Thread: Tacking the Spars on Balanced Lug ?

While cruising MIK's various threads (Interesting boat links) I stumbled across a video that shows a racing class that tacks their spar/sail around the mast.

Not the balanced lug rig that was being discussed here - more of a lateen / no boom rig - but definitely promising to me - I'm halfway there!

The video is here (wild sailing indeed)...
[ame="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7796071923054969577"]BARQUILLOS DE VELA LATINA CANARIA en Fuerteventura[/ame]

Very interesting to see them tacking the boat in as little 5 or 6 seconds with the sail drawing full - some much more practiced than others!

Now to figure reefing those buggers...

Don't you love the starts?! Hilarious.

Yep, that's why these are called dipping lugs.

Howdy Bruce,

It is great footage.

You can see the close relationship of different rigs here and how the names are quite arbitrary.. These are definitely historically and practically lateen rigs, however with the little standing luff (necessary so they can tack the yard quickly without it hitting the deck) they are closely related to the dipping lug as you noticed

There is a similar relationship between the squaresail and the balance lug ... which in some ways is a squaresail slid back so more is behind the mast. That's where it comes from historically.

And the arguements and confustification from uncertainty about what is a gunter lug and what is a gaff rig is hard to tell sometimes. This can get nasty when pedants (like me) try to be very careful about what we call a yard and what we call a gaff.

All the rigs that were born from the squaresail call the top spar a yard.

The best indicator as to which sail type is the history of the boat type. Here the boats are Arabic/Mediterranean types, so clearly are a Lateen.

MIK