--- In harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au, "DaveC" <dave@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> In the vein of smaller rig parts, is there any argument for a 3 masted schooner on a Harryproa? I'm thinking about wishbone booms on unstayed carbon spars. Why 3? Lower height of CE, less fore/aft shift of CE, more total sail. You'd take a little hit upwind, but then again, depowering the mizzen helps with sail balance. I bet a single-hander (or real-life husband/wife team) could sail her, from slip to trans-oceanic, in sizes to 75' OA.
>
> I think if I had a Harry, I'd want a wishbone schooner, 2 masts if smallish, 3 if largish. Tom Wylie's big 65' cat ketches, (cat-headed monohulls, not catamarans--unstayed carbon spars) with wishbones on both sails, are pretty darn simple/controllable, given the size of the sails. His main is something like 1500 sf, uses a two part sheet. When he reefs, he has a "basket" built of lazy jack-like bits of line under the boom, just drops the sails into these, then if he wants a reef, sorts it out in the "basket." http://www.wyliecat.com/wishbone_rig/
>
> Dave Culp
>

Hi Dave,
I plan to use a three masted schooner rig now that I have verified that it can still be called a schooner. ( I reckon that name is way cool.)
You may not be as happy with what I plan to put on the masts though -
I'm becoming something of a wingsail fanatic.
My logic is that I can have lower wings with less risk of my poor building skills being found out than if the rigs were somewhat taller.

Cheers, Jeff.