Wish Bone Rigs

[Andymay27]

I'm intrigued by the simplicity of the wish bone rig. The Nonsuch boats, esp the 22, seem like the perfect weekender for this old couple.
My question is why are there so few new designs, except the Marblehead 22', offering this seemingly ideal rig for the weekend racer/cruiser? What am I missing?

 

[Kermit]

Good question. When I first saw one I was embarrassed for the owner because it looked so funny. Now not so much.

 

[Andymay27]

I know, right?

 

[JohnShannon]

They look goofy, but are easy to sail. No standing rigging, halyard, choker and mainsheet for running rigging.
In addition to the Nonsuch series you have the Wyliecats which are very racy. I sailed on one for a few days very pleasant boat.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Great boats. Well built. Almost every single one of them feels (and IS) bigger down below than any other builder. Simple rig. Google it or use wikipedia, you'll find all sorts of good ideas. There are drawbacks for ocean sailing and ddw, but they have many, many advantages for daysailing or protected waters. Simple.

I'm one of those old geezers who sails around on his jib alone, so it'd sure be good for me!

I'll betcha they have either a google or yahoo group or their own website.

Good luck.

 

[Andymay27]

My question remains, how come they're not offered on 21st century boats?

 

[Andymay27]

Stu, what's "ddw" mean?

 

[David in Sandusky]

Dead down wind...

 

[Kermit]

My question remains, how come they're not offered on 21st century boats?

I had never heard of Wyliecat. Here you go, Andymay.
http://www.wyliecat.com/models/wylie_30.html

 

[Stu Jackson]

My question remains, how come they're not offered on 21st century boats?

For the same reason new boats (some of them) don't come with travelers.

 

[JohnShannon]

Well they are used on windsurfers. I think it is mostly a matter of style. For offshore work you have one very large sail so that might be a problem when you need to reduce sail. Freestanding rigs are "suspect" for offshore work and in the Nonsuchs case the cockpit is too large in the event of a pooping (that is a wave) Looking at questions of performance it is hard to say, the Wyliecats are very high performance cat boats, but they weigh nothing and have 50% ballast 10 feet down, so high performance probably whatever the rig is.

 

[Andymay27]

Thanks, Stu.

 

[Andymay27]

Nice!

 

[Gunni]

Wyliecat 30

 

[BudGates]

People usually stick with what they know unless they see an advantage in another system. With this in mind, my question would be "Is there an advantage to the wishbone rig other than for windsurfing?" So far I haven't seen any.

 

[Jackdaw]

People usually stick with what they know unless they see an advantage in another system. With this in mind, my question would be "Is there an advantage to the wishbone rig other than for windsurfing?" So far I haven't seen any.

Beyond the fact that you only deal with one sail for all modes, as opposed to 3 or 4?

Its a single handlers delight.

 

[BudGates]

Beyond the fact that you only deal with one sail for all modes, as opposed to 3 or 4?

Its a single handlers delight.

What makes it so? I'm not arguing, I'm really curious.

 

[Jackdaw]

What makes it so? I'm not arguing, I'm really curious.

Its like being able to sail effectively with just your mainsail. Upwind, reaching, downwind. That normally takes a sloop 3 sails and a lot of strings to be effective. The mast twists off under pressure, so it handles breeze well before reefing, when boats with genoas would go to a jib (4 sails).

I've sailed one and found it harder to drive upwind, but that's because I'm used to a headsails's telltails. Good drivers say its almost (but not quite) as weatherly as sloop rig on the same hull. The Wylie's are well designed so they outpoint a lot of average boats.

 

[BudGates]

I see. I've sailed several cat rigged boats but the only wishbone rigs I've used were on windsurfers. Thank you for enlightening me.