Just when I thought that unirig was looking pretty cool ..... oops! but thank you Rick for pointing this out! so it appears my design will stick with the schooner rig for now.
--- In harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au, Rick Willoughby <rickwill@...> wrote:
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> Mike
> Some of our recent experience with the 18m proa might be worth considering with respect to schooner versus unarig.
>
> As you know the harryproa with unarig has quite a strong tendency to windward helm. It is easy to get in irons when trying to pinch up while going to windward.
>
> We have recently played around with reefing the main to move the CoE forward. This can help balance a little but once the CoE is forward of the mast the rig becomes unstable with the jib wanting to move to the lee side meaning the boom needs to be sheeted both ends. This makes shunting much more difficulty because the rig has to forced all the way - there is no tendency to feather by releasing the trailing sheet. In fact the trailing end of the boom ends up over the cabin if allowed to swing free.
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> The schooner rig has much improved capacity to shift the CoE forward. I expect the boat could be pointed very high while moving slow and still have ability to bear away by easing the trailing boom. Someone sailing with the schooner rig might be able to comment on this.
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> Without having actually sailed a harryproa with a schooner rig my preference would strongly favour that option over a unarig. The ability to shift the CoE forward is compelling.
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> Rick
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>
> On 05/11/2013, at 4:07 AM, Mike Crawford <mcrawf@...> wrote:
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> > I'm still considering a schooner instead of an unarig, even though it might mean abandoning a wing sail design, and one of the primary reasons is steering with the sails. The ability to sail the boat off a beach, without the rudders down (either because they're up, or because they're gone), and shunt to windward, would be extraordinary. As would a boat that is somewhat easily controlled even after a submerged shipping container takes out the rudders.
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