Page 318 - Brion Toss - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

CHAPTER 8

A Portfolio of Rigs

If there’s one thing that characterizes rig design, it But a mizzen can be more than just an extra
is endless variation. Riggers and designers take the mast. It can be evidence that the designer and the
apparently simple task of holding a mast up and owner have decided that versatility and comforting
accomplish it in more—and weirder—ways than redundancy offset a loss of absolute weatherliness.
you’d ever think possible. With such a profusion That the expense and complexity of an added mast
of structures, it can get confusing out there when is offset by reduced size, expense, and labor-inten-
you’re trying to make decisions for your boat. siveness of the mainmast. That any inconvenience
The good news is that sensible variations are and clutter—the mizzen of a ketch does sit right in
responses to sensible considerations; hull type, the boat’s busiest work area—can be more than off-
climate, sailor’s temperament, and other factors set by a center of effort lower than that of a compa-
inform how a finished rig looks. So if you under- rable sloop, by less sharply focused hull stresses, by
stand those factors you’ll be well along in under- a more versatile sail plan, and by increased power
standing design. The following portfolio is intended on a reach. This last reason is why so many of the
to illuminate design decisions, and to show some vessels in the old Whitbread Round-the-World Race
(mostly) appropriate results. Soak it up, then turn were ketch-rigged.
new eyes on your rig. Because small (under 35 feet or 11 meters)
sloops and cutters already have relatively easily
handled sails, mizzens are most appropriate on
larger vessels. Crew laziness or non-agility, or a par-
MIZZENS ticularly large sail plan might justify a mizzen on
smaller vessels.
“The elaborations of elegance are at least as fasci- Regardless of vessel size, a mizzen always pres-
nating, and more various, more democratic, more ents a challenge in rig design: How do you stay it
healthy, more practical—though less glamorous— adequately without interfering with the main? With
than the elaborations of power.” few exceptions (see “Sundeer,” below), there isn’t
—Wendell Berry room between the mizzenmast and the main boom
for a mizzen forestay. There often isn’t even room
In this sloop-happy world, mizzenmasts don’t get a for much of an angle on the forward-leading mizzen
lot of respect. Ketches and yawls generally don’t go shrouds. And because the mizzen is so far aft, there’s
to weather as well as their single-masted cousins, also rarely room for a backstay. Designers have risen
and so are viewed by many sailors as inefficient— to these and other mizzen challenges with varying
that is, by those whose sole definition of “efficient” degrees of success. What follows is a spectrum of
is “able to tack through 70 degrees.” configurations, analyzed for interrelationship.

297