Shroudless "A" rig for a Starkers 3 ? Would it work ok ?

[John Bennett]

I have a Starkers cubed with a swing "A" rig, but enjoyed sailing with the shroudless "B" rig in windier conditions, would a shroudless "A" rig work ok on the Starkers ?  Do you have any recomendations ?

[Bill Green]

John. No reason not to. You need to ask yourself the question would the gain you make to windward by pointing higher out way the reduced off wind performance. As the majority of a radio course is off wind then the swing A rig will come out best over the course.  That’s why the fleet uses swing rigs for A suit. When wind gets stiffer the conventional rigs work better across the range. You may have seen that swing rigs are set more forward in the hull that increases the tendency to push the bow down and fir the boat to trip up and the wind speed increases. The conventional rig is far easier to handle in higher wind speeds

In the vane M era shroudless A rig was used as it allowed the top of the rig to bend off in a gust and good windward performance is at a premium. We used a prodder rig where the jib boom is attached to a yard clipped to the mast and the hull. It was effective but as it made it more difficult to catch the boat and pick it out so the fleet went back to conventional arrangements

I hope that helps if you need anything further give me a ring. My contact details are on the SmartWinch supplier banner

Bill

[John Bennett]

Thanks very much for the reply Bill, message understood.

If I can get hold of one I certainly would like to try it, we previously had a couple of guys in our club that used to beat us with shroudless, but the are/were very good sailors.