A follow up to a previous article in DCA Bulletin 136 where I described the planning and making of a low tech polynesian style rig for a GP14.

Clearly the prototype rig is far too small for anything under a firm Force 3, especially lacking drive when tacking. However I did work out that by using my standard GP 14 jib sheet as a doubled main sheet I could use the jib fairleads and cam cleats to take some of the strain; this is especially useful when close hauled as with the weather sheet held firmly or jammed off, the lee sheet can be used to flatten the sail, which theoretically at least improves performance. I also replaced all the rolling hitches with spar hitches which proved much more robust.

On one trip I managed to get caught out in a bit of a blow, Force 5, and had a rather exhilarating run back to base. Letting the sail go forward of the mast, which is what a lot of books say is a useful safety valve on an unstayed rig, is all very well but you have to get it back again at some stage and this can prove tricky. I also freed up the tack line a bit in an attempt to let the sail balance better when running; this proved to be a mistake as a lot of control was lost when coming on the wind, with the sail kiting about in a very alarming fashion.

So I proceeded with my plan to make a bigger version of the rig. This was to be of 'proper' sailcloth, which I got from Martex. The luffs were 12 foot and the leach 10 foot, giving a sail area of about 60 square feet. The construction was on the same lines as the prototype, apart from the cut of the leech which I left flat so as to make the hemming simple. This made it look even more like Concord on its side and less like a traditional Crab Claw. I couldn't get 12 foot bamboos with both ends in good condition so to save time - the season rapidly drawing to a close - I lashed two shorter poles together. One other difference is that I lashed the tack ends of the two spars together to avoid the sail taking any shearing stresses.

The test run was in Force 2 - 3. Needless to say the new rig pulled a lot better than the old one, whilst still being well behaved and balanced. The second trip was in more boisterous conditions and on what for me was a 'blue water' run in company with a Willy Boat. The rig continued to handle well. and seemed to have about the same amount of weather helm as the standard GP rig in these conditions. I found I was making the same speed over the ground as the Willy Boat, this on a beam reach; when it came to tacking I seemed to have the edge slightly. I have managed one further run, this during a particularly mild spell in February. The rig certainly proved its handiness on this occasion as I was able to make sail quickly from winter layup. I did however, manage to set the rig upside down in my haste! Much interest was shown by a Wayfarer crew secretly practising to win all this year's races: weird rigs certainly break the ice at parties! I have given some thought to reefing without really coming to any decision. According to theory, letting the rig belly should lose a lot of drive, but I haven't noticed much effect in practise. It would be easy to have reefing pennants on the leach and at the tack of the sail which could be used as a quick slab reefing system, but this would throw a lot of stress onto two points of the sail, as well as on the ends of the 'boom'. My version of the crab claw is like the traditional junk rig in that the stresses are spread throughout the system rather than concentrated at a few points. Maybe traditional reef points are the answer, which would spread the load along the spar.

For me, reefing is not actually a problem as I have the prototype 35 square feet sail which can be easily taken along and changed to if necessary. The only real disadvantage of this rig is that because the sheeting point is well forward you tend to move out of reach of the helm during tacking, gybing, centreboard adjusting and so on. I'll try a longer tiller, or maybe a helm steadying device or both.

I was pleased to get a mention in the article by Adrian Lewis Evans in DCA 137; I particularly took to his remarks about 'mirror like, heron haunted waters'. More seriously I would welcome more discussion about the merits of detuning standard cruiser/racers, as this makes acquiring a cruising dinghy much cheaper.