Page 337 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

track on an aerodynamically shaped wood, alumi- being that it is no longer available “off the shelf”—
num, or carbon fiber mast. And how about making you pretty much have to build a gaff rig yourself
the gaff out of carbon fiber, to save weight? With these days, since the supply and design infrastruc-
these and other simple, changes, you can have a gaff ture is almost entirely Bermudian-oriented.
rig that goes very well to weather, with none of the Bermudian was the new kid on the block once,
high-tension, money-intensive, vulnerable tweaking too. It grew to dominance because sailors grew to
gear of an only-slightly-higher-pointing Bermudian prize its strength—windward ability—above all
rig. And when you bear off the wind, you’ll find others. Indeed it might be said that they became
that a gaff rig has infinitely adjustable sail shape for blinded to all others, to the point that I can only half-
high-powered, low-effort reaches and runs. jokingly reintroduce the gaff rig as radical. As further
So, how come this rig is so rare? Partly because irony, there is now a version of Bermudian rig—the B
pointing, at any price, is what counts in racing. & R rig, most often seen on Hunter sailboats—that
Partly because handling a big gaff sail can take some echoes gaff configuration: no standing backstay; aft-
skill and, in the absence of winches, physical effort. swept spreaders; minimum headsails; etc.
Partly a lot of other reasons, perhaps the biggest one

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