Sprit rig question

[keith66]

I built a whitehall with a spritsail rig, she went very well & the sail was cut pretty flat, it was loose footed without a boom so downwind tended to generate rolling if you were not careful.
The ultimate spritsail rig was that of the Thames barge & they were handled by very small crews reputedly a man & boy. Probably the most efficient cargo carrying hull & rig ever evolved for the job they were intended for.

[souljour2000]

Messabout... My belated thanks as well for the good points you made about loose-footed mains and their pros and cons...The bimini will probably get in the way alot...it's huge and since I got it for free and it's all stainless frame so I was really hoping to work it into the boat's overall rig somehow...just not likely to happen and like I mentioned...a small boat like my 20-footer is hard to rig a bimini efficiently... even when unfurled.... it will make for messy cockpit rails...Maybe I should have kept that big sombrero hat I used to have...think I got it a garage sale...Ranger if your still around..crab claws are cool...especially on a cat...

[ancient kayaker]

I would suggest caution when using non-working area. I did some experimenting with sails on a kayak some years back, and it worked well on all points except upwind. I believe this was due to the paddler's frontal area creating drag.