Erutan,

  We had a brief discussion on schooner-vs-telescoping rigs a while back, which I'm including after my signature now that we lack the web interface or history.

  Which came to mind as I was reading commentary in Practical sailor about AIS signals not working when the VHF is transmitting. 

  On the boat in question there were two antennas, and the owner reported that sometimes other boats would drop off their AIS display when using the VHF, and had friends report that the the owner's boat would drop off their displays.  The author instead recommended a splitter and a single antenna, which still stops receiving and transmitting AIS when the VHF is sending, but otherwise will work.

  Unless... you can mount the antennas more than 2 meters apart!

  So, as long as you have an HP schooner rig with fixed masts, or some way to limit rotation so the VHF cables don't twist, you can have both VHF and AIS at the same time.  Pretty cool.

  Another reason for me to consider the simplicity of the schooner.

        - Mike

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<<Perhaps Robs telescoping masts make sense, as the masts can fit on the trailer. Also the shorter mast is perhaps easier to wield.>>

Erutan,

  You've zeroed-in on the largest remaining question about what I would choose.


SCHOONER RIG   

  Being the conservative kind of guy that I am, I'm currently in the schooner rig camp for the following reasons:

    - Steering.  You can steer and shunt the boat with the schooner rig even if both rudders are taken out.  You could even beach the boat, fix it, and launch it back through (calm) surf without rudders, and then sail it home.  Depending upon skill and weather.

    - Emergencies.  You could carry two short masts in the hull space between the beams, which could also double as lifting masts to hoist the primary masts into place.  So you could:  a) have two emergency masts on-hand, if you need them for some reason, and  b) you could beach the boat and remove the masts for work with just one or two people.  The emergency masts would be slow, but they'd at least  be present.  Or maybe fasten the short masts to the beams themselves if it's too hard to find a way to get them in and out of the hull.  Or just make the emergency masts in four sections each and assemble them when needed.

    - Accommodations.  That space between the masts could also house one or two pipe berths and/or  a second head.  Or at least a compositing toilet with a curtain.  A great place for the kids to stay up late and talk too loud about boys, girls, or Call of Duty.

    - Stresses 1.  Putting the masts right next to the beams lets you build a much stronger boat with much less material -- handling torsion over the distance between a central mast and outboard beams is not trivial, particularly if you want to incorporate one or more openings.

    - Stresses 2.  While the total heeling moment won't change, each mast would only be applying half of the total force to the boat, and would be putting that force much closer to the beam that resists it.

    - Sail area.  You can put up a honkin' amount of sail area while still fitting under the ICW bridges and/or staying within trailer limits.  With a lower COE than a single rig.

    - Shipping.  Twin 46' upper masts (stub mast in the lw hull) would easily fit into a 48' high-cube shipping container.  Maybe 50' masts in an extra-long 52' container -- because an EX48 maxiTrailer would need a container larger than 48' unless the lw hull bows are removable.  Assuming the ww hull fits into the high-cube dimensions, which is probably the real limiting factor.

    - Shade.  How cool would it be to string up some dyneema lines from the cabin roof to the two masts and run a tarp between then while at anchor?  A half-acre of shaded deck/tramp space.

    - Simplicity.  You'll never have to worry a about a non-telescoping mast jamming in the up position during a storm.  There's also no joint to deal with when figuring out how to get a bolt rope, mast track, or mast hoops to transition from the lower section to the higher section.

    - Righting.  It's possible, in theory, to right a weight-to-windward proa in a knockdown, depending upon the sea state.  Sealed unarig masts would offer more stability and flotation than a single telescoping rig.


TELESCOPING RIG

  Yet despite all those reasons, the convenience of a single mast still calls.

    - Sail area up high.  Okay, I just said that I like having a lower center-of-effort with a schooner rig.  Which is true when the wind picks up.  But when the wind is really light, there's more of it the higher you go, and a super-tall mast is a great way to consistently move across the water with wind in your face on days when a normal rig might leave you just sitting still.

    - Single mast for shunting.  It's possible that with deep enough rudders, the right hull rocker, and backwinding the "jib", a schooner rig will tack.  Or not.  In which case shunting a single taller telescoping rig takes half the effort of shunting a pair of shorter rigs.

    - Sail area at anchor and in storms.  A single retracted telescoping mast will probably present less of a heeling moment under bare poles than the pair of fixed masts on a schooner rig.

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  Basically, since I want to eventually go places in the boat, the schooner rig is really the only option that fits my safety criteria.

  But because it's about five miles out to open water for me, through an inlet that ranges from 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide, the telescoping rig still calls to me.  That's a lot of short-tacking today in the catamara, and wold be a lot of short-shunting in a proa. 

  The good news is that with the proa I'd never have to worry about blowing a tack too close to shore and then heading into the rocks. 

  But the thought of shunting one sail instead of two is still attractive.  I can see why someone else would choose it.

__._,_.___

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Posted by: Mike Crawford <mcrawf@nuomo.com>

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