Thought I would try to put everything I have about the balance lug rig, standing lug rigs, their setup and tuning for sailing dinghies, sailing canoes and small yachts on one page. Lug rig setups (either cheap or sophisticated), tyes of ropes, tuning guides, controlling sail twist and more
We make Lug Sails and Custom sails for homebuilt and production boats.
Additionally we manufacture modern squaretop bermudan sails from laminates.
These are all links to full articles on Lug Rigs.
1/ Basic lug setup and tuning with some budget for fancy fittings
Goat Island Skiff as example of setting up a lug rig.
2/ Basic lug setup and tuning with no budget for fittings – Oz Goose as example
Low cost with no sacrifice of sailing performance – this is the method we use for racing our fleet of Geese in the Philippines. Maybe you don’t want to race, but if the boat works better when cruising – why not!
Step by step Guide for setting up a lug rig very cheaply
Video Rigging Process takes under 10 mins
3/ Two Lug Sail Rigging Setup Videos showing ropes and positions
These two videos are for setting up an Oz Goose using the kit we supply in the Philippines for the 10 boat builds we do here. So the rope usuage is different from your boat. But the basic methods are identical particularly the knot types and the required tensions.
Link to the Two Videos showing detailed rigging method for Lug Rigs
Video 1 – 20 minutes
Putting everything together for the first time – as the end of the building process – Lugsail, spars, fittings, lines – this is usually done before taking the boat down to the water for the first time
Video 2 – 8 minutes
Rigging the lug rigged sailboat for its first sail – hoisting the sail and making adjustments.
4/ Leach Ribbon positions for a lugsail
I had to play around … also an invaluable sailing for speed tuning tip. Have to avoid the wake from the mast and yard interaction
Fitting leach ribbons and telltales to a lugsail – where works?
5/ Sailing methods have changed – if you luff up in a gust then you are making boat control more difficult.
Sailing methods have changed a lot in the last decade or so. It has been found that difficulties controlling a sailboat in stronger winds has been made more difficult by traditional teaching of boat handling.
Now learning to sail is much easier to explain and learn …
… and strong wind sailing is easier for everyone.
6/ What is that crease in my lugsail? Diagonal crease – a common lug setup problem
This is a common tuning question for lug rigs with an incredibly easy answer.
Simple to fix the crease from bottom end of the yard to the back of the boom on lugsails.
7/ Where can I get a not too expensive lugsail or other sail?
Order a Custom Sail from us at Really Simple Sails – We ship Worldwide.
Click here for stock Lug Sails Off The Shelf at Duckworks USA – Made by us
36 square ft Lugsail
53 square ft Lugsail
63 square ft Lugsail
89 square ft Lugsail
105 square ft Lugsail
Did you realise that Lugs and Lateens are close relatives?
the deepest reef possible for a balance lug turns it into a lateen rig.
One more reef will do it in this photo. So some aspects relevant to Lugs are also relevant to Lateens.
8/ Five basic Knots needed for any sailboat setup including those with a lug rig – VIDEOS
Basic Knot Videos – Knots needed for rigging most sailboats including those with lug rigs
9/ Lug spar sizes and weights for different construction methods – actual measured
10/ The single biggest performance improvement on any sailboat rig is controlling sail twist
Controlling sail twist is almost the story of sailboat performance and tuning for the last hundred years. A hundred years ago the balance lug was the predominate small boat performance rig where there was choice. Because it controls sail twist and the gaff rig doesn’t.
With the bermudan rig the need for controlling twist for best performance led to the boom vang, the full width traveller, vang sheeting.
But that is expensive … which is why we use the balance lug rig setup for modest cost but still very good performance.
A big contribution from Brian Pearson or “Keyhavenpotterer” on this page.
11/ Which side does the boom go on when going downwind and dynamic control of heel with the sheet on unstayed lug, gaff and lateen rigs – By the Lee is useful!
Sailing by the Lee in not tricky – but is useful! It is a well known high level method in racing. But it adds to the stability and control of our small (and much bigger) boats with unstayed masts. There’s a video of us changing the heel of the boat when running just by moving the sheet in and out.
12/ Lug Rig setup from 100 years of development in the Lymington Scow Class Dinghy – 100 years of using a balance lug rig in weekly races.
You learn one or two things by sailing against other boats for 100 years.
We met Brian Pearson and nothing was the same about our lug rig tuning and setup advice after that … well a great deal was changed.
The Biggest Lug Discussion on the Net
13/ Reefing Faster Revolution using Fixed size Loops on small boats, Two Videos
Throw away all the blocks and pulleys and metres of line and reef or unreef in half the time. Lazyjacks not necessary
Drop loop over front of boom, snap other loop on leach into carabiner and rehoist and tension sail – and you can still adjust the outhaul normally!
Two Videos, Faster Reefing System for Lugs on both Racing and Cruising Dinghies
14/ Reefing a balance lug sail – tie tingles or use one line for the tidy up.
The time comes when there is too much sail. Main reefing lines are in at back and front of sail … do you really want to tie up 5 to 10 ties in the body of the sail?
Individual ties around the boom or bottom of the sail might be too fiddly – what about one line that does the lot?
Shamelessly stolen setup from the big racing yachts.
Tidy the reefed balance lug, standing lug, lateen or just about anything with one piece of line – updated 2022
15/ Boom or no boom on your sailboat … is the sacrifice worth it?
Boom or no boom best for my lug sail boat?
A no boom rig is very portable and easy to set up and stow. There are some sacrifices in performance and you never see a drop in performance from normal lugs on most boats when a boom is added.
16/ Club racing a lug rig 1 – a Goat Island Skiff with conventional sailboats – PY number
A test that has been done. A midweek racing series gave us the beginning of a baseline for the GIS … about equal with a Laser Radial or OK Dinghy. A lot more tuning and practice to come as more and more boats get built.
Club racing a lug rigged Goat Island skiff against boats with jibs, bermudan rigs and spinnakers.
17/ Club Racing a Lug Rig 2 – Beth Sailing canoe
Who said a mizzen was a really big handicap?
Who said a balance lug wouldn’t perform with modern sailing dinghies?
18/ Club Racing a Lug Rig 3 – Video Full Race Goat Island Skiff vs Lasers and Fireballs
Video Full Race of Lug Rigged Goat Island Skiff sailing against Lasers and Fireballs
19/ How fast can a trad rig go 1? … Arab Dhow coming unstuck Video
Arab Dhows start racing by hoisting their sails when the gun goes. They are also big and immensely fast.
And as you will see … boomless sails have rather high sheeting loads :)
Arab Dhow racing in the Open Class.
20/ How fast can a trad rig go 2? 12ft Oz Goose in a ridiculous wind
On this day racing was cancelled and we had the rescue boats out. There’s a plot there showing a boatspeed of 18 knots for two seconds on one of my speed runs recorded by GPS. Lake is tideless freshwater in the Philippines.
21/ Low cost Lug rig – putting 10 Oz Geese on the water for the price of importing one Laser Radial with spares.
We have learned a lot about keeping costs down in developing nations to boost participation rates in sailing. Yep .. that is 10 to 20 people on the water for the cost of a Laser .. or 30 for training all with good feel even in light winds.
22/ What one of the UK’s top sailors thinks of the Goat Island Skiff and Lug Rig
Mike Macnamara has over 40 major dinghy racing championships under his belt. What does he think of the Goat Island Skiff and its lugsail and setup?
He also makes very nice sails for the Goat and will assist owners with tuning.
23/ Rant on lugs and mizzens and stuff
What is the point of a mizzen? They have been declared to not be efficient, but as you can see above a sailing canoe yawl rigged can race against club Laser Radials.
Myths of Lugs and Mizzens busted – Conventional thinking is not necessarily right
24/ A very nice Goat Island Skiff video showing how they go relative to other boats in light to moderate winds.
This particular video of two Goats at the Small Reach Regatta is here
- But also all Goat Island Skiff Videos are here showing the lug sail in effective action.
- All OzGoose and OzRacer videos are here also showing the lug sail as efficient but with much less cost than conventional rigs..
Video image can take a moment to load.
25/ Our Boat Plans show a fondness for lug rigs – effectiveness/cost
Very cheap and simple to set up, easy to adjust, can be dropped or reefed on the water, short spars.
- Goat Island Skiff – 105sqf Lug sail
- Viola Sailing canoe 6.3sqm (67sqf) lug rig option
- Kombi 50/50 Canoe for Sail and Paddle
- Oz Goose simple 12ft family and club racing sailboat 89sqf
- BETH – classic looking sailing canoe with simplified hull
- Drop in Sailing Rig to convert a canoe into an instant sailboat
A list of all our boat plans
