mule and sail dimensions maybe 001

Comment

Comment by Hans Petrie on August 3, 2011 at 2:54pm

Interesting.  So basically this is a racing rig for which we would crew up to handle the extra burden of swapping backstays and resetting the mizzen staysail.  I could also see where if one were on a very long crossing (say to Hawaii) the extra sail area could warrent the added pain in the ass factor.

Comment by bob mitchell on August 2, 2011 at 3:20pm

Hello Hans and Eddie - here is some information from the blog INFORMATION FROM CLYDE - which is definitely worth a review to see what is there (page 2 of blogs - there is the first blog, and then blog 2 - this stuff is in the first blog)

MIZZEN SAIL RIGGING - this is a slightly disjointed conversation about mizzen staysails because with my helmstation modification the mizzen boom will be higher than usual and go through the helmstation roof, so we are discussing the implications. The questions are mine in an email. What is given here are regular rigging details.


2—but, if the backstays connect to the davits then the mizzen boom is limited in travel ?



The backstays are used one at a time. On port tack (booms off to the starboard) the port backstay is used, therefore the boom has all the room it needs. The starboard backstay is hooked by the mizzen upper shroud chainplate. Here’s the cost of flying the mizzen stays’l: while going about, the sheet must be removed from the sail and passed to the opposite side, the tack pendant and the halyard also must change sides (in short, the sail is taken down and then reset). The process would go like this: take down the mizzen stays’l, come about and set the ‘other’ sails to suit, and then reset the stays’l. This sail sheets on the lee with tack pendant and the halyard are to the weather.



3--and does the tension of the mizzen stays'l sheet affect the mizzen sail sheet or trim?



The sheet is normally (your rig will not be normal) runs from the clew of the sail to a snatch block hanging on a boom bail (same as used on the main stays’l boom) at the outboard end of the mizzen boom, through a double block (that replaces the single block for the mizzen sheet) hanging under the gooseneck fitting fastened to the mast then down to the top action winch and cleat on the aft face of the mast. This is where I see the greatest problem for you (if you are going to rig a stays’l). The fact that the sheet runs to the outboard end of the mizzen boom tells us that some of the stress of the stays’l pull is transferred to the mizzen sheet down to the double padeye that holds the lower block to the inside of the transom. But this interference is not excessive (based on the fact that people had success in sailing that way). The stress carried by the double block, winch, and cleat do not affect the mizzen trim because these are stationary and at the pivot point of the mizzen boom. It is the turning block at the outboard end of the boom that provides all interference with the mizzen trim

Comment by bob mitchell on August 2, 2011 at 2:57pm

Definitely there were running backstays. Clyde has written about them on the site, or in an email, somewhere, but I myself am not experienced. 

Comment by Hans Petrie on August 2, 2011 at 11:49am

How does the mizzen stay up without backstays.  Do they have running backstays, I wonder?  So the port or starboard backstay can be removed to make room for the mizzen boom?  With that extra mizzen genoa I would suspect it would need a backstay to accomidate the extra forward pressure on the mizzen.  My Newporter came without any backstays for the mizzen at all - so I never really thought of using a mule or a genoa off the mizzen simply because it had no backstays.