The Story of a Jib and a Balanced Lug

With Musings on a Lateen.

There was once a lonely Lug who didn't know what he was missing until he met Jib. He sailed to windward, off the beam and dead down, all with apparent equanimity.

Then one day Jib came along and spiced up his life. Now he had someone to get hung up on. Jib liked to languish on his yard and get tangled in his boom. Just the life for a Lug.
Jib had many fine qualities, but fast tacking was not one of them. More like a perpetual holiday for Jib.

Doryman has gotten used to having both of them around. Jib and Lug work well together. The occasional tangle of sheets, boom, leach and yard bother no one.

"Faerings aren't suppose to have Jibs". "A balanced Lug and a Jib won't work on the same Boat.".

Let people talk. They are just jealous.

Thanks to Jamie Orr for the photos.

The inspiration for this sail combination came to me from David Oliver of the excellent blog, Lutes which celebrates the traditional fishing vessels of the Balearic Islands. The Balearic sailing rigs developed as a way to facilitate work on deck, while offering performance for navigation. David reminds us it is important to view these rigs as a tool for fishing to understand how they are used. There are types of working craft from around the world with provision for the same or similar sail combinations.

The lutes employ a lateen rig, yet by adding a jib far forward, windward performance is improved.

The addition of a mizzen on a retractable boomkin gives more sail options, not the least of which is the ability to strike that huge main, allowing more room to work. 

While the lateen can be mounted far enough forward to act as a jib and main combination, the option of a jib plus main is more versatile.


The balanced lug rig is very similar to the lateen in function. The ancient lateen is possibly the most beautiful sail in the world.


David's blog is written in Catalan, but for those of us who have trouble with that complicated language, he offers a translator and we thank him for that! He owns a beautiful lute and it's a treat to see one under sail. I recommend a long visit to Lutes.

Sucia Rendezvous, Countdown

I won't bore you with details about itinerary or course because I haven't a clue. But a cruise of any kind requires much the same preparation.

Is the boat seaworthy? Saga has been completely re-caulked and painted. She's a boat of a certain age who holds her years well.

Last season suggested some changes and the first is, lighten your load. I'll be on the water approximately two weeks, no need to take two months worth of food, as happened last year. Perhaps the extra provisions were simply wishful thinking.
Because the truth is, I could spend the rest of my life living from anchorage to anchorage. Two weeks is just not enough.

This year Saga will sport a jib. The theoretical implications might be endless, though I am willing to just see what happens. Though a designer by training, I prefer to learn by educated trial, with intuition as the impetus. There is an element of art in boat building which beguiles the scientific and mathematical.

You might also know that I support recycling and repurposing. There was this old wood box full of junk in the shed that once belonged to a shipwright from the steel yards after the last world war. He was a simple old man who lived close to the earth and saved everything. When he passed, imagine the cornucopia of hardware he left behind. This box probably has a history beyond my years. Never, in  the thirty years I've had it has the old wood box had a lid, but now it does. (made from leftover scrap).

The green bag holds the head.

 As the more astute will note, the top of the box is the perfect size for my old Salish Sea cruising atlas, which predates the Salish Sea by more than twenty years (1980). New technology has it's place, but much of the datum on these charts is close to a hundred years old, so a chart from 1980 is just as helpful as your newest GPS. Please note that the lid is reversible and upside-down it will make a fine dining tray (the mess kit is inside)..






Next to the old/new box is 200 feet of new anchor rode on the spare, collapsible anchor. I had to use this backup anchor last year and the old rode was simply unacceptable.

To the rear of the cockpit is Saga's new sign board. Beautifully done by Brandon Ford.

You've all heard about the new deadeyes. This photo is included here because it's incredible.

The cockpit tent we threw together last year was a failure. It leaked. This time there will be a new tent. Possibly a bit of over-kill, this new design is made from 10oz. vinyl coated nylon. The material must have been weighed before coating, because it's heavy as a truck tarp. A 20# (total weight) tarp is much more than enough. At any rate, it's not done yet but I'll post a picture as soon as it is.




Only a few days left until Sucia Island Rendezvous 2012. It's going to be great.

Deadeyes Installed

Upgrading to deadeye purchase blocks on your shrouds carries no guarantee of improved performance. But on the scale of "how cool is that?", the ranking is very high.



The Doryman Valgerda, Saga, is a very cool boat.







Thanks go out to Paul Miller who suggested this upgrade and made a substantial effort to make it happen.




If you ever wonder how much exertion it takes to post a simple missive such as this - consider that this small project has been actively on the burner for over four months. I could give you all the details but who, honestly, wants to know?

Never a dull moment...

Sailing the Valgerda

Been anticipating this for a long time, it seems. A little over a year.

The Valgerda, Saga, restored to more than her former self proudly spreads her wings. (Follow the previous link to see the development of this project and more.)









There is a good bit of serendipity in the recreation of this design by William Atkin. A former owner added an extension to the design keel and Doryman redesigned the sail rig, so successful engineering was potentially compromised by too many cooks in the broth.





But I'm happy to report that Saga sails all points with grace. The balanced lug is new for me, so I'm still struggling with it's vagaries. Each tack has it's unique quirks. The boat has a sensitive and responsive helm, even in light airs and points much higher to windward than I expected, a fact I attribute to my friend Lynne Fabricant and her exceptional sail-making skills. The helm is in perfect balance on 8-12 knot breeze. What more could a Doryman ask?








My good friend John Kohnen, who sold me this fine old boat, is appalled at the keel extension and even calls it an "abomination". Sorry John, the keel stays as it is. Couldn't be happier.

Why mess with perfection?







There are still some details to adjust but that is half the fun. The Norse faering, Saga, promises to feature in many future adventures here on DoryMan.

Saga under Sail from doryman on Vimeo.

Photos on Flickr.
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Sailing a Valgerda

Brandon Ford lives just a few miles north of here, so when he calls and says he's in the mood to go sailing, what can a Doryman do? Just down the road from his house is Devils Lake. This is a natural lake formed when the D River, flowing west into the Pacific Ocean silted over at it's mouth. The distance to the ocean from the foot of the lake is just 120 feet due west, so the seasonal Pacific westerlies blow onto the lake with a vengeance.







Arriving about mid-day yesterday, with our little wherry yawlboat, it was obvious that there was too much wind for a 10.5 foot tender, so we rowed out to take some pictures of Brandon in his Valgerda faering, Ravn. He was having way too much fun!

Rowing in the chop was not much fun, so when Brandon asked me if I wanted to join him, I was delighted. We headed back to the launch ramp. Mary said she wasn't too excited about going sailing and would stay on the beach with Brandon's little dog, Trouble.






Good thing she did.

Ravn uses a lug rig, which is not the best for sailing to windward. We had some difficulty tacking, which I think will be easy enough to remedy with some fine tuning. But after missing a tack (with Doryman on the tiller) I called for a jibe to wear around. With just the right combination of errors, we broached in a dramatic way. As the boat filled with hundreds of gallons of cold water, she lay gently over on her side and spilled us into the lake.

We righted the boat, but she floated too low to bail her out. Fortunately there was a fishing skiff close by who came and picked us up and towed the boat back. Those guys are saints! We hope to meet them again someday because we could not thank them enough.

I hope Brandon is busy today, designing some floatation for Ravn.



As usual, you will find photos uploaded to Flickr.