out islander 41'

[sandsailor]

which rig performs the best sloop or ketch?
i bought a ketch rig and just wondered if i made the right decision?

 

[gpd955]

There's probably so many factors that go into how different boats sail and people's opinions (design, age, skill of captain, location, conditions, what other sailors like/prefer, etc.) you probably won't be able to get a definitive answer.

If you love your boat and enjoy sailing her and maintaining her and she loves you back, that's all that matters! JMHO!

Congrats on your purchase!

 

[sandsailor]

ya i stole this one and haven't found a live aboard slip to put it in yet but i cant wait she still needs new wiring but the rest of her is in real good shape.
i was just curious to see if anyone had a preference and why

 

[Rick D]

which rig performs the best sloop or ketch?
i bought a ketch rig and just wondered if i made the right decision?

Of course you made the right decision, and congratulations! I'm sure you'll love the boat and you'll soon learn to maximize the attribute of a split rig. In your case, you'll love broad reaching in the OI 41. The design of your boat is well-matched to that choice. Now, if it was a Santana 27, I wouldn't recommend a split rig... but, it isn't. Enjoy!

PS: I sailed a split rig for 1400 NM and she was great. It was mostly a reach, but not all. Upwind, many ketches leave the mizzen furled and fly a big genoa. but, that's racing.

 

[gpd955]

Any pics for us? Where are you looking to live aboard?

 

[sandsailor]

i havent named her yet

but this is her and where she sits in cypress,tx
we'll be in galveston bay for the most part but who knows

 

[Ol Dave]

PHRF ratings and bitter experience will indicate that ketches are slower than most sloops. That being said, we chose a ketch as our "retirement boat". The pluses as we see them are: Lower mast height to manage the Intracoastal & TennTomBigbee. Smaller sails to replace on a limited budget. A smaller rig requiring less muscle power to manage. Greater redundacy and flexibility of the rig. A mizzen to control sailing at anchor. A mizzen mast for a radar platform. And here's the best part... flying spinnaker AND mizzen staysail.
Ol' Dave

 

[sandsailor]

its a sail boat i dont plan on motoring i sail my santana from the hook and back to it unless i have a head wind and too much traffic to fight
i burned 1/2 gal the last year she was sailing

 

[higgs]

This boat won't go to wind well regardless of the rig on it, but I am sure you realized that when you bought it. I have heard good things about the ketch rig for cruisers, but it won't perform as well upwind as a sloop rig.

 

[sandsailor]

we all know i didnt buy it for a performance boat i've already got that this is for comfort at sea and it'll look good on the bay full of bikinis

 

[Joe Diver]

The pic is small and hard to tell anything from, but looks nice....how did the survey come out?

 

[sandsailor]

a couple small patches well done hard to see and the rigging and embeds are in good shape but all the wiring has been removed so i can start fresh with that gonna use a cat 5 for the most part with led's and seal it all as i go and do a couple 110 outlets in the heads and galley

 

[LuzSD]

makes my eyes hurt

sandsailor reading your posts are exhausting without any punctuation or idea of when you start a thought or end one surely it is not that hard to put in a period or a comma here or there just a comment from the peanut gallery

 

[Stu Jackson]

tell that to eecummings...

 

[Snotter]

The 415 Out Island is a dream to reconfigure.

 

[Joe Diver]

One of the tasks I had to do on my Catalina 25 was fix up the DC system and the cabin lights. I only have 5 lights inside, so I replaced all of them with the LED fixture from Catalina Direct. I paid a bit more for them, but they still weren't very expensive. They look fantastic, produce a tremendous amount of light, and best of all: The old lights drew 1.44 aH each....the new LED's draw .12 aH each, so I can light the whole boat for far less than the cost of 1 single incandescent light.

 

[NotCook]

Once you learn how to trim her, you will find that a ketch will sail herself on a reach. I have sailed for hours without touching the freewheeling helm. You will learn to trim with the mizzen.

I agree with the comments about sailing to wind. But, like you, we didn't buy a ketch for racing either (though we can frequently sail all day at 8 - 8.5 knots), but for cruising comfort, and we are very happy with it.

We are seriously considering changing the main to a mizzen staysail, which was the original sail plan, for ease of unfurling and furling.

You can put up nearly twice the sail area - but you also have to handle twice the number of sails. On the otherhand, on several occasions we have sailed only with the job or genoa, and the mizzen. You have lots of options.