Square Sail on a Skerry?

[CuriousChris]

Has anyone ever tried a square sail on a CLC Skerry or on any other dinghy? I think it would be loads of fun to try if it is not too unsafe.
Does the square sail have hidden features that make a boat more tippy? I don't think I would like to take too many risks in Lake Ontario. I do carry oars though.

Since the Skerry has a Scandinavian look it would be like dressing up the boat in a Viking costume.
I have read that the square sail did not go very well into the wind but how bad is it particularly since there is a centreboard?
Since I'm planning a balanced lug sail anyway, I would use the same gaff at the top.

I currently have a spritsail and think it works really well for me. Its easy to handle single handed.
The mast is un-stayed and would prefer to keep it that way.

Chris
http://www.christinedemerchant.com/skerry.html

[TeddyDiver]

Basicly it's the square sail -> balanced lug -> "gaffer" how things evolved so...

[sharpii2]

There are really Two problems with a square sail.

1.) you need at least double the lines to control it (one 'brace' on each side rather than just one sheet for a fore and aft rig), and

2.) it is almost impossible to 'brace' a yard at a fine enough angle to the centerline for even decent windward work (they can and do sail to windward though. Just not very well).

A square sail with a boom and a yard would need four braces. One on each side for the yard and one on each side for the boom. A loose footed one would need two braces for the yard and maybe as many as four sheets for the foot. Two for each clew.

The big advantage of a square sail is that the wind is always the same side of the sail, making it easier to divide the rig into smaller, stacked, segments that can be taken in by hand by men sent aloft. This was very useful for very large sailing ships.

The basic idea of the square sail has been carried into modern times with the so called 'dyna rig' which dispenses with sheets and braces by making the yards and mast a single unit and rotating the mast (see "'Maltese Falcon', hit or miss" thread.)

I could imagine a Skerry cruiser with a square rig intended for trade wind sailing, but with a healthy engine and feathering propeller for tighter upwind work.

[BWD]

skerry = 15 ft long
auxiliary = oars
but if you can make curved yards, you could make a mini dyna rig, ok but probably top-heavy.

[CuriousChris]

Thanks for the info.
I'm not sure a DynaRig is likely on my little Skerry! Pretty amazing rig though.
I guess I will give a more traditional square rig a try. Make a white tarp sail and make a gaff for my future lug sail and use that. The trick will be to manage all the ropes single handed from the back where I sit. I think a small sail to start or one that can be reduced to start off until I have figured out the handling.
Our season is almost done here.
Chris