A Missing Link

[Clyde A. Phillips]

Greetings Folks,

Trying to follow Paul on his passage to The Sandwich Islands on his stays'l schooner Newporter, along with a reminder that in our number of Newporter lovers there is one who owns a junk rigged Newporter, it came to me that though the ketch is the leader by the numbers, there is a variety of rigs on the singular hull.  But one of my favorite rigs, generated by my early interest in the Mary Celeste, is the Brigantine.  So, why not a Brigantine Newporter?  I would guess that the answer has to do with the crew needed to sail a brigantine.

Look at my drawing of a NP hull on which I've mounted a brigantine rig.  That drawing is only to illustrate a possibility, it has not been tweaked to perfection and is not to be used for building and rigging a brigantine.  But a study of it will show that as drawn there is a need for running backstays.  The rig must be balanced and set on its proper spot on the hull for good sailing and that is a real fun thing to do.  But the thing for us to do first is to see how small a crew is needed for safe sailing.

Note that if you remove the square sails you have a full fore and aft rig.  I'd call it a stays'l schooner and it would be sailed as such.  Ask Paul what he thinks makes up a sufficient crew for a stays'l schooner rigged Newporter.

So much for my day's tinkering with an idea. 

Peace,   Clyde

[Eric Janes]

Hello Clyde, I have been thinking and planning on using traditional rigging and features when I start the referb of Aquila. I love the idea of this sail plan! I will research this further and would like to know if you think it would work on the NP.

[Clyde A. Phillips]

Eric,

The more I look at my drawing the more I’m likely to say “that rig will sail well.”  But there is a lot to look at when changing rigs.  The relationship between the center of lateral resistance of the hull and the center of effort of the total sail area and the sail carrying ability of the hull are what I think of now.  I can figure the two centers and place the center of effort close to it best position (it will be sailable in good weather) and may luckily be close enough to right to be able to tweak it there.  On most boats even the best designers will do an educated guess and come real close, but usually it is hit or miss and a trial and error process.  So far as sail carrying ability is concerned I believe it can be figured by even a student designer but I’m self taught in these things and have never even tried that problem.  Sail carrying ability is increased quickly by adding beam to the hull and more slowly increased by adding length.  Sail height decreases this ability with every added inch the center of effort is raised.  There is a rather large range in moving these things around that are acceptable.  But don’t expect to get everything in its sweet spot where you might say “this is perfect.”  There are many variables that will temporarily change one or another, or many, of the “sweet spots” to the point that it isn’t so sweet.

There are other critical places that must be considered.  Running backstays are necessary where a stays’l rides a stay and there is now no standing rigging to oppose the forward tension of the stays’l’s pull.  The square sails require at least one brace at each end of all the yards and the cranes that hold the yards may each need a couple of running backstays.

Then the sail plan itself may (may? will) need some changes.  I’m not saying a rank neophyte can’t come up with a good usable rig, but it will take a good amount of time to do the reading needed and to develop a sense of the art that is needed to adjust the science.

Is it worth the effort?  I think so, but that’s because the brigantine is a favorite of mine.  The problem is the size of the crew needed and for a Newporter there is not room enough to sleep them all.  A 60 footer may have that, but a 40 footer is too small.  Just so you’ll know, this rig here shown is adapted from a designed brigantine that has a deck length of 26 feet and a waterline of just over 23’.  So small brigantines seem to be possible.

One other area of thought that just came flying by is the ballast/displacement ratio.  Since more ballast adds stability and sail carrying ability that may be another area to tweak.  In my case, if I were rebuilding a used Newporter (are there any new ones out there?) to be a brigantine I’d start with a west coast built boat with its deeper draft and replace the iron ballast keel with lead.  Then, to be honest, I find a naval architect.  There are many who welcome questions such as this, you just have to find them.  Most, if not all by now, have websites that describe the work they do and after a study of their sites you’ll have an idea of the type of boats they are familiar with.  You would want one who has designed a lot of sail rigs, including a lot of ketches and a few square riggers.  Reading some of their books will give you insight into the man himself or the woman herself.  Don’t be afraid to contact them, they all love boats and love to talk about them.  I even walked up to the front door of L. Francis Herreshoff and was invited in for a talk.  He wound up inviting me up to his third floor workshop where he was working on a set of trailboards of one of his designs.  I suggest you look up Jay Benford in St. Michaels, MD, and study his work and check out his square rigs in his list of designs and prices.  Also read his article on custom work, it may be informative.

Now, on to what you seem to like: traditional craft.  That jib headed mains’l may be too modern for you.  And three yards hung on one mast won’t be noticed by many of the modern sailors.  But (and here’s where a good study in stability is needed) you might want to use a gaff headed mains’l with a tops’l.  To look real traditional you may want to chop the main mast down a wee and add a top mast so that the main gaff rides the main mast and the tops’l is hung from the top mast.  This could be carried to the foremast and hang the fore yard from the forehead, the fore top yard from the fore topmast head and the topgallant tops’l from the upper half of the top mast or from a fore topgallant mast, this giving you all the tradition of carrying a lot of weight aloft where it will do the most damage to sail carrying ability and the general stability of the boat.

Get the picture?  There a lot of thinking that goes into an effort like this.  Fun? You bet.  Safe? Relatively so.  Whether you build toward a brigantine or not, this process must be done if you do and it should be done to convince yourself you shouldn’t do it.

Enjoy all those Newporters!

Peace,

          Clyde

[Eric Janes]

Clyde, thank you so much for all the information and direction. This sounds like a great deal of work but wow, what a boat it would be! I will take all of this into consideration as I research and decide what I want to do. Stay tuned for more questions to come. Thank you again and keep dreaming for us!

EJ