Sailboats with Free Standing Masts

[robert sailor]

Cat rigged displacement cruisers have always been quite easy to sail and some of them really move on a reach. I know some folks say they can be close winded but I have never seen one that was, that is compared to a Marconi rig. I think they make lots of sense for cruisers although there is not much to hold onto in large seas when you are going forward.

[Delancey]

Saildrone has a freestanding wing sail. I think an improvement over the earlier Aerorig.

The Drone That Will Sail Itself Around the World | WIRED

[Delancey]

What do you go forward for on a Cat rig boat?

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

For small trailerable sailboats, It's hard to figure why they even make rigged spars!

Good point.

I suspect it is because people always wants something to play with or tune so that they can make a personal difference in the performance of the sailboats performance.

some people like simplicity, other people like complexity.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Delancey

What do you go forward for on a Cat rig boat?

Not much.

Anchoring or mooring.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by Delancey

What do you go forward for on a Cat rig boat?

Many have a mast up there that needs to be reefed every now and then.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

I've sailed a Freedom 45 before. Good boat. Never had a chance to push it in heavy conditions, but sailed well in 15-20 knots of wind and modest seas.

Sloop rig with camber spar jib. Very easy to handle.

Years ago when I was looking to buy a 40+ foot boat for live aboard in San Francisco Bay, I got aboard a freedom 40 Cat Ketch. It was an almost new boat, with to my eyes a new unusual design and quite different from all the other boats I have been looking at so at first it did not appeal to me.

I remember looking at the huge tree trunk like masts that are keel stepped by the way and thinking how big they were and I also thought that the wishbone blooms look strange and odd.. That was my first impression. But I was ignorant about the boats at that time. I have since learned a lot more about the Freedom line of boats and the designs.

Over the last few years I have learned more about the design concept and the rig and also began to better appreciate the design of the boat the whole the interior too.

Consequently today I find the freedom 40 Cat Ketch with aft cockpit quite attractive. The aft cockpit model is designed to be singlehanded, something I find appealing. The lines are led to the cockpit, not so unusual today, but different or more rare in 1980.

However I don't like the design of the center cockpit model 40. It looks somewhat like a traditional Junk or a variant of a Colvin boat, with the raised poop deck, which I don't like, in that design. With some boats, a raised poop deck does not bother me. Just a matter of personal taste there.

Typos due to dictation on my iPad!

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by colemj

Nonsuch and Freedoms were production boats with free-standing masts.

In that MF picture, is that Gunboat flying past it, or the opposite?

Mark

I think that's a gunboat 55 or 65 there.

It looks very small next to the Falcon.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by paulanthony

wish bones of contention/

Wish bone rigs are not necessarily better than conventional booms fitted with a beefy vang system because...

#1 With a wishbone - if the mast bends in a gust or strong winds the leech goes loose - the clew end of the wishbone moves down and the distance between the clew and tack is reduced. The end result is that camber in the foot can increase excessively - right when you want it nice and flat.

#2 They also mean that the wishbone or sprit has to be pushed out forward of the mast when reefing - a bit fiddly compared to just pulling the sail down to a conventional boom.

Courtesy of some one called BOATMIK from boatdesign.net

Looks better than wishbone to me.

Steady's Maxim: ask two sailors and you will get three opinions!


I don't know who Boatmik is or his experience. But one thing I've learned on forums like this is that there will always Be differences of opinion.

somewhere on the Internet there is a video that clearly explains the advantages of the wishbone boom rig on sailboats. I don't have a link for that video handy now. If I find it I will post it. It explains the convenience and ease of use of the wishbone blue and why it is useful or helpful to single-handed sailors. It was a convincing video and well worth watching even if you just want to understand how those booms work.

this is not to say that there may not be disadvantages too.

I believe the key advantage of the wishbone blue is the sale shape is maintained with minimal running rigging and minimal need for adjustment of the sale.

A second benefit is that the wishbone Boom is usually rigged to capture the sail when it is lowered.

Typos due to dictation software.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Delancey

Back in the hippie days some kooky guys named Jim Brown, Dick Newick, and Chris White worked on a project intended to bring the benefits of modern mutlihull design to indigenous fisherman and thereby liberate the fisherman from a dependency on expensive outboard engines and their resultant pollution.

The boat was called SIB (Small Is Beautiful) which took inspiration from the book https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_is_beautiful by EF Schumacher.

The construction of the boat was based on the Constant Camber method as a way to build compound curves efficiently using cheap and sustainable veneer instead of large timber. The boat featured a stayless ketch rig.

I don't think much ever came of it and I don't know why. Probably too much trouble. I applaud the effort though, at least they tried to make a difference.

Maybe someday people will think differently although I doubt there will be many fish or much oil by the time they do.

DELANCEY,

Thanks for posting that. I always enjoy seeing some of the interesting things that you post in threads and appreciate that you're contributing to this one too thank you.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Jim Walsh

This was my neighbor in Convict Bay Yacht Anchorage last month in Bermuda. Here she is headed through the cut on her way to the east coast of the U.S..

Thanks for contributing an image to the discussion.
Not sure but it looks a bit like a Spray.

I like yellow boats and sails.
I know many will not.
My excuse? I am an artist and I like to see the color against the blue water of the ocean.

[salticrak]

Bertand Fercot's wharram

[Delancey]

Allen Farrell's "China Cloud"

[Steadman Uhlich]

SALTICRAK,

Cool boat!

I like the design..and the rig ..and the color too!

Thanks for adding it to the mix!

[Greatketch33]

Herreshoff cat ketch at:

Greatketch.blogspot.com

References and links to designer of free standing masts.

Enjoy,
Deric