Cutter Rig

[BillinKL]

What are the advantages of a cutter rig and does this configuration improve a boat's pointing ability?

[Dockhead]

Search the archives. It does not improve pointing ability. It adds flexibility to the sail plan and adds sail area while reaching. It is no better than and possibly worse than a sloop for sailing hard on the wi d, and running.

[Delancey]

Cutter rigs also have the ability to maintain the center of effort of the sail plan fore and aft when shortening sail in heavy weather when compared to a sloop by flying a staysail on their inner forestay. Flying a storm jib on a sloop has the relative effect of moving the center of effort of the sail plan forward. Additionally, splitting the fore triangle means the sails are smaller than on a sloop and therefore easier to handle. An issue of less relevance post roller furling. Typically a cutter rig's mast will be stepped slightly aft when compared to a sloop rig on the same hull.

[transmitterdan]

The traditional definition of a cutter is when the mast is aft of station 4. It is not only a matter of whether there are multiple fore sails. Many (if not most) double head sail sloops are not cutters because the mast is further forward.

My cutter has better sail balance over much greater ranges of wind conditions. I don't think it has better pointing ability per se. But it is much easier to carry the right sail in different wind conditions. For this reason they are well liked by their cruising owners.

Best regards,
Dan

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

The traditional definition of a cutter is when the mast is aft of station 4. It is not only a matter of whether there are multiple fore sails. Many (if not most) double head sail sloops are not cutters because the mast is further forward.

My cutter has better sail balance over much greater ranges of wind conditions. I don't think it has better pointing ability per se. But it is much easier to carry the right sail in different wind conditions. For this reason they are well liked by their cruising owners.

Best regards,
Dan

What is "station 4"?
Thank you
Alec

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by Alecadi

What is "station 4"?
Thank you
Alec

Any hull can be divided up into 10 nominally equal sections (stations) numbered fore to aft 1-10. So station 4 will begin approximately 30% back from the stem head. Designers use this system so they can talk or design without specifying the exact length of the hull. Mostly they talk...

Regards,
Dan

[cburger]

I am doing this from memory which ain't so gtreat lately, so go easy on me this morning guy's and gals. The English are credited with developing the cutter rig sometime in the mid to late 1800's, in an effort to gain more speed out of navel vessels of the time. Often referred to as revenue cutters they were used to chase down smugglers and enforce the rules of the day. The cutter was considered to be the state of the art for its time. A true cutter is equiped with a bowsprit allowing the vessel to carry more sail for its given length, with the mast stepped farther foward than a sloop of equal length, to balance the sail being carried tacked to the end of the sprit. The speed of the cutter has to do with the spaces between the sails or slots the idea being that the air flow is accellerated as it is drives through these spaces. As a positive the cutter allows a multitude of smaller, managable sail configurations. As a disadvantage you have more lines to manage, yankee sheets, statsail sheets, mainsheets and running backstays.

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Any hull can be divided up into 10 nominally equal sections (stations) numbered fore to aft 1-10. So station 4 will begin approximately 30% back from the stem head. Designers use this system so they can talk or design without specifying the exact length of the hull. Mostly they talk...

Regards,
Dan

Thank you
Alec

[sww914]

Probably not better for racing or else racers would be using them, but good for cruising. I'd say about 1/2 of monohull cruisers have either a cutter or a ketch. Many of the other mono cruisers have production boats like Hunters, Beneteaus, and Catalinas which are mainly sloops.
Most of the cats and tris are sloops but most of the huge (super expensive) cats have 2-3 or even 4 headsails on roller furlers set really close together but I can't remember the name of that style of rig.

[endoftheroad]

What's The Ideal Sailing Rig?

Sorry if the above read isn't specific to your question but I got something out of this when I first read it a couple years ago.

[cburger]

If any of the members are intersted November 2012 isue of Good Old Boat has an article titled "What is a Cutter".

[Tradewind 35]

Cutter rig makes the sails more manageable - smaller sails are easier to handle in heavy weather or when short handed. You can also mix and match to get the right balance for the conditions. For example I have a roller yankee up forard and a hanked on staysail. A part furled roller does not give a good sail shape so going to windward I can reef the main, roll away a bit of yankee but keep the staysail up. Cutter rig also allows me to hank on the storm jib in place of the staysail and then just progressively roll away the yankee as the wind picks up.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by sww914

.
Most of the cats and tris are sloops but most of the huge (super expensive) cats have 2-3 or even 4 headsails on roller furlers set really close together but I can't remember the name of that style of rig.

I believe you named that rig in parentheses near the beginning of the sentence.

[SkiprJohn]

Modern cutters have their mast set further aft than sloops which contradicts what was mentioned earlier in one explanation. That leaves room for more headsails forward of the mast whether or not a bowsprit is used.
kind regards,

[Capt Phil]

The big advantage I recall in the the two cutter rigs I cruised was sailing shorthanded or singlehanding with the smaller foretriangle sails and giving up very little in sailing efficiency. One was a ketch rigged cutter the other a sloop rigged cutter... many memorable weeks and months aboard both vessels. Lived aboard the ketch for over 5 years. Phil