The Sailing Rig
The mast will be two piece fiberglass, with each half 5’6″ long. This allows it to fit through the pilothouse hatch to be stowed inside. The mast is stepped on the deck and supported by a compression strut to the bow and a shroud to each side. One piece or both pieces of the mast can be used depending on conditions. In the sketch above the front view shows both mast sections and the full sail, while the side view shows one mast section and the top sail.
The sail rolls around the boom for reefing. The sail is a gaff sail with a very light gaff – more like a batten. The portion of the sail above the gaff will be attached to the mast with sliding collars. The lower portion will not be attached to the mast, but the luff will be reinforced so it can be tensioned. This will allow the lower portion to be reefed around the boom or raised from inside the pilothouse as there will be no need to deal with collars, sail slugs or a bolt rope. The portion of the sail above the gaff will be the storm sail and will rarely be rolled onto the boom. When the top sail is rolled onto the boom, it will unclip from the sliding collars as it rolls onto the boom. It will need to be manually clipped back in to the sliding collars when it is raised. The top sail is about 7 square feet. The total sail area is 34 square feet.
This configuration was selected for its simplicity and compactness. The large rectangular lower sail keeps the center of effort low and farther aft than a triangular sail, and provides plenty of sail area for most wind conditions with quite a short mast. the triangular top sail eliminates the need for a peak halyard, adds a bit more sail area, and is a built in storm sail. The disadvantage of the triangular top sail is the center of effort moves forward as the sail is reefed. One of the reasons for having the bow board is to offset this effect. Also, if the sail is completely rolled onto the boom, it cannot be raised from inside the pilothouse. However for my intended use I believe it is the best solution.
That covers the basics of my design. As I build the boat I will go into more detail on my thinking regarding the design. I have found EPS foam for the boat, but it will be 2 to 3 weeks before it is delivered. During that time I will discuss my other 2 projects.