I’ve been out a few times now in my Skerry now; yesterday’s trip had the strongest winds I’ve been in so far, about 12 knots, and it left me with a few questions about sailing these boats.
First, I’m wondering how you all like to situate yourself in the boat. I’ve been sitting just aft of the center thwart, and on a port tack I can comfortably manage the tiller with my right hand and the mainsheet with my left. On a starboard tack, I’m still undecided if I prefer to keep the tiller in my right hand, basically holding it behind my back along the gunwales, or if I should duck under the handle as I go across and switch it to my left hand.
I also feel like I’m constantly getting my feet wrapped up in the end of the mainsheet; any tips for managing that?
Maybe this is just a matter of practice, but I’ve found that after a tack the boat wants to keep falling off until we’re basically beam-on to the wind, and the rudder is no help. Am I just not keeping enough momentum through the tack?
Lastly, the mast doesn’t quite fill up the holes it goes through, so when I tack over the mast will suddenly shift to the other side with a jolt and some unpleasant noise. I’m thinking of getting some foam (like a cut-up yoga mat) to wedge in there, but are there any other suggestions?
For the mast, I’ve wrapped some small line around the section through the deck to snug it up a bit and dampen the sound. I use wedges in the mast step to lock it into vertical as well.
Though you didn’t say it, can I assume you have the lug rig? I do. It took several outings and adjustment to get it tuned to head upwind nicely. Small adjustments to the location of the halyard and snubber (?, line that holds the fore end of boom) make a big difference. Likewise being able to adjust the downhaul/vang and outhaul is very helpful in the “shifterly” winds we have on the Willamette.
Wedges are a great idea, and using line to snug up the top portion makes sense – thanks!
It is a lug rig, yes. Can you share any description or pictures on how you have your halyard and downhaul positioned? How much do I want to haul that downhaul? All the way until the line is basically vertical?
I got a rundown on the rigging when I bought the boat, but didn’t have an opportunity to sail with the owner.
If you want to optimize performance of your lug rig, suggest that you go here: Lug Rig Setup Archives - Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.
Michael is the designer of a number of lug rigged boat and arguably the expert on lug performance.
Picture shows the halyard, vanghaul and bleater set up on my Goat Island Skiff.
That’s a beautiful goat. I have the plans for the goat, but decided to build the Jimmy Skiff because the kit was on sale. I am veering from the plans and going with a lug rig.
Storer’s website has a lot of good information on the lug rig. There’s a 2 part video on Youtube about setting up the lug rig for another Storer plan, the Oz Goose, which is very informative. There are a couple of Facebook groups dedicated to the goat and the goose that have a lot of information about the lug rig.
