Converting Marconi to Gaff Rig

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by bruce smith

Well PAR, There are about 60,000 good things about mine.

I wouldn't sweat it Bruce, They said the same things about lazy jacks, bowsprits and transom hung rudders, eh PAR.

[capt.bobfm]

I converted a catalina 22 to gaff. It's a centerboard,round bottomed boat. It wasen't expensive or even that dificult. I put on a bowsprit and new,external chainplates and a different sheeting arangement. The boat points 40 degrees easly,is a dream to sail, and balences so well that I can tie the tiller off on ANY point of sail and never touch it til it's time to tack. P.S. the backstays aren't a big deal to use but if you want a tight forestay and jibstay you better have 'em .

[roverhi]

Actually, dead eyes and lanyards are making a come back with the new high strength/low stretch line. It was the low tech organic lines that were used in conjunction with the dead eyes that were the biggest problem. Turnbuckles were a much better solution with the low stretch wire shrouds they were connected to.

[bruce smith]

Look at Emma Goldman. The chap was fouled in the mizzen rigging. I could've cut my nylon lanyards away with a knife in a short time.

[Ben M-P]

How difficult is it to move chain plates?
Particularly from inboard to out board?
For out board chainplates are they simply a section of metal bar bent to go around the gunwale?
Does one need to reinforce the hull where they attach?

[capt.bobfm]

Ben mp; Depends on the boat . You might get by with just backing plates or if you need to reenforce, it isn't dificult if you can get to the inside of the hull. Remember the strain is shearing,not pulling.

[boatman61]

LOL..... I've a feeling this post of mine is going to wind up many folks on here... again
Hi Ben...
Ok... lets do some cheating here... coz thats what I am... a cheat and a chancer...
Have you looked at the Gaff Wing Sail....??
Take your main and chop off the last 20% at a 45degree angle... make a couple of 'slings/sleeves' for lack of a better word and make a wooden boom to fit the top length with 2 eye bolts to the top one at the centre and the other close to the mast to take the halyards.... fit metal slide at the base... remove the existing boom at the foot of the sail....
Rivet or screw a fitting/ring whatever to your mast 6in above where the small gaff boom reahes at full hoist for your staysail to take the inner fore stay and running backstay... inner fore stay should run to existing bow fitting location...
Measure distance between inner stay fitting and existing forestay at top of mast and make up a bowsprit long enough to fit a forestay equidistant to the afore mentioned....
At the stern you need a mainsheet traveller the width of the stern...
No need for a new mast...
a roller Yankee, a roller stay sail and away you go....
Below is what it will look like.... minus the bowsprit/yankee.. Oh.. and your mast will be higher for the yankee... unless you wanna cut it...lol

PS; use an old main your happy to thow away if it does not work

[roverhi]

The Westsail 32, for one, just used large fender washers as the backing for their external chain plates. Has worked fine on ours for many decades.

[mrohr]

Why???

[gpdno]

Originally Posted by mrohr

Why???

Because gaff rigs look cool

[zeehag]

the pricing of the parts is prohibitive and they ar a lot more difficult to sail than marconi rigged boats. i love gaff rigging but i would not consider conversion from already rigged boat--and i learned to sail on gaff rigged sloop.

[tamicatana]

You do realise that a "squarehead" main is effectively the same thing as a gaff rig, without having throat and peak halyards

[Pauls]

Hi Ben,

As I imagine you know by now, when you change the rig you need to work out the design of the new one to balance on the hull. There are a number of yacht design books that tell how to do this. An old and still used one is Skeene's Elements of Yacht Design. How to Design a Boat, I forget the author, is a simple, clear book. Dave Gerr's Nature of Boats is very useful.
Principles of Yacht Design is more technical, mostly oriented to modern boats, but a good reference.

You will need a new mast because gaff riggers have a longer length of unsupported mast than a typical marconi rig. Aluminum pipe, or thin wall steel pipe (schedule 10) is the practical solution. Aluminum pipe for gaff and boom will work well.

You can make virtually all the fittings you will need. If you make them, they will not cost much. Made by others, as Zee describes, they will be very expensive. Blocks, chainplates, tangs, etc are very practical to do yourself.

Like PAR said, you'll need a bowsprit, most likely, to balance the increased sail area aft. It will look pretty with the rest of the rig.

If you do it, good luck with your project. It will be an interesting one.

Regards, Paul

[bruce smith]

I swapped this boat, marconi to gaff.better for CRUISING

[Willie@VoyagingYachts]

For those fans of gaff rigged boats, there is a new choice recently made available. It is the Wylo 35.5 steel gaff rigged cutter. Previously only available as a self build, it is being professionally built in Cowes , Isle of Wight by Voyaging Yachts Ltd. www.voyagingyachts.com