Compac 16 with gaff main sail??

[SouthOyster]

Hello everyone,

I recently come across this compac 16, I love it and I am try for it to become my own. Anybody seeing any 16 with this rigging? Thank you so much for all your help, you guys are awesome and I love the forum!!

Fair winds. Guido

[GretchenG]

Great looking boat!  I can see why you would want to make it your own.     I would think the gaff rig with jib on bowsprit would be a nice set-up for a CP-16, not that I've sailed my fixer-upper yet with the factory rig...  Do you know the sail area and how it differs from the triangle main? 

[Craig]

Looks great! Compacs and gaff rigs are a natural! Gaff rigs are far too under-rated and relegated to the "obsolete"catagory. With regard to the modern gaff rig, nothing could be further from the truth! A great way to add more power to the rig with little given up overall. Go for it!

[capt_nemo]

As a "gaff rig nut" who sails a Sun Cat (modified with jibs) I say, don't delay - grab it any way you can!

capt_nemo

[SouthOyster]

Thank you guys!

Sound like I had your thoughts in my hears because I got up early and drive few hours to catch her. She is a beauty and the pervious owner did a fantastic job in keeping her. I just got home and left her in the yard where I will do some wax and registration removal myself. The gaff rig mainsail was the owner own modification. He asked North Sails to make this custom rig for him, and after some debating they did. I personally think gaff rigs are better then the regular one and once need to upgrade the main, will keep it within this rig, not just for the look of it, but because I believe gaff rigs spell the too much wind and let the boat going a bit flatten, so I will be happy, and the family will surely feel more confortable. As for the main measurement, will make sure to share those once washing the sail this coming week.

Thank you again for all your help and advice, I am very grateful to be a part of this awesome community.

Guido

[capt_nemo]

Congratulations. And welcome to the Com-Pac Family.

She sure is a good looking boat and I'm sure you will have many pleasant hours sailing her.

capt_nemo

[Bob23]

Congrats and Welcome, Guido!
   That is one great looking boat and an inspiration to me as I recently began thinking about converting my 23 to a gaff rig. I'm a long way off and the funds are not readily available but you sure got the wheels turning!
   Looking forward to your contributing posts about your boat and adventures. Are you a NH sailor?
Bob23

[SouthOyster]

Thank you so much guys for the kind welcoming words and kudos. I am already making my "list", and wondering about giving her the interior wood upgrades. The boat must be a special edition, since does not have that interior. Hopefully is not to much of a pain to install it for next year. For now just a new hatchboard and a sail wash will do, then its all sailing!!!

Best to you all. Guido

[high tide is up]

Great looking boat.  As a new sailor myself I just wondered what the difference between the factory sail and the gaff setup on this boat would be.  How would it affect performance?  How hard is it to rig?.....
Thanks guys,

Dawn

[Craig]

If the gaff rig was designed around the standard mast the biggest effect would be an increase in sail area. Assuming it was well designed, the center of effort should be about the same and would not affect the fore/aft balance of the boat to any significant degree and would be lower than a Bermuda rig of the same SA(eyeballing it it looks ok). Net improvement off the wind due to increased sail area(always nice to have a little extra HP). Probably little effect on pointing since the rig still has a relatively high aspect ratio. No harder to rig. There is an additional halyard(gaff) but that is not a big deal and is offset by the additional sail trim options offered by the gaff. Another advantage of the gaff rig is that when lowering sail, the weight of the gaff helps to pull the sail down and the addition of a gaff downhaul allows you to literally pull the sail down. All in all IMHO I think the rig is an improvement on the stock rig, at least for the non racing cruiser. That being said, I am an unvarnished gaff rig fan. Tom Colvin, a well respected designer of world cruising sailboats has gone on record that in his opinion the MODERN gaff rig is the most practical for the cruising sailor in terms of performance,strength,and versatility. As always, my opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it!

[skip1930]

There is some sailor on the Com Pac Facebook page who was married on his CP-16 and it was fitted with a gaff rig.
Just him, the bride and the preacher were on board.

skip.

[romei]

There is some sailor on the Com Pac Facebook page who was married on his CP-16 and it was fitted with a gaff rig.
Just him, the bride and the preacher were on board.

skip.

That sailor is me :-)

[GretchenG]

Oh my, you not only went gaff, you went catboat!  Would you tell us what you did to make that conversion?  I can't quite imagine the engineering involved to make sure the boat would balance, not be too tippy, and so forth.  Thanks for the story if you are willing--  Gretcheng

[romei]

Oh my, you not only went gaff, you went catboat!  Would you tell us what you did to make that conversion?  I can't quite imagine the engineering involved to make sure the boat would balance, not be too tippy, and so forth.  Thanks for the story if you are willing--  Gretcheng

I posted a bunch of stuff about it in here a few years ago when I first built it and I'm not sure what all I wrote, so in order not to anger the moderators by re-posting the same information it I'll just give you a few links to the blog posts that I wrote about it back then. 

btw.... she sails great

First post
http://www.ronmeinsler.com/cantina/?p=73
First voyage
http://www.ronmeinsler.com/cantina/?p=561
Questions and answers
http://www.ronmeinsler.com/cantina/?p=596

[GretchenG]

Thank you for the links--this is all I need.  I'll enjoy reading up on your project!