My work quoting rigging kits for customers
One of the bits of work I did for Duckflat Wooden boats from time to time is work out a fitting/rigging list for one of their boats so they can send the full rigging kit to a customer.
This is about 15 years ago now, so prices have gone up, but I am pretty sure the ratio remains pretty much the same. With the advantage in dollar/euro/pound (etc) terms being larger each year. And that is without considering the 5 minute setup and derig of the lug.
I have to go through every functional area of the boat and work out the particular items to use so Ducks can look up the prices.
On this particular day I had to work out the rigging for two similar size boats.
Gunter Sloop $1650 Ropes, Wires and Fittings
The first rig I was looking at today was a nicely proportioned stayed rig – a gunter sloop to be precise.
Anyway – the full kit of bit from various manufacturers, the ropes and so on – all chosen to provide basic adjustment of jib sheets, cunningham eye and boom vang and all the ropes plus hold the mast up and hold the sail and rig together plus the rudder came to about $1650 which included a tiller extension which would be optional – you could always use a PDR type extension and bring it down to $1570. No masts or other spars, no sails – this is just the fitting cost. A similar rig would look something like this.
Freesanding Lug Yawl $380 Ropes and Fittings same quality
Using a freestanding rig with a Balance lug mainsail and a freestanding sprit mizzen the price it came to was $380 for similar quality ropes, pulleys and geegaws. It would look something like this.
Actually – no gee gaws – only 6 blocks and about a mile less rope, no wire or chainplates or jib sheeting gear, or cunningham or vang (as the downhaul does both). This is because most functions are achieved with rope rather than fittings of any type.
Considering that the unstayed traditional rig gives 95% of the same performance if properly set up … this is very much the reason why freestanding masts and the more traditional rigs are such a good idea.
Sloop vs Lug Rigging Time – Advantage Lug
Did I mention that freestanding masts take between 5 and 15 minutes to rig?
Many of the better designers like the two above – Paul Fisher of Selway Fisher and Iain Oughtred offer both choices with many of their boats.
Me – I just stick to the traditional end of things but design in the most important performance improvements of racing boats – but in wood and rope for the most part!
Even further cost reduction for lug rigs
Even further reduction is possible for sails up to 120sqf is possible using the methods we use to set the Oz Geese for racing. We have 70 boats in the Philippines now starting from 5 years ago and these methods are cheap and reliable.
We also make Affordable sails and ship Worldwide.
In 2014 we set up Really Simple Sails to make sails for our own boat designs. But we expanded to make sails “from laminates to lugs” for mostly homebuilt and small stock boats.
We have done a lot of design work to fit lugs to existing boats that normally have sloop rigs. These have included classic racing dinghies where a hull has been found but the rig is missing. The lug is by far the cheapest option.
Some of the boats we have provided lug rig designs including the sparring design are Heron dinghy, Thistle, GP14, a number of different trailer sailers, Also converting gaff rig sloops to lug yawls for more traditional boats. And sometimes the other way around from Lug to Bermudan or Gaff because the customer likes them.
The classic Thistle below was found as a hull. To buy a new mast was around $2000 dollars not to mention all the other gear on what is a complex boat. For the same cost as a standard mast the lug rig and spars were built and are a nice match for this classic hull.
Really Simple Sails – Click here for more information or a price enquiry
Our Lug Rig Setup Links – Videos, Instructions, Troubleshooting
