Page 194 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

on human ballast for something like transverse sta-
bility. Fore-and-aft stability was severely compro- Efficiency
mised, making for very wet (read: submerged) fore-
decks, and the area and degree of negative stability Cost and structural vulnerability increase exponen-
tially with sailing efficiency. So a well-built, moder-
was very high. Many IOR boats became negatively ately efficient boat will cost far less and be far more
stable at angles less than 120 degrees. Knockdowns durable than a well-built highly efficient boat.
and dismastings became commonplace, and crews
suffered from the discomfort of riding in sharp-mo-
tioned, skittish, wet boats. heel and their weather helm increases, no matter
Sounds like pure hell, doesn’t it? But to make how beautifully balanced they are when upright. To
things even worse, these boats were also incredibly counteract heel-induced weather helm, sailors will
expensive and had huge, hard-to-handle staysails. (a) reef the main, which moves the center of effort
I’m speaking of them in the past tense, but in fact down and forward, or (b) move the draft of the sails
IOR-style boats continue to have a presence in the forward using mast bend or luff tension, or (c) both.
marketplace. I mention them here partly as a dia- Here is a place the rigger can shine, using the
tribe against their continued existence, but mostly running and standing rigging not just to deliver
because they make a great Bad Example, illuminat- power but to balance the helm. That is, unless the
ing the relationship between fore-and-aft and trans- hull is so sensitive to heel that no amount of rig
verse stability. adjustment can make it right. A worst-case scenario
When a vessel is at rest and upright, form and for riggers was the nose-diving, broach-prone IOR
ballast stability make it float on its lines. If it doesn’t, fleet. About all a rigger can do for these boats is to
and if it’s not too far off, moving ballast or gear help keep people in the cockpit. And as noted ear-
around will level it. This is extremely important, lier in this chapter, that’s what roller-furling, aft-led
because the boat will only go where you point it to control lines, and other conveniences have done.
the extent that it pushes through the water in a bal- But ameliorating the effects of bad design does not
anced fashion. If there’s too much hull in the water constitute seaworthiness. For many boats, adding
forward, the force of the water will push the bow sail-control conveniences is like putting a muzzle on
to windward, resulting in weather helm. A common a rabid dog.
response to this is to rake the mast forward, since
this moves the sail area forward, reducing weather Side Effects
helm. But it’s usually much simpler and more effec- There’s an old saying that “if you take care of the
tive to leave the rigging out of it and just trim the molehills, the mountains will take care of them-
hull down aft. Conversely, a hull trimmed too much selves.” A seaworthy rig is one in which the mole-
aft will generate lee helm. hills are taken care of. A vessel shaped by concern
But fore-and-aft trim is a tricky thing; most ves- for bulwarks, handholds, human comfort, longevity,
sels trim differently when heeled than they do when simplicity, and a zillion other details can be engi-
upright, because the shape of the hull in the water neered to acceptable standards of Speed, Weather-
is no longer symmetrical, as it is when the boat is liness, and Maneuverability. But it is an oft-demon-
upright. This is hard to avoid, since you want a boat strated fact that vessels dedicated only to Speed,
to be fine forward to move easily, yet have a beamy Weatherliness, and Maneuverability are possessed
midsection to resist heeling. But when you do heel, of precious little else. Take care of the molehills, and
that beamy midsection gets submerged, and is a the mountains will tend to take care of themselves.
lot more buoyant than the corresponding area on Take care of the mountains, and the molehills will
that skinny bow. So most boats nose down as they just drag you down.

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