AeroRig

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by brian eiland, Jan 6, 2008.

  1. brian eiland
    Joined: Jun 2002
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    Location: St Augustine Fl, Thailand

    brian eiland Senior Member

    Super AeroRig

    I forgot where the other posting is to be found that referenced a large aerorig vessel being built in a famous Holland yard. I believe it was being designed by the same group that did Maltese Falcon. Anyway it disappeared from their website without any mentioning of the final result, or even the fact that the project was completed.

    I just found this mention of that vessel, and some photos on another forum:

    "I saw this boat in NorthWest ofSpain at the city A Coruña.It was her first trip from Huisman: Her mast 60 m. high. Enjoy this pics"


    http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/65298-post22.html
     

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  2. messabout
    Joined: Jan 2006
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    Location: Lakeland Fl USA

    messabout Senior Member

    The pictures, posted by Brian, are mind boggling in terms of monstrous size. The builders of that rig were brave. I have had some experience with rigs of that sort, both on dinghys and on models. Earl is correct that the RC model guys call it a swing rig. I have been very happy with the results with both models and 16 foot dink. Modelers are pretty adamant that this rig is best for light to moderate air only. Not sure of the reasons.

    The advantages are numerous. Among those (for small boats), are that no vang is required. The jib stay holds the clew end of the main down. Of course that is at the expense of increased mast compression. A topping lift for the main allows for adjusting leech tension. The jib is self tending. Thats a pretty good thing for short handed sailing. In addition, the rig is less likely to induce weather helm when sailing off wind. The jib swings to the windward side while the main is on the lee side. The jib will then partially resist the turning moment induced by the offset center of pressure on the main. On a dead run the jib is presented directly to the wind as opposed to having to use a whisker pole on a conventional rig. I reckon that this rig would not work well with a spinnaker as the chute would be at least partially blanketed.

    With all those selling points, the rig has not enjoyed popularity. Must be some disadvantages that escape me. building a rig as big as that shown in Brians pix, is too much for my tiny mind to absorb. The structural requirements for a mast bearing housing and a hull strong enough to hold it, must be seriously challenging.
     
  3. xarax

    xarax Previous Member

    Swing rig ( Aerorig ) on a dinghy ?

    Hello Brian,
    I am thinking about ways of facilitating the sailor’s control of, and balance on, a small, light dinghy ( So the dinghy could be narrow and light ). An unstayed swing rig ( aerorig ) on a dinghy could be controlled by a rigid rod, I guess, like the rudder is controlled by the tiller, giving the dinghy s sailor some of the advantages of direct control the windsurfer has, holding the boom, of his board. Been able to control the boom easier and to concentrate more on his balance, the windsurfer can take advantage of a narrow, and lighter, hull. Has anybody ever tried something like this ?
     
  4. brian eiland
    Joined: Jun 2002
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    Location: St Augustine Fl, Thailand

    brian eiland Senior Member

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  5. sharpii2
    Joined: May 2004
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    sharpii2 Senior Member

    Almost frightening in it's scale. Probably will work quite well until something breaks.

    I can almost imagine the huge fore boom failing and braking loose, then flailing against the foredeck and topsides, as the mimiscule crew hides below decks for their lives.

    Hope they used a huge safety factor in the design.
     
  6. P Flados
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Location: N Carolina

    P Flados Senior Member

    S2

    How pessimistic can you get! Tubular steel truss construciton is great for being easy to design in a tremendous amount of strength with little worry that construction errors will undermine the engineering. It could also be alimunum, but if so, the only challenge here would be weld quality.

    That is why you see so much of it on cranes.

    The drawbacks are weight, windage & posssibly maintenance if carbon steel.

    There are lots of things that can go wrong on this scale, but the structure should not be a worry if they did their homework.
     
  7. Bruno Froes
    Joined: Apr 2012
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    Location: Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil

    Bruno Froes Flower Power Boat

    Amyr Klynk capsize with this mast, backing to Brazil with the Paratii. I think it happen cuz the weight of this mast.
    Im actualy studying the wingsail with not standing mast,I think it will work more better and more cheap than this one.
     
  8. sharpii2
    Joined: May 2004
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    Location: Michigan, USA

    sharpii2 Senior Member

    My guess is the difficulty of adding light wind sails, such as Genoas, as well as the tendency of the fore boom to bend up slightly, causing the fore stay to lose some of it's vital tension, compromising windward performance somewhat. The rig I built some 35 years ago had a very short fore boom (about one forth the length of the aft boom), and the luff of the fore ward sail was not expected to be tight.

    I have thought of the idea of using such a rig with a cutter set up, with the inner stay sail replaced with the fore boom.
     

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  9. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    swing rig

    ============
    M, are the "break-back" swing rigs still being used on 50's? If I remember correctly John Elmaleh developed the concept to improve the relationship between main and jib.
     

  10. Earl Boebert
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    Location: Albuquerque NM USA

    Earl Boebert Senior Member

    Don't know about the M's, but they are making a comeback on the RG65s. Here's a picture for those who haven't seen one before.

    Cheers,

    Earl
     

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