Why is the Marconi Rig so Popular?

[sarafina]

Adagio in a Holiday 32 built in the 50's. She is a fierce contender in the master mariners events! And that mast is wood!

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

I can guess at a few things. Waiting for high quality, strong, inexpesive aluminum spar technology which allows a taller rig (higher l/d), with less weight aloft compared to similar wood spar

Your quess is wrong.. Wooden masts were still used when marconi came along
Like Sarafina says..

[zeehag]

marconi became popular when RACERS decided it was COOL to sail INTO weather. marconi does that better than gaff, which works best down wind.

[sarafina]

Don't know how much is the rig and how much is the hull, but she sails like a witch in heavy winds. Heavier the better...

[zeehag]

marconi is easier to raise and tend than gaff.

my masts are wood-- i like it that way--easier to care for, as re: repairs.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by zeehag

marconi became popular when RACERS decided it was COOL to sail INTO weather.

Around here, it's not only cool to sail to weather, it's downright chilly.
Can always warm up on the downwind leg, however.

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by Bash

Nothing goes to weather better than a marconi-rigged sloop.

Actually a cat rig is better. On a sloop the main is operating in the headed wind of the jib. There are issues with the cat rig. You need a boat that can handle the lever arm of a taller mast to make up for the sail area lost by not having a jib, and you need at minimum a rotating mast so that the sail right behind the mast has attached flow and is providing lift. A conventional mast can have as much as a foot of the mainsail behind the mast in disturbed flow so not making any lift.

The Little America's Cup sailed in C-class cats can have their 300 sq. ft. of sail area in any configuration they want. Even before they went to wings they had gone to the cat rig.

The other issue is as soon as you want to reach having a jib is better.

Do not get stuck to weather of a Hobie 17 or an 18 sq. meter (both cat rigs) on the start line in a mixed fleet start.

John

[roverhi]

Wind speed increases as the distance off the water increases up to a couple hundred feet off the deck. So not only is the high aspect ratio Marconi Rig more efficient but it also has more wind available to suck the boat along in ligher air conditions.

Think sail material also had a lot to do with the near universal adoption of the Marconi Rig. Cotton sails were heavy, even heavier when wet and stretched badly when pull was across the diagonal of the threads. Sail makers compensated for the stretch with a miter cut on the jibs. On the main, a gaff sail doesn't have the diagonal forces that a Marconi main does. Dacron and other synthetics are far less affected by diagonal, is that called bias, stress on the sails. Most dacron sails use relatively horizontal panels because the material can handle the diagonal stretch better. It's also way easier to make a sail that way. Not to say that sailmakers don't still use the miter cut to minimize diagonal stretch especially in racing sails.

The slot between the jib and main also increases sail efficiency especially on a reach. I used to sheet the Reacher/
Drifter to the main boom on a reach. By opening up the slot between the two sails, would pick up a 1/2 knot in boatspeed

If you haven't sailed a small boat with cotton sails, you probably don't appreciate how much the weight of wet sails made on the stablity of a boat. A high aspect ratio rig with cotton sails would have been/is dramatically less stable than with dry sails. The short gaff rig isn't as affected by increased weight aloft.

[Cheechako]

It was discovered that the sail doesnt need to be so long fore and aft? Taller higher aspect is more efficient up wind?

and why was it it a thousand years after the invention of the wheel before cars took hold...?

[otherthan]

For the cruiser wouldn’t a crab claw be more practical?... and still offer good performance at low cost… I am wondering if the Marconi rig has more to do with economics then performance, after all it is the rig that generates more profits to the industry… considering all the riggings and sail options??

[HappySeagull]

They go to windward .
Thanks to:
Steel Wire.Non-stretch in long lengths.That's why.

and roverhi is on the money.Dacron helped a lot.

Versus unstayed masts?2 sails on one mast.(I'm not saying unstayed can't have,but luff sag is bad)

When steel wire and hollow steel masts came along,consider the change in square riggers!It came too late for them though..

[HappySeagull]

Downwind,triangles are stupid.(adding battens shows the Chinese had it right a long time ago,but theirs were elegant)
Triangles have maximum edge versus area=edge loss.Then,throw in the tendency of the fores'l to fall inboard and be shadowed...so it needs a pole and next,stays for the pole ...so might as well invent a spinnaker...which is a big improvement area per edge but a "sport" unto itself.

[barnakiel]

How does Marconi differ from Bermuda rig???

b.

[HappySeagull]

off the cuff,Bermuda rig wouldn't have spreaders in its original form.

[roverhi]

One's Italian and the other British Colonial. Actually they are the same with Bermudan rig predating Marconi by a century or two Bermuda rig - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia