Faster Reefing System for Cruising Dinghies
Goat Island Skiff group has developed a faster reefing system for cruising dinghies. No special fittings are needed so quick cheap and simple
OZ Racer – 8ft family sailing boat
Videos Handling Waves in Strong wind upwind Oz Goose and depowering lug rigs.
Videos of best speed upwind in the Oz Goose to handle large waves – a video of depowering a lug by reducing the downhaul tension slightly.
Talking to your Local Sailmaker – GIS sails and other lugsails
Some of the decisions that have to be made before ordering Goat Island Skiff or other lugsails.
Freestanding Mast, stopping it from falling out in a capsize.
Question was how to stop a freestanding mast from falling out on a small sailboat? A few simple fittings and a neat solution
Controlling Sail Twist on Balance and other lug rigs.
Controlling sail twist on any boat is critical for performance. Here we describe two methods for getting more performance all round and safer handling downwind.
Surprising speed difference 12ft Oz Goose vs 8ft OzRacer
Crazy speed difference between 8ft and 12ft version of same boat. A resizing that worked beyond all expectations and taught us something about the limitations of conventional thinking about hullforms and performance
Cartop Spar Carriers for sail boats and Viola 14 Sailing Canoe.
These cartop spar carriers for a sailing dinghy or sailing canoe carry mast, yard or gaff and boom using the existing straps that tie the dinghy or sailing canoe to the roof.
Joost made them for his Viola 14 Sailing Canoe.
Inexpensive Centrecase Padding Reduces Rudder Centreboard Maintenance
Centrecase Padding reduces centreboard maintenance by protecting the sliding surfaces of rudderbox or Leeboard case on sailing dinghies. We look at low cost ways for padding the centrecase to reduce foil wear and tear.
Video of Balance Lug Rig Performance vs Lasers and Fireballs
A video comparing Lug Rig Performance with conventional rigs in a real race. A Goat Island Skiff takes part in a regular club race against Fireballs and Lasers. Where will it end up? Does it actually have a “bad tack” where it can’t compete? The answer might challenge your assumptions about sailing rig performance
20 ways to boost Lug rig and lug sail performance! Rigging and Tuning.
All our lug rig information on one page. We have seen the change from the balance lug being almost forgotten to becoming the predominant rig for small self built wooden boat. This was the situation a hundred years ago. We can still use the cheapness and effectiveness of this rig to create boats with very quick and pleasant sailing characteristic.
Rigging guide for Goat Island Skiff – Efficient lug sails
How do you rig your Goat Island Skiff or other balance lug rigged boat? This page will be useful for everyone, but specifically assist Goat owners in selection of rope, rope lengths and show all the rigging details. We have also found a number of cheaper ways of doing things from our experience in the Philippines. Halyard, downhaul, outhaul, lashings, rope fittings, rudders, centreboard.
Finding downwind speed – Planing in OzRacers and OzGeese.
Planing and downwind speed is a practiced skill. But the 8ft OzRacer and the 12ft OzGoose have strikingly different behavour. Goose planes easily in light wind. OzRacer needs a lot more wind and jumps up and down in speed.
Choose between Swinging Centreboard and Daggerboard
A discussion about basic pros and cons for swinging centreboards. And dagger centreboards. Centre Board means the board is in the centre. Which is different from a Lee board which is too the side.
Ensuring Hull strength and stiffness vs low weight. Oilcanning, twisting and torsion boxes
Making a boat light may make the hull distort more thus losing some of the advantage. But is is possible to build light without distortion. The answer is YES.
Sailing in Crisis? Is it dying out? Are basic boats too expensive?
How introductory boats that were intended to be cheap have become crazy expensive. And forced sailing to contract. Hundreds of sailing clubs have disappeared in Australia alone. Sailing is now semi professional and elitist again.
How to build very light plywood sailing dinghies – Moths and Light Plywood Structures
The Oz Racer led to the Oz Goose. There was discussion about whether the OzRacer would plane and just how light it would be possible to build. Extrapolating from the Moth Scows in Australia I made a guess.
Achieve best Cost/Performance with Traditional Sailing Rigs – Balance, standing lugs and sprit rig sails
A guide for choosing cheaper alternative rigs. Balance Lug, Standing Lug, Sprit, Lateen and more. These rigs typically save a lot of money over conventional sailplans and set up right offer much the same performance. They respond to the same principles. Are boomless sails OK?
Cheap lug rig tuning and setup – simplify but sail fast.
In the Philippines imported boat parts look extremely expensive compared to local incomes. So we have worked hard to eliminate them as much as possible or replace them. What is easy, cheap and good for racing performance? The result is a big way to save money.
All Videos – Oz Goose – OzRacer and other “Squareboats”
All the videos for the Oz Goose and other similar boats OzRacer, Ocean Explorer, PD Goose. Families sailing, speed videos, capsize, racing. USA, Australia
Up to date rigging guide for lug rig sails on opengoose.com
A great article from the Open Goose website on setting up and tuning lug rigs of all types.