@philami1 Why thank you! My inspiration for the design was the Polynesian crab claw, which I find really beautiful. As a people the Polynesians were probably the most incredible sailors to have ever put to sea, crossing hundreds, even thousands of miles of open ocean without modern navigation aids. So no surprise they developed a nice rig.
Who really cares if it's as fast as a standard rig. It's beautiful and it has lots of advantages. Everything is a compromise in sailing, and running a traditional Polynesian rig on a Hobie is COOL!
Thanks for the input Nick. It's actually a variation on a brailing line found on a number of Polynesian rigs. It depowers the sail by raising the lower spar so gibes are uneventful. I got distracted during the video and didn't let it back out, so the sail shape was not what it should have been. Take Care
Hi Jollymonmon, thanks for the encouraging words. The center of effort is a little bit lower than a standard rig, which I like. I am a newer transplant from the monohull community, and I never really enjoyed heeling that much. I am still learning how to get the most out of the rig, but it is not quite as fast as a std rig on most points of sail. It is especially powerful on a broad reach, though, and it really accelerates well. Tacks like a uni-rig unfortunately, and I have to backwind a lot.
Not yet. When the weather improves I am planning on spreading the top of the A-frame mast wider, which will give better sail trim and should help. Based on the data available (Marchaj mostly) I probably won't ever be able to. The classis bermuda rig pinches better, but the crab claw does exceptionally well on a broad reach. I'll keep you posted this summer.
The topping lift appears to be counter productive. It's not a feature of traditional crabclaw rig, and it seems to cause the leach of the sail to drive astern. The real virtue of the rig is the upward vector of the sails pull. As the wind gets stronger you can ease sheets, even when going to windward to create a big upward vector -- that's what makes the rig fast.
At first, I asked myself "why?" Why bother to put a crab claw sail on a H-16. But I get it. The catamaran was originally built with such a sail, for reasons that are apparent if you consider the materials and technology available. I suspect that you are onto something. 100,00 Polynesian sailors over the generations can't be wrong. If nothing else, it is much easier to rig than the 26 or 28 feet of aluminum extrusion which is a Hobie mast. So, overall, a cool deal. I'd buy you a beer. Russ, ABYC, Long Beach, California.l
