With the forestay tension shared between two stays, the luff of the sail may fall away more than you'd want it to, also reducing windward performance. For years the cutter rig has been extremely popular with offshore sailors, providing greater flexibility and easier sail handling than the sloop rig in varying wind and sea conditions. 14.1k members in the SailboatCruising community. This is one of the major advantages of the solent rig. That is the height divided by the J-this distance is roughly the forward side of mast at deck level forward to the head-stay fitting on the deck. Cutter. However, as you know, here at Upffront we are passionate about providing performance products and advice. Without additional aft support, the forestay tension is shared between the two forestays, meaning the luff of both sails can fall away excessively upwind.In addition, there is no need for any additional backstays as the in-line stays are attached close to the masthead, which makes the solent rig a budget friendly option. 'About Time', a Sabre 32 Sailboat for Sale. However, the downside of poled out twin headsails is that quick, emergency, changes of direction are problematic. Oct 5, 2019 - Both the cutter rig and the solent rig provide the offshore skipper with a choice of foresails to fly, but there the similarity ends. Is The Sailing Sloop the Simplest of All Cruising Sailboat Rigs? It is also common to use a 3:1 purchase system under the drum of the solent stay and make it a semi-removable system, to facilitate easier tacking of the main genoa, in light, upwind conditions. The cutter has been around forever. The Solent Rig is quite different from the Cutter Rig in as much as it's effectively a sloop with two different sized headsails on separate in-line stays - usually set on furlers. However, despite its simplicity and ease of use, the solent rig is not as performance orientated as the cutter rig: when sailing close to the wind, the furled sail can interrupt the airflow over the sail that is being flown, reducing efficiency. The cutter has its two headsails set well apart with the inner stay attached a distance down from the masthead and aft of the stemhead. Roll up the genoa and Bob's yer uncle. A Solent stay is not a cutter’s inner forestay, which is farther aft and typically requires additional support in the form of running backstays or extra swept-back shrouds. Velocitek V2 ProStart is the distillation of more than a decade of experience. Unlike the cutter rig, it is not intended for both headsails to be flown at the same time. It is often worth spending a little extra time and expense, to begin with, to get the best solution. It's a simple question but if you are buying a new furler or need to organise a replacement furling line and do not have access to measure it....... how long should it be!? 'About Time', a centreboard version of the Sabre 32, is the perfect combination of a racer-cruiser that can take you around to the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, 'WYRD' is a 1981 Tartan 37. Now, it's the turn of the solent rig. We own a Bene 473 and installed a Solent rig. Sea anchors and drogues for storm conditions. A common design for modern cutters contains two head sails, with the inner sail referred to as the stay sail and the outer sail either a jib or genoa. Harken have an extensive range of winches which are split into two primary ranges: Radial and Performa. You certainly can't do that effectively with a cutter. I won’t count them for you but trust me. It's all about time and distance. You would probably agree that there are very few flat surfaces on a sailing yacht, whereas most hardware bases are flat. Unlike a cutter rig, in which the head stays are separated by a good distance, the close proximity of the two headsails in the solent arrangement makes flying both at the same time impossible; you must choose one or the other. Re: Cutter vs Solent Rig For long ocean passages I converted my Catalina 30 masthead sloop rig to a cutter rig with an inner stay from the single spreaders, parallel to the forestay, to an eye on the deck, secured by a highfield lever. Since longer passages usually means encountering heavier weather, the cutter rig can be the perfect choice to have a ready-to-go balanced sailplan when the wind picks up. Is The Ketch Sailboat the Best Type of Sailboat for Offshore Cruising? If pressed to choose, we are a fan of the cutter rig together with the use of code zeros and asymmetric spinnakers, which we believe offers a complete, modern, bluewater cruising solution. Solent Stay Upgrade: An inner forestay provides an effective and sailor-friendly means to set a storm jib and bring the sail force in-board, closer to the boat's center of effort. an offshoot of /r/sailing to discuss the dream of sailing around the world. In theory, anyone with reasonable DIY skills can fit a cutter to their boat. I think I have designed more cutter rigs than any other living designer. That said, it is possible to use twin headsails (which help to steady the boat) to sail dead-downwind, with one sail poled out to starboard and the other to port. Provided the mast is far enough aft and the fore-triangle can accommodate it, why not a solent rig with a staysail - a solent-rigged cutter perhaps? cutters vs sloops The earlier posts are correct that a cutter rig places the mast further forward. In high winds, the yankee can be furled completely leaving the staysail set with a deeply reefed main. The following is excerpted and adapted from chapter 9 of Lin and Larry Pardey's book Capable Cruiser. 7895890. Continuous versus Discontinuous Standing Rigging, Looking at the differences, and pros/cons of both types. I suspect that without that initial design, the gains from adding a staysail might not be as advantageous. Cutters had a rig with a single mast located 50% of the length of the sailplan or further aft, multiple headsails and reefing bowsprit. I think the current popularity of the cutter rig comes from the early 70’s when the Westsail was introduced. Either drop the staysail or bear off the wind a little. Cutter rigs are a choice a cruising sailor might opt for more offshore work. With two well-made headsails, in theory the rig should allow a sailor to go anywhere without ever venturing onto the foredeck... so, for short-handed, globe-trotting on a budget - and with plenty of time available - this could be an excellent option! Here's where people with sailing equipment for sale advertise their stuff entirely free of charge. Karver have just released details of a major redesign of their entire KF continuous line furler range. On a solent rigged sailboat, the headsails are set much closer together with both stays attached close to the masthead and the stemhead. It's true that the ketch sailboat with its split rig can make an attractive cruising sailboat for a short-handed crew, but there is a downside to these types of sailboats. But why is that, and what's the difference between these two rigs? Harken have a dedicated range of furlers for dinghies and keelboats up to 30ft (3mm, 5mm and 6mm diameter forestays). [citation needed] A mast located aft of 50% would be considered a mast aft rig. Jan 20, 21 04:25 AM. Translation - a cutter sails more upright! With both stays attached close to the top of the mast, there's no need for running backstays, swept-back spreaders or aft intermediates as there is with the cutter. I know the cutter rig. Where would you like to Gnu? Cat, Sloop; Cutter; Ketch; Schooner... these are the basic configurations. The heart, and driving force, of any sailing yacht is its mast and standing rigging which support the sails. Simple, reliable and extremely versatile, Cam Cleats are a staple on boats of all sizes, either as the primary rope holding solution on dinghies, or as part of a purchase system on larger boats and yachts. The effectiveness of this sail platform at least partly explains why nearly all of the recent cruising designs are cutter rigged. Unlike the cutter rig, it is not intended for both headsails on a solent rig to be flown at the same time. Two popular options for off-shore cruising are the cutter rig and the solent rig, both sporting their own pros and cons. Copyright 2021 YY Online Services Ltd. registered in England no. Typically, the forward sail could be a 140% genoa for use as an offwind/reaching sail and the aft one a 100% working jib for windward work. Many fin-keel cutters reefed down like this will heave-to satisfactorily, whereas they're much less likely to with a partially rolled jib on the forestay. Therefore, if a double berth ri… Usually the jib will be a high-cut yankee and the smaller staysail will have a lower clew catching the wind that would otherwise escape below the yankee. Bermuda cutter with three headsails. On a cutter, the staysail stay is parallel to the forestay, but a significant distance behind and below it, allowing sails to be flown from both the forestay and the staysail stay at … You have a choice of headsails. Cutters had a rig with a single mast more centrally located, which could vary from 50% to 70% of the length of the sailplan, with multiple headsails and a running bowsprit. These are known as the head sails. While this may seem somewhat heretical at first, there is no arguing the fact that no one wants a mast in the middle of their double berth...! Using modern materials and construction methods, the innovative LOOP Flexi Stick-on padeye offers some interesting possibilities. The skipper of this solent rigged Westerly Oceanlord 41 'Badgers Sett' has found the sweet spot with the #2 headsail set and the #1 furled away. The cutter rig is popular for long-distance yachts having one mast that carries two headsails, each on their own stay. But of course there's rather more to it than that, each of the two rigs having significant benefits and disadvantages when compared to the other. This is one of the biggest attractions of a Solent rig: no extra standing rigging required. My old Golden Hind 31 Sophie was a sloop when I bought her, and I converted her to a cutter rig with a removable inner forestay, although she became a true cutter, as I also increased the height of the mast and added a bowsprit to enlarge the foretriangle. One variation increasingly popular with bluewater cruisers is a sloop/cutter hybrid, sometimes called a slutter rig, where a removeable inner forestay is installed on what would otherwise be a straight sloop rig. We fitted each of the cutters in turn to the test rig’s P-bracket and shaft to see how easy this was to carry out. Mast and standing rigging terminology from upffront.com. In a previous blog, Upffront evaluated the pros and cons of a cutter rig as a popular bluewater cruising set up. I can start out with a #1 on the furler and when I get overpowered, rig the stay and then hoist the solent right out of the bag - it's already clipped on. But is it the best rig for cruising? The lower combined centre of effort of two smaller sails when compared to that of a larger single sail produces a lower heeling moment. Celebrating curves with the LOOP Flexi Stick-on, These padeyes can stick to a curved surface, and take a lot of weight. Having said earlier that you fly one sail or the other, I'll immediately contradict myself by saying that you can sail dead downwind 'wing-and-wing' with one sail poled out to port and the other poled out to starboard. This boat is actually designed to have one as an option and you can obtain a CAD drawing of the deck fitting that attaches to the bulkhead separating the chain locker and the V-berth. Hard on the wind, the jib stalls the staysail, leaving you with two options. Used Sailing Equipment For Sale. Regardless of material choice (wire, rod or composite), there are two main types of lateral rigging configurations, referred to as Discontinuous or Continuous rigging. Bluewater Cruising: Cutter Rig versus Solent Rig - Part 2 In a previous blog, Upffront evaluated the pros and cons of a cutter rig as a popular bluewater cruising set up. Somewhere in the 1950’s or 1960’s there was a shift in these definitions such that a sloop only flew one headsail and a cutter had multiple headsails and mast position became irrelevant. Like the cutter rig, the solent rig also utilises two headsails; the two different sized genoas sit close together, the second just behind the main forestay, unlike those on the cutter which sit relatively far apart. So, how does a solent rig compare to a cutter rig? A cutter rig is a sailboat with a type of sail configuration in which two or more sails are set forward of the mast. please feel free to contact upffront.com using our genoa reefing enquiry form. Downwind, the staysail will blanket the jib and has to be dropped, leaving a relatively small jib to power the boat. A major redesign of the entire KF continuous line furler range. Diagram showing the Cutter Rig versus the Solent Rig - photo © Calanach Finlayson, Upffront.com A second advantage of the cutter rig is that, if winds are high and you want to reduce power, the yankee can be furled away completely, leaving just the staysail which can be used with a deeply reefed main. Ketch and Yawl. You can't tack the forward sail through the gap between it and the one behind it - you have to furl it away completely before hauling it out again when you've gone through the wind. Like the cutter rig, the solent rig also utilises two headsails; the two different sized genoas sit close together, the second just behind the main forestay, unlike those on the cutter which sit relatively far apart. Why nearly all of the solent rig to be dropped, leaving you with two options '! 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