Page 328 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

the runners about 20 percent of the time) and high Otter
safety, and they’re still light enough not to cut too Pump Troubador’s mainsail up even further, shrink
much into performance. the staysails down to zero, and move the mast right
A final detail is that Troubador also has a fore- up into the bows of the boat and you have the rig
stay, something rare in a fractional rig. It helps for Otter, a 32-foot Mark Ellis-designed catboat
brace this high-aspect mast, leaves enough space for created for Ed Scheu of Hanover, New Hamp-
a good-sized working staysail, and is a good wire to shire. It’s another fractional rig (Figure 8-9), and
hang a storm staysail on—low and well aft. In light a requirement for ultimate ease of handling resulted
airs this stay can be disconnected and made off aft in the complete elimination of staysails. Ordinarily,
and to one side, for easy tacking of the jib. this would have resulted in reduced efficiency to

Figure 8-9. Otter’s sail and rigging plans. The diagonal jumper stays stabilize the upper end of the mast, primar-
ily fore-and-aft; the forestay and strut stabilize the lower section. The lower ends of the jumpers lead internally
through the mast to deck level for adjustment, which is necessary when the backstay is adjusted. The mast’s
position in the bow of the boat creates a very narrow staying angle. Dotted lines show the initial upper shroud
angle, which proved insufficient to prevent lateral bend. This problem was solved by adding a third, upper set
of spreaders to take the upper shrouds to the masthead, and lengthening the intermediate spreaders (which had
been the uppers). The running backstays are not shown here.

mast section

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