Some years ago a Sausalito sailmaker, David Westwood, showed me his secret to getting an excellent set in his dacron lug sails and it was a dart...
Modern UK Burnett gaff rig boat design using contemporary materials and traditional ideas but modified for modern use.
Many years ago I tried this solution to the well-stated problems with a gaff rig; two halyards with miles of rope, slow and often anus-clenching...
A properly designed gaff rig has tremendous flexibility for reducing sail, especially if it is loose-footed in the traditional English style....
I agree with bpw about going sailing now on something cheap. But if you have far too much money and want to drool over modern gaff rig designed by...
PAR's comments are excellent regarding the design of cruisers. BERTIE is an antique type that works well enough for my uses and was the result of...
A canoe-form hull with ballast on a fin can be an excellent cruiser if an experienced designer plans it as such.
SPRAYs... Slocum in 1906 showing the bamboo jibboom he used to help induce lee helm and self steering, an article from the 20s (I think) by Victor...
Almost all modern boats have engines. Those with beam, displacement and room for adequate tankage are usually the ones that need a bit of help...
I've plotted our course at in actual conditions at sea quite a few times and net course including leeway, heave and all other factors gives actual...
L. Francis mentions Slocum briefly several times (see In the Wake of the Spray, K. Slack, Rutgers Univ. Press, 1966), didn't like the boat, and in...
The difference between '4 to 5 knot reaching speeds' in typical summer conditions and working BERTIE to windward on the blustery NE trades in a...
One problem with Roberts' designs is the use of readily available aluminum masts and a common marconi rig of moderate and conventional...
An 1885 center board coasting schooner's stern showing old East Coast design that was used for many years. SPRAY has a good bit more deadrise than...
No, never met the man, but SPRAY owners form a small world and his behavior is widely rumored. Ugly is as ugly does and he managed to take what is...
Personal, social skills of a Ferret. Love it.
PAR, I worked at Mystic Seaport in the early '70s as a rigger and researcher, and spent a lot of time dreaming about building BERTIE. I ate and...
BERTIE never sails on her ear, though we do get thrashed about sometimes, and things stay on the stove (close to center of rotation) so we usually...
PAR, I've gone back to research the SPRAY's build, reading Victor Slocum's account (Joshua Slocum, Adventures of America's Best Known Sailor, pp...
For modern cruising boats, I like the Diesel Duck and also the Dashews' various builds. BERTIE was built as a comfy, shallow draft sailing home...