The sprit rig was once the most popular sail for small boats especially in sheltered waters, but it is now largely neglected even by those traditional boat builders who are using gaff and lug sails. They must feel it is not as suitable as the other traditional sails, but the rig can be improved so that it will work even on a modern lightweight boat. When I bought my small double-ender (12 ft 8 in) a few years ago I was particularly attracted to the apparent simplicity of the sprit rig, but at first I found the rig difficult to handle. I soon found that there was a surprising variety of ways in which the sail can be rigged. For anyone who, like me, enjoys researching and experimenting, this makes the rig even more interesting, so I hope my experiences will be useful to anyone else who wants to 'sail with a sprit'.

The rig has some definite advantages. The mast is short and light for the sail area and it can be used unstayed as the sprit transfers some of the loading off the mast. The sail can be furled by using a brailing line which gathers the sail to the mast almost instantly, but in strong winds this is of limited use, especially with a light boat, it leaves too much windage and weight aloft.

The sprit heel is held to the mast by a rope called a snotter, and by adjusting the tension of this, or by using a heel tackle, the sail shape can be precisely controlled for all weather conditions.

The only real disadvantage of the sprit rig is the sprit itself. A long sprit makes reefing the sail difficult as the heel of the sprit is close to the mast clamp, and cannot be lowered very far, although the sail can be reefed by more than this amount. Many traditional boats had a sprit that was much longer than the mast. This transferred the maximum possible loading from the mast, but it is clear from some old illustrations that the sail was permanently bent on to the mast, and no halyard was needed. When not in use the mainsail was stowed against the mast, and the sprit unshipped, or the sprit was left standing, with the sail furled just like the Thames barges. These were heavy boats well able to stand up to their sail area. A light boat is much more manageable with a short sprit, which is easy to handle and stow, and with a halyard which lowers sail and sprit together for reefing.

It is possible to reduce the sail area by removing the sprit and tacking down the peak of the sail to the foot of the mast, and sailing the boat with the remaining triangle. When I tried this it didn't work, and at best it must be a desperate measure unless the sail is specifically designed for this, (see Working Boats of Britain - p.143).

My dinghy is a modern version of a small Peter boat or Doble, but much lighter. It is essential that it can be reefed quickly, single handed, and from the helm. I also need to be able to remove the sprit easily, and it must be short enough to stow when the sail is lowered. For this reason I now have the sprit as short as it can be without it jamming against the mast when lowering sail. It is approximately 3\4 the length of the mast. The snotter is a grommet seized into two loops, one is loose around the mast, and the other is a muzzle for the base of the sprit. A simple lacing hook is used at the top of the sprit to engage the sail peak, and as soon as the tension is removed from the sprit it can be removed. The sprit heel tackle is a rope running from the seizing on the snotter, through a small pulley block fastened on the sail head board, and back to a cleat on the mast. This arrangement means that the sail and sprit are raised and lowered together using the main halyard only. The stopper knot, shown on the sketch, is important, without it the sail and sprit would collapse as the sprit heel tackle became loose as the sail was lowered. A larger sail area would probably need a 2:1 purchase on halyard and sprit heel rope. The traditional way of supporting the sprit is a rope from the masthead and a double whip tackle hooked to the snotter.

There are many other systems using cleats or chocks on the mast with an adjustable snotter rope, but these should not be used with a reefing sail as they snag the sail lacing when raising or lowering the sail.

Two small eyelets or blocks fastened to either side of the sail head can be used for the brail rope. Reeve this through one block and then down and round the leech of the sail, (a cringle is not absolutely necessary) back through the second block, where the two ends are tied together and led down to a cleat at the foot of the mast. When we first started sailing Lapwing I used to brail up the sprit with the sail, but now I have shortened the sprit it is better to leave the sprit standing, and this allows the sail to be scandalised but still sailing.

The loose footed sail has one deep reef, with only four reef points. It is laced to the mast with separate lacing above and below the reef which keeps the sail luff tight to the mast when reefed. The mainsheet and tack downhaul both have snap shackles large enough to take both normal and reef tack and clew eyelets. All the rigging cleats are on the mast so that rigging is as quick as possible, and we often leave the sail in its bag, but still laced to the mast even when the mast is down.

A small foresail is usual with a sprit. It doesn't provide much extra power, but it improves the windward performance of the main, and by backing the jib, takes the doubt out of tacking in difficult conditions. In fact my boat is easier to sail single handed with the foresail, which is hoisted without a forestay.

I don't know how well a sprit sail would perform against a similar lug or gaff sail, but as an experiment I made a lug yard, and set up the sail as a standing lug. This rig was easier to handle, but it didn't seem to sail quite as well. Most sprit sails are now found on light dory type boats, but I feel that a more stable hull form would make the best of the rig. What do other sprit sailors think?

There are references to small south coast fishing boats converting from lug to sprit sails when they went racing in the Solent. Of course this was before the Bermudan rig swept all before it, but it shows that despite its long history the sprit rig was at least as efficient as the other traditional rigs, and perhaps it could be used more often on today's dinghies.