When comparing Lug and Bermudan Rigs, information is unscientific (me included) and really boil down to opinion. However, Joost in the Netherlands has one Viola Sailing Canoe and three sailing rigs, two Bermudan and one balanced lug. How do they compare in reality?
They have distinct performance differences, but the biggest difference is in the actual use patterns discovered over two years of use.
This is a second article Comparing Lug and Bermudan Rigs on the Viola.
Part 1 here – Lug Rigged Viola does regular racing against Lasers and RS Aeros
So a rare opportunity of comparing traditional and modern rigs on one hull. From left to right:
- 6.0 sqm Bermudan Squaretop with single reef – 65 sq ft
- 6.2 sqm Balance Lug with three reefs – 67 sq ft (here with one reef in)
- 4.7 sqm Bermudan Squaretop with single reef – 51 sq ft
The Viola is designed to appeal to Laser/Sunfish sailors as well as cruising sailors. If from the Laser/Sunfish background you will have no problem sailing the boat. And it is less physical effort to sail in stronger winds. Mostly because of reduced wave impact drag as the hull cuts through the waves. Unlike conventionally proportioned dinghies which are slowed and sideways with every impact. So less hiking as less power is needed to keep going upwind.
The great thing about this boat is that it has similar performance to a Laser with the fathead sails. That is the smaller 4.7m2 / 51ft2) sail you see in the above photo and a larger 6.0m2 / 65ft2 sail for the heavier sailor and/or lighter conditions). So super fun blasting around a lake for a couple of hours.
The next day you can make a nice tour with the boat using the lug rig covering quite some distance in a day. During our stay in Friesland, I made 2 longer tours of appr. 40km each on the Frisian waterways (lakes, canals, 1 river and having to go under many bridges). Great way to spend a day with a mixture of sailing and paddling.
Below – Joost going slow and carefully – “I haven’t been down this one before”.
The hull also feels more forgiving than the light construction of the RS Aero in terms of sailing in shallows or pulling up on the riverbank.
Joost Continues – which Sail is used the most and why?
I have all 3 sails and have sailed the boat extensively over the past couple of years.
The 4.7 m2 square head (below – everyone mistakes it for the bigger sail) and the 6.3 lug rig see by far most use.
The 6.0 m2 square head sail is only used occasionally. Part of the reason for that is that the sail is too large for my partner Viola and I am often too lazy to change the set-up (we share the boat with one person minding the children and the other one having fun on the water).
So for this part of the Comparing Lug and Bermudan Rigs, there is a winner from both camps.
Sometimes sailing with the kids aboard – at least while they are young.
The lug rig is very nice for cruising allowing you to easily get the sail down and up again transitioning from sailing to paddling and vice versa. Impossible with the modern rigs. Also, there are 3 reefs in the sail allowing one to cope with strong winds.
I must say that the 4.7 m2 is quite powerful and better suited unless sailing for light wind and/or when you are much beyond the 80kg mark. The hull is easily driven and from a solid Bft 4 (11-16kn) upwards, the smaller sail suits me well. I have never reefed either sail and have sailed the boat in strong Bft. 6 (22 – 27kn) with the smaller fathead sail.
The boat is extremely versatile: one day I may be blasting over the lake with one of the fathead rigs and the next day I am making a long tour with the lug rig. It is not a specialised boat for paddling (like the Kombi Canoe I am building now), but I have paddled her quite some distance (20 km/day). She gets a lot of use.
Rig “Feel” Comparing Lug and Bermudan Rigs and Ease of Reefing
The lug rig feels much softer in comparison. Although much larger, the smaller fathead sail feels faster. The lug rig has the benefit of being able to reef the sail more easily and to strike and set it on the water. I use it only for raids or longer day sails when having to paddle some also.
Here I raise the sail after dropping the mast to go under a bridge. Several times a day in the Dutch canals. It would be a chore with the Bermudan sails. This also goes for reefing. The three reefs of the lug sail are all accessible at all times.
Reefing the squaretop sails is much more work.
For blasting around on the lake, I like the fathead sails much better. More power, more controls to optimize the sail for the conditions.
Reefing the fathead sails is no problem on land. When having to do this on the water, it is going to be interesting. There are extensive rigging guides for both the fathead rigs and the lug rig
Comparison of the Viola Sailing Canoe with conventional dinghies, ILCA Dinghy (Laser), Radials, Splash, Flash, Europe
New Information – since Joost wrote this we have data from a Viola regular club racing. The Lug Rig was more than competitive with 5 Lasers and 5 RS Aeros in medium to strong conditions – but lost out a bit on pointing angle with the lug rig in light.
It would be interesting to see how the Bermudan Sail would perform with its higher pointing angles in light to medium wind. Of course there is a lot to be learned about optimum rig setup as well.
I have sailed the Viola a lot next to “normal boats” for the past 2 weeks. Full rig Lasers, Radials, Laser 4.7 and other performance boats (local Splash and Flash, Europe dinghy). My intermediate conclusions are as follows:
- The Viola with the big sail (6 m2) is very fast and slightly outperforms the Laser on all courses save for beating upwind. Obviously, you need to be able to handle the big sail. In 20 knots it takes some ability and weight to handle it (in contrast the smaller 4.7 sail is much easier to sail).
- With the smaller 4.7 sail in 15 knots wind gusting to 18-20 knots, I was typically a bit slower than the Laser full sail and on par with the Laser 4.7 on a beam reach and reaching. Obviously, I am much heavier than the sailors who sail the Laser 4.7. In stronger gusts, the Viola with the small sail had a slight edge.
- The Lasers point higher upwind (about 5 degrees better is my guesstimate) with the Viola 14 being similar to other performance one man boats. So I guess that is just particular to the Laser.
- Running (straight downwind) the Viola wins by miles. Just much faster. In light airs, the Viola performs better. Also on a beam reach and reaching (probably since the hull is slippery and is much lighter).
- The Lasers are definitely faster to tack. Roll tacking the Viola means that you need to start the roll later than on a Laser since the boat moves through the tack slower. In short, you need to time your rolling differently.
- When it blows, the boat will nicely plane up to maybe 60 degrees to windward.
There have been some comparisons to the Solway Dory Shearwater canoe. No disrespect to a Shearwater, but the Viola canoe is a different cup of tea weighing less, rigged with the fathead sails with a powerful, stable hull that wails upright creating extra sail power, powerful sail controls and no outriggers. She is set up as a sailing dinghy and handles like one (the Shearwater is designed as a cruising sailing canoe and is definitely the more seaworthy craft. The boats are clearly designed for different purposes.
is Direct Performance the main criterion for Comparing Lug and Bermudan Rigs
Final comment: I expect that a Laser 1 is faster around the cans in a race. (But check the Part 1 article here for the full picture – Editor). But that is not the point really. We were at a lakeside campsite where everybody just wants to blast around the water when it blows (windsurfers, catamarans, 470, Lasers of different types). It was just about having fun on the water.
The important part is that you can build 3 very nicely outfitted Viola 14 canoes for the price of one new Laser. And still have money left for a wetsuit or maybe a lug rig for making tours!
Also the boat is just more versatile in the sense that you can also paddle. It is not a great paddleboat, but I still managed to paddle 10 km under 2 hours and use it for day (and longer) trips on inland waterways using a combination of paddle and sail
The mast is simply much longer than the smaller fathead sail. And the weight of the mast becomes far more noticeable, influencing sailing stability and righting from capsize. Righting is still acceptable but a bit more work and a bit more water in the boat after.
With the lug rig it all seems more balanced, even though the sail is a fair bit larger still than the fathead turbo rig.
For camp-cruising the lug rig is the only realistic choice on the Viola Sailing Canoe
For multiple use, the Lug and Bermudan Rigs comparison have a clear winner.
I use both a single-bladed paddle as well as a double-bladed paddle. The single-bladed paddle for shorter distances and when paddle assisted sailing. I typically steer the boat with my knee pressing the tiller extension against the side buoyancy tank with the extension supported by the seat spanning the cockpit.
The double-bladed paddle I use for longer distances with a kayak style seat (you can see it in the video below). Other sailors needing to use the paddle very occasionally place a board with velcro across the boat which suffices for shorter distances. (Video segments from Koos Winnips)
Video image can take a moment to load.
One thing that perhaps needs to be emphasised is the versatility of the Viola 14 canoe. It was primarily designed as a fast very lightweight sailing dinghy and it is very very good at that. Fast and easy to sail with its predictable good manners.
She has also proven herself as a capable camp-sailer for protected waters. The lug rig is very good for this with 3 reefs. She easily handles the additional load (2 large waterproof roll bags + a 10 litres water container). Paddling is obviously not as good as for a narrower 50/50 sailing canoe (like the Artemis canoe or the Kombi Canoe), but not too bad with the kayak style seat and the 280 cm long paddle. (Free Plan – by extending the tapered sections to make up the extra length)
It is a wet boat when it gets rough, but that is kind of unavoidable on these small boats. But nothing a bit of bailing (or a self-bailer) cannot take care of.
Yes, you can easily reef the lug sail on the water. I think that Koos shot a video of me putting the mast back in the partner on the water and hoisting the sail again.
The boat may be narrow but it is stable for the width. As you can see from the video above of last year’s Dorestad Raid where I am sorting out the rig on the water. I can easily stand up anywhere in the cockpit area between the mast and the aft link frame. From the cockpit, I can reach into the front and back of the boat to get to the waterproof bags. Hoisting the sail I typically do standing up as well.
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