Thread: Mizzen sheeting

I laminated a curved "Norwegian" tiller by clamping the laminate along the inwale. Although I ruined it by cutting it into two, trying to make two tillers and it turned out to be too thin, whilst still in one piece I found that it obviously worked very well on the side it had been laminated on, the curve shape also meant that when I took the tiller to the opposite side deck it curved around the mizzen mast and looked as if it would work fine in use from both side decks.

Quite fed up about ruining it. Will have a go at making another later, I intended to try this tiller and also keep it alongside the deck as a spare in case the double tiller played up.

It is much simpler and "cleaner" less to go wrong. Less string at the back making it easier to reach the lifting rudder blade.

Although mizzens are held to be good things, I do wonder if RAID41 would be better with just a main lug. Less spars, less cost, the mizzen sail is very expensive for its area ( quote was about 40% of mainsail cost), less hassle to rig and transport. I guess I have not yet seen the benefits, just the upfront costs and work. I did have a sailing canoe yawl and remember never being able to see how it was set. Just too far behind me when facing forward as you do in a canoe. Not in Raid though.

I trust MIK to judge it and he chose the yawl so I accept that and will enjoy how nice she looks as a yawl and learn the benefits as time sailing her teaches those benefits. Bryan described the steering as very light and balanced something very important to me. perhaps the yawl is part of that.

Brian

Originally Posted by keyhavenpotter

I could always stuff the mizzen in the bows!!!!



http://www.parker-marine.com/eastpage.htm

Brian

Hehe, now that's cool. But how's this for an idea....ditch the bow mast and attach the mizzen sail to the mast

Originally Posted by woodeneye

OK, I can't stand it any longer....I need someone to explain to me WHY:

put the jib at the back of the boat (where it gets in the way of the rudder, and the helmsman can't see it without looking backwards, another mast and a bumkin is needed) instead of on a bowsprit at the front? I'm sure there must be some very good reasons, but.......

Somebody?????? :

Ok.... you understand that it is not about performance.
If performance were wanted, it'd be a jib.

As I understand it, & have limited exerience in a canoe I converted to sail, it's about all
the things that a sloop cannot do.

Like heave to bow to wind while making a cuppa or reefing the main.

It's about balancing the helm to make driving more relaxing. Even making it self-
steering while you make your cuppa. Fredrick Fenger toured the Caribbean in a
canoe yawl with no rudder at all ("Yakaboo") back in 1911. Try -that- in your sloop !!

It's about spreading your sail area out horizontally to give it less leverage to tip you
over, making it more relaxing to sail.

All comes at a cost of performance, which is partly why they've never been a hit on
sailboards...

cheers
AJ

Originally Posted by Compass Project

Why not offset the mizzen and use a standard tiller? One arrangement could be to have the mizzen more inboard so it could be sheeted to the top of the transom on the centerline. In that case I can see the use of the split tiller and a centerline step. The simplist thing seems to be to offset the mizzen. That is what I had planned to do on the Goat.

Glug, did you fabricate your own Carbon spars?

Clint

Hi Clint,
I did what the designer drew. Offsetting the mast would give you little depth to support the mast due to the deadrise from the keel is one reason not to. You would need to raise the after deck and partners to give the mast sufficient support. But it could be done, no problem. The Goat has a flat bottom so it would be easy on that boat. Moving the mizzen more inboard, I think you mean forward, would not work on my boat. The sheet block has to be on the end of the sprit boom, so you would have to move the mast a long way forward to get a reasonable sheet angle with the transom. The sailplan does not give enough space between the mizzen mast and leech of the mainsail to do this. If you do have them very close together the mizzen is much more backwinded by the mainsail. As it is, the space is enough to allow the mizzen to be a real driving sail, with 5.4 sq m area. The designer's Apple is sailed with a small or large lugrigged mizzen depending on the conditions usually sailed in. See http://www.campionboats.co.uk/html/photos.html

Since these photos were take I have had sails made by a real sailmaker. The mizzen has a flat top with two battens.

Peter

Originally Posted by b.o.a.t.

Ok.... you understand that it is not about performance.
If performance were wanted, it'd be a jib.

As I understand it, & have limited exerience in a canoe I converted to sail, it's about all
the things that a sloop cannot do.

Like heave to bow to wind while making a cuppa or reefing the main.

It's about balancing the helm to make driving more relaxing. Even making it self-
steering while you make your cuppa. Fredrick Fenger toured the Caribbean in a
canoe yawl with no rudder at all ("Yakaboo") back in 1911. Try -that- in your sloop !!

It's about spreading your sail area out horizontally to give it less leverage to tip you
over, making it more relaxing to sail.

All comes at a cost of performance, which is partly why they've never been a hit on
sailboards...

cheers
AJ

Thanks AJ, I'll rest a bit easier now that I know the mizzen is all about "heaving to" & making cuppas I can relate to that. Rudders are nice to have on a boat too. Once a year our club used to have a day of crazy races and one of the races was without rudders. A sloop can be sailed without a rudder but you do need a jib to have any chance of success. My Dabchick was a great boat for that.

One day I'll just have to try a boat with a miz, as long as it's not one of those life changing experiences.....