seasquirt
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- Dec 29, 2015
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- Location
- South Australia
Extremely low aspect rig.
ERO, a sawn off Heron.
April 2026:
Made a new mast and rig for 10' long Ero, a small sailing dinghy. I was originally planning to make a tabernacle and pivoting mast so I can easily go under a local low bridge, giving me two ways to get to sea from my local boat ramp, but somehow I forgot that idea and just made a very low aspect mast, and a set of new sails instead. I can always still make a tabernacle setup if the low aspect rig is a failure, or less than very useful, but I've already started on it, cut a short mast, so we'll see.
I used the top section cut off of an Aussy Light Weight Sharpie mast to make a short low aspect mast, with a fabricated aluminium mast foot fitted, after it was converted to a Heron type square mast foot location lug. Those Sharpie masts are not light weight, but quite heavy aluminium sections, for a racing boat. It's made very short to go under the Torrens Island bridge at high tide, between Garden Island and Port Adelaide, South Australia, without lowering it and paddling under.
A roller reefing jib was decided upon, to ease single handed operation, with a maximum sized genoa wrapping around a PVC conduit tube; not just on a wire. Sourced a small roller reefing drum, same as the one on my 16 footer Trailer Sailer dinghy; hardware store for some 16mm diam. PVC conduit, whitish colour; forestay wire was from my wire collection; boat supplies shop for a cheap top swivel, (not one of those $200 overkill jobs), and several 3/16" pin shackles, and small sister clips, it's a small boat.
Found the ideal rake of mast (almost vertical), and measured up for the side stays. Took my bulk wire to a boat supplies shop to get cut to length and thimbled eyes swaged both ends to my set length, making two identical side stays. Used a temporary forestay to hold up the mast to adjust mast angle, using various length shackles from the chainplates. Once the side stays were set for the best mast angle, then the forestay became a final set length overall. Moved all other jib attachment points aft on the bowsprit to make room to bolt the reefing drum to the tip of the bowsprit, for maximum size. I often use a cutter rig, with a small inner stay sail / storm sail, so there are many other attachment points along the bowsprit to use.
Decided on the attachment method for the forestay swivel up the mast, made / modified the necessary brackets etc., and then had a definite forestay length needed for between the top swivel, and the roller reefing drum's forestay attachment pin. Got one eye swaged on the new forestay wire, then cut the PVC conduit to length and fitted it to engage with the top swivel, and the reefing drum. Had to cut a section of conduit off at the top temporarily, (to be glued back later), to make room on the wire for making the final swaged eye on the wire.
Back to the shop, got the wire finished to length while still inside the conduit, with the final eye done around a thimble. Replaced the cut off PVC top section, and included a shaped reinforcement ring glued over the cut. It's all a pretty neat fit, with the top swivel's lower section engaged in slots in the top of the PVC, and the lower PVC enlarged joining section of the conduit fitting over the reefing drum's top spigot. A bolt goes through the tube and the lower eye of the forestay, attaching it to the reefing drum. The wire will not spin inside the conduit, but all will rotate at the same time without twisting top to bottom, unless it is extremely hot.
Ran cordage on the drum and test it; works beautifully, now I need a genoa to roll on to it.
Used some old blue plastic tarp, (former boat covers), to mock up a useful shape of sail. Sewed it up and flew it to see how it sets; took notes and made marks; stretched it way back to just ahead of the jib cleats by a few inches. Gave it more convex curve in the foot, more concave roach in the leech, and a luff length to suit the roller reefing tube exactly, between the top and bottom attachment bolts.
Had some 50/50 polyester cotton blend cloth on hand for the sail, left over from previously making balanced lug sails, and marked it up in pencil, including all folded hems, and a long pocket for the PVC reefing tube to slip into. Two brass eyelets will be placed at each end of the luff pocket so attachment bolts pass through the middle of the tube, and wire eyelets, locking the sail in position top and bottom on both sides. Not sure yet if it was a good idea, but I set the warp going from 90 deg. to the luff / forestay, angled downward to the sheets. (Found out after that the warp aligns with the leech, oh well; next time. On the lug sails the warp was aligned vertically with the mast at the luff.) Straight sewed the first hem folds. Made triple gussets for one side of the sail only, and hemmed only the largest outer gussets, then straight stitched them all in position on the sail. Checked all positions before rolling the final hems over to lock everything up with a single straight stitch run.
Installed the brass eyelet inserts: two at both top and bottom of the luff, and one for the clew.
Zigzag stitch all the outer hems, going around twice, gussets zigzagged down into position over the straight stitching, then the luff pocket is folded over, lining up all the eyelets top and bottom. Luff pocket is then finalised, and locked down with multiple zigzags for strength. Check sail with a tube passing through the luff pocket - all good. Trim loose ends and shake it out - looks good, well - OK then. It's not a professional job.
Fit sail to the roller reefing setup, bolted up, and mast erected, everything locked in place with through bolts top and bottom, all looks good, minor changes made to the top attachment. Roll it up and un-roll it many times, seems to work very well. The new genoa foresail needs new sheets now. All this so far took a few weeks of messing about after work, for many hours.
Mainsail is next on the list. Need a gooseneck attachment for boom to mast; a sail feeding bolt rope access slot to be cut into the mast track; new main sail made up; and a test sail to see how it all sets and stretches in the wind.
May 2026:
Got a non-adjustable, mast mounted gooseneck, with a long pin normally for fitting into a boom's front end centre hole. ~$75 AU. I will be using a standard length Heron wooden boom with a carved bolt rope slot from the 1960's - 80's. Cut a sail bolt rope feed hole into the aluminium mast, and fitted the gooseneck with bolts, just below it. The gooseneck pin fits into the bottom of the boom's sail tack attachment sandwich plates, blocked from lifting out by a bolt through the lowest holes, so the top pin holes can still be used on the sail's tack; the original gooseneck still hangs on the boom, and can still be used on original wooden masts with old style 1970's Fico or Riley stainless steel adjustment tracks.
Those old SS fittings are far superior to modern aluminium alloy sailboat parts, because they are stronger and more durable from the start, and when damaged or worn, they can be easily hammered, welded, and filed back to original shape and strength; the bent aluminium just goes to scrap immediately, and is replaced by more $$.
Erected the mast and fitted the boom, lifted stern end of boom to an appropriate angle to allow for some sail stretch in use, and some head ducking boom clearance for occupants. Used a clear round plastic protractor / angle finder for sighting at the rig, to find the angles needed at the clew, tack, and head, and tape measured the lengths needed for the foot, luff, and leech. Made allowances for some fabric stretch.
Found a suitable sized piece of fabric, same type as used for the genoa, and stitched in a panel to complete a small missing section at the foot, where there will be little strain on it, and now the sail's raw material shape is complete. Marked up the leech along the warp, including a modest roach curvature, and straight stitched the first hem fold at the leech.
Laid out the fabric flat on a floor and marked out the eye positions and lengths from the leech base line datums, then added the remaining simple edge shaping curves of the luff and foot. Checked many times to be sure of dimensions before cutting. Sewed first hems, then made and installed gussets, to be locked in with the second rolled over hems and more straight stitching. Got some 6mm diameter cordage for the bolt rope. Straight sewed it in position down a marked centreline, then zigzagged it down in position along the line. Folded over the bolt rope's flap to finish the shape, and sewed over all final hems and over all gussets, to keep them in place.
Put eyelets in place and checked it on the rig. Somehow the luff is a few inches too long. Stretch? Mark up for a new tack position, and single reefing points. Sew in reefing point reinforcements.
Put a few darts in the foot of the sail to tighten it up, to be more shapely and effective. Insert all new / extra eyelets, and hang it on the rig, all looking much better now. Maybe put another few darts in the foot later, to make it hold a nicer shape; it's still a bit baggy and flappy from the extra convex foot material I allowed, (a bit too much). The excess luff foot section isn't in the way, and will not be cut off, but is left for use on other masts, for when a very small emergency mainsail is needed.
My favourite storm / cutter jib is too long in the luff to use on my new short mast, so I suppose I will have to make a new storm jib for it, because a cutter rig is more wind efficient; and looks very good too. I happen to have a luff wire already made up to just about the right length, with eyes both ends, so that's the next sail making project.
Rigged the boat and set the sails, looks good, measure and find angles for the storm jib, make small adjustments and additions to the rig for better functionality. Get out the remains of sail fabric and find a section useful for a very small jib; it may need a small panel sewn in to complete the final shape, then I will be left with only odd scraps for gussets, and sail repairs.
Sew in a large patch to fill in the missing gap of jib fabric, mark up the shape and all hems, cut out the outside shape, and notice a leftover piece is suitable for a large partial double up of fabric, to strengthen the storm jib; so I cut it to the most useful shape to add. Sew first hems over, and make gussets, stitch them in, zigzag final hems, fit eyelets in head, tack, and clew, then stitch around eyelets.
When all was fully sewn I rigged the boat and had a sail in light winds, and noted the changes needed, mostly darts around the foot and leech areas; and roll over the mainsail's leech hem once more to reduce downward stretch, so the boom doesn't drop so much when sheeting in. Cut and sewed all sails where needed, and went for another sail next day. The mainsail is good now, but jib and genoa need more darts to reduce slack flapping on the leeches, and improve their shapes. Another sewing session.
Next test sail had a bit more wind initially, and the sails were stretched a bit, some stitching of darts opened up looser, and needs reinforcing, but all was working ok for a very small rig. Need to shorten the mainsail foot at the clew due to stretch, add more darts to the jibs, and reinforce over the darts outer edges to reduce their stretching and pulling apart. It's only cheap fabric from a craft shop, 50/50 cotton/polyester, so can't expect it to be indestructible.
June 2026:
Moved the mainsail clew in a bit, trimmed off some leech at the foot, and made new eyelet there, marked up the new darts required, and modified the fore sails as required. Next test was in 30-40Km/h blustery winds, tried mainsail, and one jib at a time. All performed well and held up to the abuse of gusts and gybing, and also being tightly close hauled. Only the storm jib needs more shaping now, with 4 more darts at the leech, and roll over the foot's hem one more time to reduce and stiffen it. Fiddled with cordage routing, pulleys, and attachments to make things run smoothly, and easy to rig. I had other non boat jobs to do as well, darn it.
July 2026
Finally had a long test sail, went under the bridge it was designed for, showing plenty of clearance, all sails were useful, and set well, with nice looking shapes, creating a good slot affect. It was all controllable, making way up wind, and proven to work, but very very slow, much too slow in a strong tidal flow. So having made it all, and test proven it, I declare it a failure and a folly.
Someone will of course say "I could have told you that".
Looking nice while going backwards doesn't cut it; and saving time in de-rigging, but going slow all the rest of the time isn't very good. Back home later that day I removed the short rig after taking some photos, and re-installed the 'normal' mast and masthead rig, so on the next sail I might get somewhere, maybe even get up on the plane again, and have some fun.
The short rig experiment cost me a few hundred dollars, and about a hundred hours of work, maybe more, plus using a mast, many ss fittings, cordage, eylets, lots of polyester sewing thread, and a lot of patience. Many components can be re-purposed on another 'messing about in boats' project.
While testing the sails in light winds and moderate - strong tides, I came to the realisation that a tabernacle or side wires, and lowering of a full mast and standard (or reefed) sails is much better than a shortened rig and small sails, in light winds anyway. The hull had nearly as much windage as the sails, and the tide was taking me away too easily in light winds, and this is a small light weight dinghy.
A tabernacle, or side wires, lowering the mast, lifting / swinging centreboard, and swinging up rudder, and an outboard motor, will get you almost anywhere in a dinghy or trailer sailer on inland waterways. A wardrobe of very small sails will get you on the oars way too soon, too often, and for too long, in adverse tides and wind directions. "Pointing" more than 45 deg. off the wind on each tack when under full sail isn't much fun either.
ERO, a sawn off Heron.
April 2026:
Made a new mast and rig for 10' long Ero, a small sailing dinghy. I was originally planning to make a tabernacle and pivoting mast so I can easily go under a local low bridge, giving me two ways to get to sea from my local boat ramp, but somehow I forgot that idea and just made a very low aspect mast, and a set of new sails instead. I can always still make a tabernacle setup if the low aspect rig is a failure, or less than very useful, but I've already started on it, cut a short mast, so we'll see.
I used the top section cut off of an Aussy Light Weight Sharpie mast to make a short low aspect mast, with a fabricated aluminium mast foot fitted, after it was converted to a Heron type square mast foot location lug. Those Sharpie masts are not light weight, but quite heavy aluminium sections, for a racing boat. It's made very short to go under the Torrens Island bridge at high tide, between Garden Island and Port Adelaide, South Australia, without lowering it and paddling under.
A roller reefing jib was decided upon, to ease single handed operation, with a maximum sized genoa wrapping around a PVC conduit tube; not just on a wire. Sourced a small roller reefing drum, same as the one on my 16 footer Trailer Sailer dinghy; hardware store for some 16mm diam. PVC conduit, whitish colour; forestay wire was from my wire collection; boat supplies shop for a cheap top swivel, (not one of those $200 overkill jobs), and several 3/16" pin shackles, and small sister clips, it's a small boat.
Found the ideal rake of mast (almost vertical), and measured up for the side stays. Took my bulk wire to a boat supplies shop to get cut to length and thimbled eyes swaged both ends to my set length, making two identical side stays. Used a temporary forestay to hold up the mast to adjust mast angle, using various length shackles from the chainplates. Once the side stays were set for the best mast angle, then the forestay became a final set length overall. Moved all other jib attachment points aft on the bowsprit to make room to bolt the reefing drum to the tip of the bowsprit, for maximum size. I often use a cutter rig, with a small inner stay sail / storm sail, so there are many other attachment points along the bowsprit to use.
Decided on the attachment method for the forestay swivel up the mast, made / modified the necessary brackets etc., and then had a definite forestay length needed for between the top swivel, and the roller reefing drum's forestay attachment pin. Got one eye swaged on the new forestay wire, then cut the PVC conduit to length and fitted it to engage with the top swivel, and the reefing drum. Had to cut a section of conduit off at the top temporarily, (to be glued back later), to make room on the wire for making the final swaged eye on the wire.
Back to the shop, got the wire finished to length while still inside the conduit, with the final eye done around a thimble. Replaced the cut off PVC top section, and included a shaped reinforcement ring glued over the cut. It's all a pretty neat fit, with the top swivel's lower section engaged in slots in the top of the PVC, and the lower PVC enlarged joining section of the conduit fitting over the reefing drum's top spigot. A bolt goes through the tube and the lower eye of the forestay, attaching it to the reefing drum. The wire will not spin inside the conduit, but all will rotate at the same time without twisting top to bottom, unless it is extremely hot.
Ran cordage on the drum and test it; works beautifully, now I need a genoa to roll on to it.
Used some old blue plastic tarp, (former boat covers), to mock up a useful shape of sail. Sewed it up and flew it to see how it sets; took notes and made marks; stretched it way back to just ahead of the jib cleats by a few inches. Gave it more convex curve in the foot, more concave roach in the leech, and a luff length to suit the roller reefing tube exactly, between the top and bottom attachment bolts.
Had some 50/50 polyester cotton blend cloth on hand for the sail, left over from previously making balanced lug sails, and marked it up in pencil, including all folded hems, and a long pocket for the PVC reefing tube to slip into. Two brass eyelets will be placed at each end of the luff pocket so attachment bolts pass through the middle of the tube, and wire eyelets, locking the sail in position top and bottom on both sides. Not sure yet if it was a good idea, but I set the warp going from 90 deg. to the luff / forestay, angled downward to the sheets. (Found out after that the warp aligns with the leech, oh well; next time. On the lug sails the warp was aligned vertically with the mast at the luff.) Straight sewed the first hem folds. Made triple gussets for one side of the sail only, and hemmed only the largest outer gussets, then straight stitched them all in position on the sail. Checked all positions before rolling the final hems over to lock everything up with a single straight stitch run.
Installed the brass eyelet inserts: two at both top and bottom of the luff, and one for the clew.
Zigzag stitch all the outer hems, going around twice, gussets zigzagged down into position over the straight stitching, then the luff pocket is folded over, lining up all the eyelets top and bottom. Luff pocket is then finalised, and locked down with multiple zigzags for strength. Check sail with a tube passing through the luff pocket - all good. Trim loose ends and shake it out - looks good, well - OK then. It's not a professional job.
Fit sail to the roller reefing setup, bolted up, and mast erected, everything locked in place with through bolts top and bottom, all looks good, minor changes made to the top attachment. Roll it up and un-roll it many times, seems to work very well. The new genoa foresail needs new sheets now. All this so far took a few weeks of messing about after work, for many hours.
Mainsail is next on the list. Need a gooseneck attachment for boom to mast; a sail feeding bolt rope access slot to be cut into the mast track; new main sail made up; and a test sail to see how it all sets and stretches in the wind.
May 2026:
Got a non-adjustable, mast mounted gooseneck, with a long pin normally for fitting into a boom's front end centre hole. ~$75 AU. I will be using a standard length Heron wooden boom with a carved bolt rope slot from the 1960's - 80's. Cut a sail bolt rope feed hole into the aluminium mast, and fitted the gooseneck with bolts, just below it. The gooseneck pin fits into the bottom of the boom's sail tack attachment sandwich plates, blocked from lifting out by a bolt through the lowest holes, so the top pin holes can still be used on the sail's tack; the original gooseneck still hangs on the boom, and can still be used on original wooden masts with old style 1970's Fico or Riley stainless steel adjustment tracks.
Those old SS fittings are far superior to modern aluminium alloy sailboat parts, because they are stronger and more durable from the start, and when damaged or worn, they can be easily hammered, welded, and filed back to original shape and strength; the bent aluminium just goes to scrap immediately, and is replaced by more $$.
Erected the mast and fitted the boom, lifted stern end of boom to an appropriate angle to allow for some sail stretch in use, and some head ducking boom clearance for occupants. Used a clear round plastic protractor / angle finder for sighting at the rig, to find the angles needed at the clew, tack, and head, and tape measured the lengths needed for the foot, luff, and leech. Made allowances for some fabric stretch.
Found a suitable sized piece of fabric, same type as used for the genoa, and stitched in a panel to complete a small missing section at the foot, where there will be little strain on it, and now the sail's raw material shape is complete. Marked up the leech along the warp, including a modest roach curvature, and straight stitched the first hem fold at the leech.
Laid out the fabric flat on a floor and marked out the eye positions and lengths from the leech base line datums, then added the remaining simple edge shaping curves of the luff and foot. Checked many times to be sure of dimensions before cutting. Sewed first hems, then made and installed gussets, to be locked in with the second rolled over hems and more straight stitching. Got some 6mm diameter cordage for the bolt rope. Straight sewed it in position down a marked centreline, then zigzagged it down in position along the line. Folded over the bolt rope's flap to finish the shape, and sewed over all final hems and over all gussets, to keep them in place.
Put eyelets in place and checked it on the rig. Somehow the luff is a few inches too long. Stretch? Mark up for a new tack position, and single reefing points. Sew in reefing point reinforcements.
Put a few darts in the foot of the sail to tighten it up, to be more shapely and effective. Insert all new / extra eyelets, and hang it on the rig, all looking much better now. Maybe put another few darts in the foot later, to make it hold a nicer shape; it's still a bit baggy and flappy from the extra convex foot material I allowed, (a bit too much). The excess luff foot section isn't in the way, and will not be cut off, but is left for use on other masts, for when a very small emergency mainsail is needed.
My favourite storm / cutter jib is too long in the luff to use on my new short mast, so I suppose I will have to make a new storm jib for it, because a cutter rig is more wind efficient; and looks very good too. I happen to have a luff wire already made up to just about the right length, with eyes both ends, so that's the next sail making project.
Rigged the boat and set the sails, looks good, measure and find angles for the storm jib, make small adjustments and additions to the rig for better functionality. Get out the remains of sail fabric and find a section useful for a very small jib; it may need a small panel sewn in to complete the final shape, then I will be left with only odd scraps for gussets, and sail repairs.
Sew in a large patch to fill in the missing gap of jib fabric, mark up the shape and all hems, cut out the outside shape, and notice a leftover piece is suitable for a large partial double up of fabric, to strengthen the storm jib; so I cut it to the most useful shape to add. Sew first hems over, and make gussets, stitch them in, zigzag final hems, fit eyelets in head, tack, and clew, then stitch around eyelets.
When all was fully sewn I rigged the boat and had a sail in light winds, and noted the changes needed, mostly darts around the foot and leech areas; and roll over the mainsail's leech hem once more to reduce downward stretch, so the boom doesn't drop so much when sheeting in. Cut and sewed all sails where needed, and went for another sail next day. The mainsail is good now, but jib and genoa need more darts to reduce slack flapping on the leeches, and improve their shapes. Another sewing session.
Next test sail had a bit more wind initially, and the sails were stretched a bit, some stitching of darts opened up looser, and needs reinforcing, but all was working ok for a very small rig. Need to shorten the mainsail foot at the clew due to stretch, add more darts to the jibs, and reinforce over the darts outer edges to reduce their stretching and pulling apart. It's only cheap fabric from a craft shop, 50/50 cotton/polyester, so can't expect it to be indestructible.
June 2026:
Moved the mainsail clew in a bit, trimmed off some leech at the foot, and made new eyelet there, marked up the new darts required, and modified the fore sails as required. Next test was in 30-40Km/h blustery winds, tried mainsail, and one jib at a time. All performed well and held up to the abuse of gusts and gybing, and also being tightly close hauled. Only the storm jib needs more shaping now, with 4 more darts at the leech, and roll over the foot's hem one more time to reduce and stiffen it. Fiddled with cordage routing, pulleys, and attachments to make things run smoothly, and easy to rig. I had other non boat jobs to do as well, darn it.
July 2026
Finally had a long test sail, went under the bridge it was designed for, showing plenty of clearance, all sails were useful, and set well, with nice looking shapes, creating a good slot affect. It was all controllable, making way up wind, and proven to work, but very very slow, much too slow in a strong tidal flow. So having made it all, and test proven it, I declare it a failure and a folly.
Someone will of course say "I could have told you that".
Looking nice while going backwards doesn't cut it; and saving time in de-rigging, but going slow all the rest of the time isn't very good. Back home later that day I removed the short rig after taking some photos, and re-installed the 'normal' mast and masthead rig, so on the next sail I might get somewhere, maybe even get up on the plane again, and have some fun.
The short rig experiment cost me a few hundred dollars, and about a hundred hours of work, maybe more, plus using a mast, many ss fittings, cordage, eylets, lots of polyester sewing thread, and a lot of patience. Many components can be re-purposed on another 'messing about in boats' project.
While testing the sails in light winds and moderate - strong tides, I came to the realisation that a tabernacle or side wires, and lowering of a full mast and standard (or reefed) sails is much better than a shortened rig and small sails, in light winds anyway. The hull had nearly as much windage as the sails, and the tide was taking me away too easily in light winds, and this is a small light weight dinghy.
A tabernacle, or side wires, lowering the mast, lifting / swinging centreboard, and swinging up rudder, and an outboard motor, will get you almost anywhere in a dinghy or trailer sailer on inland waterways. A wardrobe of very small sails will get you on the oars way too soon, too often, and for too long, in adverse tides and wind directions. "Pointing" more than 45 deg. off the wind on each tack when under full sail isn't much fun either.
