How many masts can you put on a tartan 34?

Sorry about the clickbait thread title, but-

tldr: schooner/ketch/even silly 3 mast rig on a tartan

I've got one of those endless project boats, a tartan 34c and sometimes I think about my projects and consider options. As I look at the hard dodger sketches and measurements slowly turning into an open pilothouse
(and yes, I am aware that according to FG, if I don't provide others with bragging space for their welded aluminum frames, I will die of starvation in a dinghy. Got it, thanks. can we move on?)

Yet.... one of the interesting things about gunkholing the eastern coastal areas of the US is that there are a fair number of slightly lower fixed bridges. Not on the Officially Unofficial Waterway Guide Great Loop Route- but on the water. A local example would be the Piankatank, which has a fixed bridge of 40 foot height- more than enough for a Catalina 27 at high tide, but less than enough, by far, for a tartan 34c. Others are up and down the coast with 35-40 foot ranges.

The tartan 34 also has a very short boom- something about racing rules and loopholes in the 70s or whatever. the boom is so short, in fact, that you could step a mast just for'd of the helm station and rig that with a 8 foot boom and not go past the transom

I think I've read mention of 34s rigged as yawls, but I've never found one.

If one were to accept becoming a narrow beamed and small (inside) lower sailing performance motor sailer- what would a two masted (deck stepped, by preference) short rig tartan 34c look like?

I don't have the math for figuring it out, but it "looks" to me like the current main would still have to move forward a good 3 feet. Although maybe taking 8 feet off the main and rigging as a cutter would work with a mizzen about where I first mentioned.

on the good/bad side, the centerboard does allow for some balancing of ..balance.


caveats/notes:

yes, fallguy, I will drown, starve, die, and otherwise be a Very Naughty Boy if I don't consult a naval architect before rowing my dinghy. And yes, you have tons of money for very nice welded aluminum. it's great. You win.

No, this isn't *practical* and did I meantion this is a *boat*? Yes, if I had $50k laying about I could go find a center cockpit ketch and stop making you get angry reading internet posts.

Yes, the tartan is a weird choice- it's alreayd a compromise as a "bermuda racer" and designed more for a camping environment for a crew of 6 than a cruising (comfortable) environment for a crew of 2 or 3. Everything from the V berth to the companionway is built deliberately to be uncomfortable. But it's all.. I dunno, fixable.

 

Go for a couple of balanced lugs on tabernacles, or even a 3rd for a ketch / yawl, and you can limbo under a jetty or foot bridge. Cutter rigs work well if you have a crew to do the tacking, and a wardrobe of suitable fore sails. A row of fixed mast windsurfer sails ? Flettners ? Solar panels and electric OB ? Trained dolphins ? I'd like galley slaves on oars if they weren't so hungry.

 

I didn't think about luggers. I've built lug and gaff rigs for smaller boats from scratch (8-18 feet) - Cutters are easy, really. as long as you have downhaul.

I laughed at the windsurfer sails. I think this might be a bit big for that.

I am considering eventual electric power for the aux. Personally I think the technology is there, but people are thinking about it wrong. A pair of 4.5kw 48 volt pods on poles makes a ton more sense than trying to rig an inboard 10kw motor. (this is, oddly, a hull design that would work very well for this at the aft end. I could even cut pod wells in easily. Haven't found any decent used pods and controllers in my price range, yet)

 

William Atkin designed several schooners in the 22>36' range.
Just saying.

 

I did find an example of a yawl configuration on a Tartan 34 in New England.
I don't really like the placement,but his year appears to have a longer main boom than mine. (and possibly outboard chain plates, which I'd frankly love)