The popularity of the Bermuda rig has caused a general lack of knowledge on most other rigs and how to rig them. Luckily for us a few books are all you need to sort out that problem. Phil Bolger’s “103 Sailing Rigs” talks a lot about various rigs and their variations in a common sense …
First of all If you have a boat with a working Bermuda rig keep in mind that it seldom makes sense to do a new rig (Lug, Junk,Crab Claw, or whatever). Remember the “Don’t fix it if it’s not broken” rule. Now, if on the other hand, the CAL 29 you’re thinking of getting has …
Just about all of the boats I cover on VolksCruiser have the same rig and it’s a problematic affair. For starters, I actually like the Bermuda rig as it’s highly developed and if you’re going to race it’s pretty much the only one you can use. That said, if I were designing a cruising boat …
Here’s an interesting rig on Reuel Parker’s Terrapin 30. What really appeals to me is not so much what it has but what it doesn’t have. For starters, it’s a three stay rig made possible by a low center of effort. A low powerful rig requires less ballast which is no bad thing as it …
Sailboat rigs are a problematic conundrum where VolksCruisers are concerned. For starters, most rigs on classic plastic boats have rigs that have evolved from designs for racing. They’re over-complicated, prone to failure, and expensive, which is not the sort of rig you want when voyaging on a budget. Adapting rigs to be simpler, more affordable, …
Talking about performance where cruising boats are concerned is somewhat problematic at best. Most folks’ first thought when the subject of performance is breached, immediately think in terms of speed and going fast. However, speed is not the only way to think of performance. Obviously, a cruising boat needs to be able to get from …
Yann Quenet showing off a balanced lug roller reefing set up.
Boats in the VolksCruiser budget zone are going to have problems or issues you’ll have to deal with. Just accept it as part of the territory, which is not always problematic. A sailboat with the right issues could very well be to your advantage. There’s a Catalina 27 with a broken mast that would make …
A Freedom cat ketch adapted to junk rig I wrote this back in 2008 on Boat Bits but it seems to have held up for the most part… I suppose the minute you say lug rig that everyone assumes you are talking about the “Junk” rig which is certainly a type of lug rig but …
There are a lot of fans of the junk rig who, being fans and all are true believers when it comes to their preference of rigs. The junk rig is superior to all other rigs or in common parlance the junk rig is “the shit”. Me? Well I certainly think that the junk rig is …
