The Wind Might Be Free But Catching It Is A Whole Nother Mater

[Boston]

Im curious as to the square foot cost of the various types of sailing rigs, lets see we have the basic burmuda rig, ketch, yawl, schooner, gaff rigged schooner, sloop ( I guess thats a lot like the Bermuda rig but with a sprit on it somewhere ) and old school gaff rigged sloop like the friendships.

So whats the folks who build these things for a living have to say, someone in there must have a per square foot price worked out for each of the various rigs
so whats the break down
Im curious

thanks
B

[lewisboats]

You are confusing rigs and sail types. A rig is associated with the number and placement of the masts and rigging and can usually support more than one sail type. A sloop is a single masted rig with a main sail and a foresail. It can have a Gaff sail, a Bermudan sail, a Leg o Mutton sail, a Lug sail, etc... as the main sail and a Jib, Storm Jib, Genoa and/or Spinnaker or a combination of these up front. A Cutter has the mast further aft (nearer the center of the boat) and usually multiple foresails. A Cat rig has a single pole that is very far forward and usually has no foresail. A Ketch has a main mast forward and a shorter or equal mizzen mast aft but ahead of the rudder post. A Yawl is similar but the mast is further aft and usually smaller, with a smaller sail. A Schooner has the main mast aft and an equal or shorter mast forward, along with one or more foresails. All of these rigs can be equipped with various types of sails. The cost of those sails will vary with the type of sail, the experience with that type by the sail maker, the sail maker themselves and the materials used to make the sails. I think you will have to be a bit more specific if you want a ballpark and you might be better off contacting the sail makers direct for quotes.

[Boston]

well I meant the whole show. running rigging, standing rigging, sails, masts spars, the works.

whats the square foot price for each configuration
someones got a chart somewhere and I'd be curious to see it

seems to me it would help in communicating to a customer how the various configurations will influence the cost of a boat

cheers
B

[lewisboats]

N/A's/Designers spec the rigging, SF of the sails and general COE...but don't really properly design the sails per se. That is left to the professional Sail Maker and his/her skills at the craft.

I don't think you will find what you are looking for except perhaps at individual sail lofts... and each loft will quote something different. I would expect that unless the loft has a contract to supply a specific design for a specific rig or series of designs and weights it will be a one off quote for just about anything you would ask for. There are so many permutations and combinations that it would be impossible or impractical to produce a chart covering every sail style in every size for every configuration in every weight for every condition. Add to that that each loft would interpret things in it's own way and I expect you will run into the artist vs engineer conundrum. I hope you have better luck than I think you will.

I think it is like asking an artist for a quote on a $ per brush stroke piece from an engineer's chart of how things figure to be... not at all realistic.

Steve

[Boston]

eh not to worried about it
just trying to get a feel for the cost of say a 40 motor yacht and a 40 sailing yacht

its surprising to me how the yachting world is so disjointed in its costs and fees or for that mater concerning much of anything
no one seems to have a straight answer for much when it comes to a boat

[lewisboats]

Not surprising...there is almost nothing straight or simple on a boat to start with!

[lewisboats]

Your are still dealing with craftsmen...where skill is an individual measure and not something that is hard and fast and quantifiable. A craftsman can charge what the market and his rep can bear...and so is rather undefinable except by judging by skill and reputation...Please...let that never change!!! Sail making is an ART...there is no other way of defining it. Each and every sail maker looks at the basic layout and interprets it in his or her own way. The one's who interpret specific types best soon float to the top of their respective pots and are the ones you should seek out for the flavor of sail you are specifically interested in.

[BeauVrolyk]

Originally Posted by Boston

Im curious as to the square foot cost of the various types of sailing rigs, lets see we have the basic burmuda rig, ketch, yawl, schooner, gaff rigged schooner, sloop ( I guess thats a lot like the Bermuda rig but with a sprit on it somewhere ) and old school gaff rigged sloop like the friendships.

So whats the folks who build these things for a living have to say, someone in there must have a per square foot price worked out for each of the various rigs
so whats the break down
Im curious

thanks
B

Boston,

Simply put: The less stuff you have, the less it'll cost.

Based on that, a cat rig sloop (without a jib, like a WyleCat) would be the least expensive. From there you'll go up through Sloops with marconi mains, cutters, ketchs/yawls, schooners, brigs, and to full rigged ships. You can make a pretty easy guess which is less expensive. Just look up at the rig and count the lines, masts, yards, blocks, etc.... you get the idea.

Later on in the thread you say you'd like to match powerboat costs with sailboat costs. That's a no-brainer. Power boats are much less expensive. If they weren't, many more commercial folks would use sails. I know that there are a massive number of things involved in making this calculation. But, as a data point. I sailed a 65' ketch from San Francisco to New Zealand on a long cruise of 5 years. At the end, the sails were shot. The full set of sails cost about 5 times what the fuel would have cost to power there and pack including buying a brand new engine and tossing the old one. There's simply no comparison. Power is always cheaper, along with smellier, uglier, filled with pollutants of all sorts, and powerboats are simply ugly craft. You can tell I'm a sailor can't you. But, if money is your ONLY reason for choosing a boat, by all means choose a powerboat. Otherwise, go sailing.

BV

Thats what I found out in 1973, and never went back to sails.
Though I do´nt agree with your statement about Motoryachts are ugly.

Regards
Richard

[marshmat]

Price per square foot of sail?

Well, polytarp can be had for about eight cents a square foot, and hung on salvaged telephone poles with yellow poly 3-strand. You might go with a used billboard print instead of the tarp if you're really on a budget.

Or, you might prefer a full set of CNC-built Mylar/Spectra laminates on a triple-spreader carbon mast with PBO rigging and the best Harken blocks and tracks.

One will cost you a couple hundred bucks to rig a 40-footer, the other perhaps a couple hundred thousand bucks for the same boat.

I'm as curious as you are, Boston, to get some real numbers for "typical" prices. But, as you can see, a rig can be built to just about any price point, or just about any performance point, depending on the tradeoffs the guy with the cheque book is willing to make.