A-Frame for a Mast?

[Peter Campot]

So what all of you are saying is that the performance claims that they are making for SMG 50 are false?

[Sand crab]

That boat has a claimed displacement of 8900 kg. That's under 20,000 lbs. which is super light for a 50 footer. You could put just about any rig on it and it would haul ass. Pointing etc. would be another story but speed helps.

[deckofficer]

The performance claims for the SMG 50, considering sail plan and displacement makes perfect sense to me, and 19 kts in a honest cruising cat sounds like a lot of fun too. The icing on the cake is a sharp price reduction from $524,000 to US $382,104, sure has me chomping at the bit. At this price, if it wasn't for current obligations, I believe I'd be cruising again.
2005 SMG 50 Plus - Boats.com

[Brogan007]

I'm a new sailor...no experience to back up any opinions...so I'll not express any. However, surely if there's already a SMG 50ft boat on the water...recently sold...and it has an A frame rig...how can there be any questions/doubt about whether it works? I'm puzzled by the lack of enthusiasm for the potential of the A-frame/roller furling sails/ease of use. Surely there have to be folks out there who can say they've actually seen the boat sail? or not.
And stop calling me Shirley.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by Brogan007

I'm a new sailor...no experience to back up any opinions...so I'll not express any. However, surely if there's already a SMG 50ft boat on the water...recently sold...and it has an A frame rig...how can there be any questions/doubt about whether it works? I'm puzzled by the lack of enthusiasm for the potential of the A-frame/roller furling sails/ease of use. Surely there have to be folks out there who can say they've actually seen the boat sail? or not.
And stop calling me Shirley.

Just the SMGs are 4, and I know of a couple of one-offs. Got to remember naval designers do not get to flex their schooling muscles much, as this is a very conservative industry. I remember all the howling when Bill Lapworth came out with the Cal 40 in the 60's. Later I owned a Cal 40, a great boat. Of course now it is accepted, as A-frames will be some time down the road.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Brogan007

I'm a new sailor...no experience to back up any opinions...so I'll not express any. However, surely if there's already a SMG 50ft boat on the water...recently sold...and it has an A frame rig...how can there be any questions/doubt about whether it works? I'm puzzled by the lack of enthusiasm for the potential of the A-frame/roller furling sails/ease of use. Surely there have to be folks out there who can say they've actually seen the boat sail? or not.
And stop calling me Shirley.

It's not a question of whether it works, which it does, but how well it works compared to the alternatives.

Every generation or so old ideas are rediscovered or dusted off and tried again. This one is coming around again and may have found a place on catamarans, time will tell.

[hellosailor]

Back in the 80's someone sponsored a big "technology boat" to prove that all sorts of new things would work well, including an "A" frame mast. Thirty years later it still hasn't caught on, so maybe, it just doesn't pay off.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Back in the 80's someone sponsored a big "technology boat" to prove that all sorts of new things would work well, including an "A" frame mast. Thirty years later it still hasn't caught on, so maybe, it just doesn't pay off.

Yep, "Amoco Procyon", about a generation ago, designed by the Harken bros. and sponsored by Amoco.

[hellosailor]

Thank you! I was thinking Amoco but then thinking maybe I was confusing that with there papers about resins ands blisters, also released around the same time. I wonder if Harken would have any information about how that wound up.

[LeeV]

I can remember yacht clubs vigorously trying to exclude any multihulls for similar reasons as folks now consider when they look at A frame masts and wishbone booms. Now look - the Amerca's Cup, and almost every marina in the world has multihulls, and if you go to NZ or Australia, multis abound. So....make your choices and enjoy your sailing!