will still have a short pole on the ww hull
for instruments, lights, etc, so there is a limit to boom length).
I could then go with a 50' luff and 12' foot to get 300 sq ft out of
the main, and a 50' luff and 9' foot for 225 sq ft from the jib, and
have plenty of sail area (500+ sq ft). I would have to have a 2 part
mast for the container, or for trailering, since the mast would be
nearly 60' long. This last is really too much sail, but in the
ballpark of what I need.
So, my question are:
1) is it worth buying used sails, if I am on a budget? Any of the
sails I am talking about can be had used in very good or better
condition for < $1000. Any rough guess of what a 300 sq ft main sail
from dacron would cost?
2) Is the 3-4:1 aspect ratio reasonable for a boat like this? It
should be very fast, so does it make sense to have a higher aspect
ratio (5:1 or better)? This would require a new sail to be made.
3) I can get more sail area from a schooner rig, for the same mast
height. With an 8' foot and a 39' mast, I can probably get a 32' luff,
so with an 80% roach, I should be able to have sails made that will
give me 200 sq ft each with 2 simple 1 piece masts. That would match
my mininum sail area.
I guess all these questions boil down to a comparison between a
schooner rig with 1 piece masts and new sails, vs an easyrig with a 2
part mast and used sails. The schooner can keep with a lw hull 4'
high, but the easyrig will need 6' height on the lw hull.
The tradeoffs are:
a) price (including hull modifications)
b) ease of single handing
c) speed
d) ease of trailering
e) weight
f) ability to put in a container (optional)
I always get good opinions here, so thanks in advance!
- Gardner
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