solent rig sailboat

Enquire Now

Ocean Sailor Equipment

Which is the perfect rig for blue water cruising.

March 7, 2020

The Solent rig is the go-to rig for ocean cruising, says Dick Beaumont

The Solent rig, also known as the ‘Slutter rig’, is arguably the perfect rig for short –handed, blue water cruising ( shown to right ).

The rig can provide so many different combinations of sail form that the ideal profile is always available to suit wind strength and direction.

Based on a sloop rig it has the advantage over ketch, yawl or schooner because its high aspect mast is placed further aft so that the forward sail triangle, which creates drive, is proportionately much larger.

That said its advantage over the standard sloop rig is that it has, in addition to the genoa, a 100% full-size blade jib as well. This blade jib has the clew controlled by a jib sheet that runs through a car on a track well inside the shrouds, making it more efficient for sailing hard up wind because it still sets properly even up to 20 degrees to the wind. Whereas the standard sloop with its single genoa, with its track outside the shrouds, cannot point as high.

Also the standard sloop genoa must be cut to be both the upwind and reaching sail, whereas with the Solent rig, the genoa is cut for reaching and the blade jib is cut for beating.

The advantage the Solent rig has overa staysail cutter ( shown to right ) is that the jib is much bigger because its tack is taken right forward to within 80-100cm of the genoa, and the foot is very low cut, again creating more sail area.

Also a Solent rig inner forestay goes almost to the mast-head, so when under heavy load, it isn’t pulling the middle of the mast forward as happens with a staysail, so the problematic running backstays required on a staysail cutter are not needed.

When using the Solent rig for downwind sailing, asymmetric sails – cruising chute, gennaker or Code sail are a matter of choice, they are not obligatory.

On a standard sloop in relatively light winds say 15kts of apparent, the common profile for running dead down wind is ‘goose-winged’ with genoa on one side and mainsail on the other. The propensity for a wind shift or course variation to cause an uncontrolled gybe is ever present and even with a preventer rigged up, damage is highly likely should this happen.

Sailing for several days with this set up in the trade winds, say, and a will be very stressful as a lack of concentration may cause the dreaded Chinese gybe. Relying on using the autopilot pilot to steer dead down wind is not fail safe either; it places a lot of faith on technology, if the autopilot should drop the helm for any reason, the result can be catastrophic.

With a Solent rig the jib and the genoa are set up butterfly rigged. The worst that can happen if the yacht falls of course or the wind shifts is the headsails might back: the risk of gybing, however, is eliminated. So you can run dead down wind without concern.

Ideally the yacht will also have a code sail or gennaker with a pole, or even better two poles of different length ( shown to right ) .

The number one pole should be a bit shorter than a spinnaker pole so it can be used on the gennaker or code sail and the genoa.

The number two pole, if you have it, should be at full length for the jib so it can be used on the jib and the genoa.

If you don’t have a gennaker or code the pole sizes should be the perfect length for the jib and genoa. If you only have one pole it should be the correct size for the genoa.

Sail options for running down wind:

6- 15 knots apparent wind : Gennaker and genoa. As the wind increases the genoa is furled.

10-20 knots apparent wind : Gennaker or code only

15-25 knots apparent wind : Genoa and jib, as the wind increases the genoa is partially furled.

20- 30 knots apparent wind : Genoa only, furling as required.

30 knots plus apparent wind : Jib only furling as required.

And for up wind:

6 -12 knots apparent wind : Gennaker or code plus mainsail but off the wind 40 degrees plus. Jib and mainsail can be set if the course is hard on the wind but may require motor sailing in very light winds.

10-20 knots apparent wind : Genoa and mainsail but not too hard on the wind 35 degrees plus or jib and mainsail if hard on the wind.

15- 50 knots apparent wind : Jib and mainsail, reefing main and jib as required.

50 knots plus apparent wind : Jib only, reefing as required.

Some Solent rigs are comprised of a self -tacking jib which looks convenient, but this jib will also be your heavy weather foresail or storm sail and, whatever anyone tells you , a self-tacking foresail sail cannot be properly reefed. This is because as the sail is furled away around the foil the foot will tighten up and the leech will go slack and start flogging: in 40 knots plus, the sail will be ruined in no time.

When the jib sheets are run through cars on tracks the car is moved forward or back as the sail is furled to change the angle of force of the sheet, so the sail stays properly trimmed and set. I would advise having power winches for the genoa reefing line, as the genoa has to be fully furled to tack it.

There is only one disadvantage of the Solent rig compared to others: It is a lot more expensive.

Those extra costs come from:
Second forestay and chain-plate,
Second furler and foil.
Jib halyard
2x Jib sheets
Six to eight additional heavy duty blocks to carry the jib sheet aft to the cockpit.
Four additional blocks to carry the jib halyard back to the cockpit.
2x jib tracks and deck cars,
2x clutch cleats each side
2x cockpit winches.

The total cost will vary according to the size of yacht but for example on a 50ft yacht the additional cost is circa 30,000-40,000 euros.

The Solent rig is standard on every Kraken Yacht, for all these reasons.

Share this post

Related ocean sailor posts..., ocean sailor, why choose lithium, the 12 days of christmas, which mainsail furling system is right for you.

In The Yard

Take an exclusive look behind the scenes at what goes into the building of a Kraken yacht, not just the finished article.

Crafted For You

Kraken owners group.

Experience all the extra benefits of Kraken ownership with our online owners’ portal including access to our crew finder.

Kraken Yachts

Kraken design, the zero keel™.

The Zero Keel is part of the hull and it can never come off. There are no bolts used anywhere in the construction of the keel or hull.

Build Structure

All Kraken yachts are built with a substantial interior structure to ensure keel delamination and failure cannot occur.

The Alpha Rudder™

This comprises four unique features which hugely improve the crews ability to continue steering throughout circumstances that would disable most other yachts.

The Ocean Sailor Podcast is a blue water cruising chat show. Our hosts, the two Dicks (Durham and Beaumont), explore blue water sailing topics.

With eight categories to choose from including tails of the sea, sailing skills and even great recipes for cooking in your galley, there are hours of reading to enjoy and learn with Ocean Sailor articles.

You can fill our enquiry form for information on prices, delivery dates, options and upgrades. A member of our sales team will be in contact with you shortly.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

News & Views
Boats & Gear
Lunacy Report
Techniques & Tactics

CRUISING SAILBOAT RIGS: Sloops, Cutters, and Solent Rigs

In our previous episode in this series we discussed what I like to call split rigs–ketches, yawls, and schooners–where a sailplan is divided among two or more masts. Cruising sailors once upon a time preferred such rigs, at least on larger cruising boats, because each separate sail requiring handling was smaller and thus more manageable. These days, however, by far the most popular rig for both racing and cruising sailboats is the simple sloop rig. This has a single mast supporting a single Marconi mainsail with a single headsail supported by a single headstay flying forward of it.

Its advantages are manifest: there are only two sails for the crew to handle, each of which can be hoisted with a single halyard and trimmed with a single sheet. While sailing, there are normally only two lines–the jib sheet and mainsheet–that need to be controlled at any given moment. And because there is but one headsail flying forward of the main, tacking a sloop is easy, since the headsail, even if it is a large overlapping genoa, can pass easily through the open foretriangle.

Sloop rigs are highly efficient to windward, thanks to the so-called “slot effect” created by the interaction of the mainsail and headsail. How this actually works is a matter of some debate. The traditional theory is that airflow in the narrow slot between the sails is accelerated, which decreases air pressure on the leeward side of the mainsail, thus increasing the lift the sail generates.

The revisionist theory is that air deflected from the headsail actually works to decrease airflow in the slot, increasing pressure on the windward side of the headsail, thus increasing the lift it generates. Since increasing the lift generated by one sail seems to necessarily decrease that generated by the other, others believe a single Marconi sail must be just as aerodynamic, if not more so, than two sails. This last proposition, however, is contradicted by real-world experience, as no one has yet created a single-sail rig that is as fast and closewinded as a double-sail sloop rig.

The almighty slot in action. Its effects are salubrious, but no one can really explain why

The primary disadvantage of a sloop rig is that the sails must be relatively large. They are therefore harder to handle in that they are heavier (making them harder to hoist) and generate larger loads when flying. Much of this difficulty, however, is obviated by modern winches and roller-furling gear, which is why sloop rigs are now so popular, and deservedly so. In light to moderate sailing conditions, which is what most sailors normally encounter, a sloop is by far the fastest, most easily handled rig currently available.

In heavier conditions sloops do present some challenges. To reduce sail area forward of the mast, if the headsail is hanked on to the headstay, which was the traditional practice, you must change the sail for a smaller one. This requires crew to work for extended periods on the bow of the boat, where conditions can get wild and wet. If the headsail is on a modern roller-furler, the sail can be easily roller-reefed from the cockpit, but past a certain point a roller-reefed headsail’s shape becomes inefficient. You either must live with this or unroll the sail and change it for another smaller one. The stronger the wind gets, the more distorted the roller-reefed sail becomes, and the more important it is to change it. Changing a sail on a furler in a strong wind, however, is an awful chore. The very first thing you must do (unroll the sail) greatly increases sail area right when you most want to decrease it. Then you must somehow control a large headsail as it comes off a furling rod with its luff unrestrained in strong wind.

Coastal cruisers are never likely to sail in strong conditions for very long. On the few brief occasions their boats are pressed hard they are normally willing to limp along on an ugly scrap of roller-reefed genoa. They are also more likely to have to short-tack their boats in confined areas, thus the ease of tacking a sloop makes it the rig of choice on coastal boats. Bluewater cruisers, on the other hand, may sail in strong weather for days on end, so there are advantages to cutting up the sail area in the foretriangle into smaller more manageable pieces. Bluewater cruisers traditionally therefore often prefer a cutter rig, which has a single mast and a headstay like a sloop, but also an inner forestay behind the headstay from which a smaller intermediate staysail can be flown.

Modern cutter-rigged cruiser sailing under a staysail and a reefed mainsail

The big advantage of a cutter rig is that in a big blow the jib on the headstay can come right off (or be rolled up) and the smaller staysail can carry on alone, more inboard and lower in the rig, where it balances better against the reduced area of a deeply reefed mainsail. Cutters are also efficient to windward, though some claim they are not as efficient as sloops. Personally, I’ve found cutters are sometimes actually more closewinded than sloops, at least in moderate to strong winds, as the sheeting angles on a pair of smaller, flatter headsails can be narrower than the angle on one larger, more full-bodied sail. In very heavy conditions, with just a staysail and reefed mainsail deployed, I believe a cutter is almost always more efficient to windward than a sloop.

On anything from a beam reach to a tight closehauled angle, a cutter can also fly both its headsails unobstructed. Sailing on a broad reach, however, the staysail blocks air from reaching the jib, reducing the rig’s effective sail area just when the decrease in apparent wind speed caused by the wind blowing from behind the boat demands that sail area instead be increased. Another problem is that a cutter requires extra standing rigging–not only the inner forestay, but also, very often, either an extra set of swept-back aft shrouds or a pair of running backstays to help support the inner forestay from behind. This adds complexity and increases rig weight well above the deck.

The biggest disadvantage of a cutter rig is that there are two headsails to tack (or jibe) across the boat instead of just one. There is an extra set of sheets to handle, plus the jib quarrels with the inner forestay every time it comes across the foretriangle. This is less of a problem if the jib is small and high-cut (these are called yankee jibs) so that it slips more easily through the narrow gap between the inner forestay and headstay. When flying a large genoa, however, crew must often go forward to help horse the sail around the inner forestay. If you don’t have enough crew for this, you may have to roll up part of the genoa (assuming it’s on a roller-furler) before tacking or jibing and unroll it again afterward, which is a bother. Also, if the wind grows strong again, but not so strong that you can sail on the staysail alone, you either have to change your genoa for a smaller sail or roller-reef it into an inefficient shape, which is (theoretically) precisely the conundrum that drove you to favor a cutter rig in the first place.

On a true cutter specifically designed to accommodate a staysail, the mast is usually farther aft than it would be on a sloop and/or there is a bowsprit to enlarge the foretriangle. This allows for a larger, more useful staysail and should enlarge the gap between the headstay and inner forestay so a jib can tack through more easily. A larger foretriangle also allows the jib to be larger without overlapping the mainsail, but a big overlapping genoa will still present problems when tacking or jibing.

A “true” cutter under sail. With the mast aft the foretriangle is bigger, which allows for a bigger, more useful staysail. As on this boat, a true cutter often flies a high-cut yankee jib forward of the staysail

The staysail can also be made club-footed with its own boom. Such a spar, known as a jib-boom, can be controlled by a single sheet that need not be adjusted when tacking. When short-tacking in enough breeze for the boat to sail under main and staysail alone this is the height of convenience. You can shift the helm back and forth without ever touching a line. A jib-boom, however, unless sheeted tight, will flail about the foredeck whenever its sail is luffing while being hoisted, doused, or reefed. It may harm crew on the foredeck during an accidental jibe, as it can sweep suddenly across the boat with some force unless restrained by a preventer.

A cutter-rigged cruiser with a club-footed staysail

Bear in mind, too, that enlarging the foretriangle, particularly on a boat without a bowsprit, usually means mainsail area must be reduced commensurately. In many cases the mainsail is then too small and/or too far aft for the boat to sail and maneuver under main alone. When attempting to dock, anchor, or moor under sail this can be a significant disadvantage. (Note, however, that many sloops are also often unable to maneuver under mainsail alone.)

One variation increasingly popular with bluewater cruisers is a sloop/cutter hybrid, sometimes called a slutter rig, where a removeable inner forestay is installed on what would otherwise be a straight sloop rig. The removable stay normally has some sort of quick-release mechanism at deck level that makes it easy to set up and tension the stay and to loosen and remove it. When stowed, the removeable stay is brought aft to the mast and secured.

Example of an inner forestay with a retro-fitted inner forestay with a quick-release fitting that allows the stay to be moved out of the way when desired

To a large extent, the slutter rig does offer the best of both worlds. In light to moderate winds you can stow the inner forestay and sail the boat as a straight sloop with one large genoa passing through an open foretriangle. In heavy conditions, you can set up the inner forestay, hank on a staysail, roll up or douse the large genoa, and sail the boat under main and staysail alone. Since setting up an inner forestay and hanking on a staysail is normally less taxing than stripping a large genoa off a furling rod and hoisting a smaller working jib and/or storm sail in its place, this is a viable practice.

Sometimes you see true cutters that have been converted to slutters. Here the foretriangle is normally large enough to fly two headsails simultaneously if desired, which is often not possible on a converted sloop. The downside to this arrangement is that making the inner forestay removable makes it impossible to install either a roller-furling staysail (currently a popular arrangement on cutter rigs) or a club-footed staysail.

Another variation that has appeared more recently is the so-called solent rig, where a solent stay is installed directly behind a boat’s headstay. The headstay carries a big genoa (usually on a roller-furler) that is flown in light to moderate wind, and the solent stay carries what is effectively a smaller working jib (or a “blade jib,” as some like to call them now) to fly in stronger conditions. The solent jib (which is normally larger than a staysail) can be rigged permanently on its own roller-furler, or it can be on a removable stay, as is seen on slutters and some cutter rigs.

The huge problem with a permanent solent rig is that the genoa forward on the headstay is normally so close to the solent stay that it cannot be pulled through the gap between the stays, but must be entirely rolled up and unfurled again every time the boat is tacked. In some cases the solent stay actually isn’t terribly close to the headstay, but still the top of the stay is always very close to the top of the headstay and tacking is thus always problematic. For this reason, personally, I strongly favor removable solent stays.

Typical solent rig with the two stays quite close together

On this example, the two stays are farther apart, until you get up to the masthead

One recent innovation that has made the handling of removable sails much easier are sails with torque-rope luffs that are mounted on continuous-line furlers. These were developed first on shorthanded ocean-racing boats, but are now leaking on to cruising boats with increasing frequency. For these to work the sail must usually be a lighter laminated sail rather than straight Dacron. A length of high-modulus rope especially designed to resist twisting, a torque rope so called, is sewn into the luff of the sail, which is then mounted on a removable lightweight continuous-line furling drum. Once the sail is hoisted with its torque rope tensioned it can be furled up on its own luff. It can also be taken down and stowed in a bag this way, all rolled up on itself. And it can be hoisted again while still rolled up. Handling the sail is thus very easy, as the only time it is unrolled and flying free is when you are actually flying it.

The great flexibility of a torque-rope sail actually gives you two different options if you are trying to create a solent rig. The smaller solent sail can be made a removable torque-rope sail, in which case you will be setting and flying it inside the headstay. Or you can keep a small working jib on your headstay and set up a larger removable genoa-size torque-rope sail forward of it. Sails like this have all sorts of names–Code Zero sails, screechers, gennakers, etc. The most important thing, if you are ordering one, is not what you call it, but rather that it is cut flat enough to sail efficiently to windward. Also, when flying such a sail you’ll need some sort of bowsprit forward of your headstay to carry it, and the sprit must be strong enough to carry the rig’s full headstay load when the sail flying.

The headsail arrangement on my cutter-rigged boat Lunacy . A triple-headsail sloop you might call it. The headstay and the inner forestay are permanently rigged. The screecher, as I call it, flies on its own luff forward of the headstay and is controlled with a removable continuous-line furler. The bowsprit and the plate under it were added to carry the big load the sail generates. When the screecher is flying the headstay goes slack and the screecher’s torque rope is what’s holding up the front of the mast

An IMOCA Open 60 flying a staysail on a continuous-line furler

A continuous-line furler up close and personal, removed from the rig with sail furled

Yet another option is to make the staysail in a cutter rig a removable torque-rope sail. I have seen these on shorthanded racing boats, but never on a cruising boat. I wonder sometimes if I should try it on my boat. If anyone has tried it on their boat, I do wish they would get in touch!

NICK SKEATES ON WYLO II: The Ultimate Barebones Cruiser and his Ultimate Dirt Simple Boat

NORTHBOUND LUNACY: Atlantic City, NJ, to Portland, ME

My last two boats–a Bristol 39 and a Warwick 47–have been sloops with inner forestays. The present Warwick has a r/f forstaysail so it’/s more or less permanent. This is a great heavy weather and offshore rig–perfect for the ocean and he Caribbean, the Med not so much. The forestayail is pretty small so it takes a considerable blow to make it the right choice.

Go easy on the torque rope idea unless a) the mast is beefed up for it b) the winches, lead blocks and the deck under the winch base on which the halyard lays are beefed up. You need to plan on having a halyard lock for the top of the torque rope AND a robust purchase to load the bottom end. THIS is how the race boats are set up Coop

Bluewater Cruising: Cutter Rig versus Solent Rig - Part 1

BOAT OF THE YEAR
Newsletters
Sailboat Reviews
Boating Safety
Sails and Rigging
Maintenance
Sailing Totem
Sailor & Galley
Living Aboard
Destinations
Gear & Electronics
Charter Resources

Two Headsails Are Better Than One

By Wendy Mitman Clarke
Updated: September 28, 2010

solent rig 368

Osprey is the first boat we’ve ever owned with a solent rig, that is, two headsails that are placed close together fore and aft and in line with one another. At deck level, a mere 21 inches separates the two furlers, an arrangement that has distinct advantages, especially for downwind sailing, and disadvantages, when it comes to going to weather. After about two years spent learning this rig, last summer we added a third furler for the staysail, which we find has given the arrangement far more versatility on all points of sail.

The most obvious benefit of this type of rig is the ability to have multiple headsails ready to deploy. On the headstay, we carry our No. 1, a 145-percent genoa, and we have our 125-percent genoa, the No. 2, on the inner forestay. These two sail sizes are what the boat came with. A third headsail, a 90-percent jib, is carried on the staysail stay. Before we added a furler on this stay, we used a hank-on staysail, but with the furler, we’ve found new ways to put this small sail to use; more on that later.

The solent rig truly shines going downwind, particularly dead downwind. What, on many other boats, is an awkward, rolly, nerve-wracking point of sail is, on Osprey, often like riding the rails on a fast-moving train. Along with its headsail arrangement, Osprey came with two spinnaker poles, which we mounted on a double-car track. With both our genoas poled out and the mainsail either double-reefed or taken down completely, the boat sails dead downwind extremely comfortably. With the mainsail down, we eliminate the worry of an accidental jibe, and as soon as the poles are set, the boat becomes remarkably stable. In 25 knots of true wind and 10-foot seas, we’ve made steady speeds of 7 to 8.5 knots with little effort while in complete control. (In air under 10 true, we use the cruising chute when possible for dead-downwind sailing).

Setting Sails Launching this sail arrangement takes a little time and requires someone on the foredeck, which in rolly seas can be tricky. Starting with the headsails furled, we position one pole with the sheet through the jaws, then unfurl the sail against the pole, pulling the pole aft until the sail is set. Because the poles are on a single track and each pole car is independently controlled, it’s necessary to launch the lower pole first. On Osprey, the lower pole is the starboard pole. Once the starboard pole is set, we repeat the process by lowering the inboard end of the port pole and launching it.

To get the most from this double-pole rig, the ability to adjust the sheet-lead angles is critical. We use 12-foot-long Harken Big Boat genoa tracks and adjustable cars with a 4-to-1 purchase.

Once the sails are set, the boat nearly sails herself. And because the two sails balance each other out, the load and strain on the autopilot is greatly diminished. However, one disadvantage to this rig is that once the poles are out, our ability to maneuver radically for any reason-quickly altering course, for instance, to avoid another vessel or floating object-is limited. On a run, we make it a point to be extra vigilant so we have plenty of time to douse one or both poles if needed.

We’ve found with practice that dousing this rig is also fairly easy. Starting with the upper pole-on Osprey, the one set and stored to port-we ease the jib sheet, letting the pole go forward. It becomes pretty easy to furl the headsail. We disconnect the pole, raise it to the top of the track, and stow it in its proper vertical position, with the inboard end at the top of the track and the outboard end mounted on an attachment point just aft of the forward lower shrouds on the port side. Next, we do the same with the starboard pole, whose outboard end mounts on the starboard side at a similar mounting point. Sometimes we need to refurl the last 10 feet of the headsails to get a proper furl.

With the solent rig, the spinnaker poles also come in very handy on a broad reach. With an apparent-wind angle of 170 to 120 degrees, we pole out one of the headsails to windward and run the main to leeward. Wind velocity determines which headsail we choose and whether we reef the main. My husband, Johnny, came up with this idea from his years spent sailing Snipes and other racing dinghies that employ whisker poles rather than spinnaker poles. On our 14-ton Osprey, this arrangement has proven extremely fast and stable. The windward pole eliminates the blanketing effect of the mainsail, which can collapse a leeward-set jib, making the boat roll and the sails slap and bang. Heading from the Bahamas to the U.S. East Coast across the Gulf Stream in lumpy conditions and 10 to 12 knots of true wind at 130-degrees apparent, we were able to sail pretty comfortably at 5 to 6 knots of boat speed while the two boats with us, which couldn’t pole out their jibs, were often forced to motor, rolling all the while.

The Downside to the Solent Rig As the wind angle closes, some of the solent rig’s disadvantages become more apparent. Unlike a cutter rig, in which the head stays are separated by a good distance, the close proximity of the two headsails in the solent arrangement makes flying both at the same time impossible; you must choose one or the other. In lighter air, when we use the No. 1, the rig behaves very much like a traditional sloop-rigged boat. The biggest problem with this, however, is tacking-Johnny likes to say that the rig was designed to tack once a month, and that seems about right. The slot between the two sails is so narrow that it’s extremely hard, without furling the No. 1, to get it through to the other side. Also, in heavier air, the close proximity of the headstays significantly disturbs the airflow on the No. 2, degrading the boat’s ability to point using this headsail.

When sailing upwind in 10 to 15 knots of true wind, we use the No. 1 and the full main. This gives us the power that Osprey needs to sail through wind chop and moderate swell while making anywhere from 5 to 7 knots, depending on the sea state. In wind speeds of 15 to 20 knots true, we use the No. 2 and, depending on conditions, a full main or a single reef. In 25 knots and up, going upwind, we double-reef the main (we only have two reefs), and reef the No. 2 as needed.

To try and mitigate some of the solent rig’s upwind foibles, we started experimenting with the staysail. We found it to be so useful that last summer we added a third furler for it. This extra sail is easy and quick to deploy and tack. Now, for instance, if we’re sailing upwind in 25 knots or more, rather than use the No. 2 at all, with its limited pointing ability, we now deploy the staysail. Should we be sailing close to the wind with the No. 1 and need to tack, we can unfurl the staysail, furl the No. 1, and with the added horsepower of the small staysail, the boat moves efficiently through the tack instead of stopping dead, particularly in choppy conditions. Now we often add the staysail on all points of sail. We use it to complement the No. 1 when we’re sailing upwind or close to the wind, and it usually adds half a knot of boat speed. The staysail also works well with either of the genoas when they’re poled out to windward.

The roller-furled staysail also eliminates another disadvantage to the solent rig: heaving to. Unlike a cutter rig, with its small, setback yankee jib, Osprey’s No. 2 is too big and too far forward for us to easily find the sweet spot to balance the boat. The staysail, due to its size and its location farther aft, lets us heave to quickly and comfortably.

After two and a half years of getting to know the solent rig, we feel we’re finally starting to make it work to its full potential. Its long-distance downwind-sailing abilities and its off-the-wind versatility thus far have outweighed its disadvantages when going upwind. And by adding the staysail as a permanent fixture, we’ve mitigated many of those problems. It’s not the easiest system, but for us it’s proven its worth time and time again.

The Clarkes in May sailed Osprey , with poles out, 1,200 nautical miles downwind from the Dominican Republic to Guatemala, where they plan to spend hurricane season.

More: How To , keelboat , monohull , sail handling , sails and rigging , seamanship
More How To

When the Wind Goes Light

Boat anchored in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico

How We Built Our Own Bulwarks

How to Keep Your Windlass Working For You

Southern Comfort: Tactical Tips for Sailing South

Sailboat Review: Vision 444

Sailboat Preview: Lagoon 43

Ice cream with chocolate sauce on a dish

Sailor & Galley: Ice Cream, Anytime

Digital Edition
Customer Service
Privacy Policy
Email Newsletters
Cruising World
Sailing World
Salt Water Sportsman
Sport Fishing
Wakeboarding

My Cruiser Life Magazine

Cutter Rigged Sailboats [GUIDE] Advantages, Sailing, Options & Features

Cutter rigs are often more prevalent in boating magazines and theory than they are in your marina. Most cruising sailboats are Bermuda rigged sloops with just one permanently attached headsail. So, are two headsails better than one? Or, are they double the trouble?

History of Cutters

What is a Cutter Rig?

Cutter features, cutter rig options, sailing a cutter rigged sailboat, 5 popular manufacturers making cutter rigs, it takes two to tango, cutter rigged sailboat faqs.

History of Cutters

Cutters became popular in the early 18th century. These traditional cutters were decked (instead of open) and featured multiple headsails. Smugglers used cutters to smuggle goods, and the coast guard used cutters to try to catch the smugglers.

Various navies also used the cutter rig. Navy cutters featured excellent maneuverability and were better at sailing to windward than square-rigged ships.

Navies used cutters for coastal patrol, collecting customs duties, and “cutting out” raids. These “cutting out” operations consisted of a boarding attack. Fast, maneuverable cutters could stealthily approach an enemy vessel and board it. This type of attack was common in the late 18th century.

US Coast Guard ships, now powerful, fast, engine-driven, steel vessels, are still called cutters today as a nod to their past.

A cutter rig sailboat has two headsails instead of just one. The jib is located forward and is either attached to a bowsprit or the bow. The inner sail is called the staysail and is attached to an inner forestay.

Traditional cutters were built for speed. Today, cutter rigged sailboats are popular with ocean-crossing sailors, cruisers, and sailors looking for an easy to manage, versatile rig for all conditions.

It’s important to distinguish cutters from other types of boats with a single mast. Cutters regularly fly two headsails on nearly every point of sail. Many sloops are equipped to fly different-sized headsails, but it is unusual or unnecessary for them to fly more than one at a time.

Solent Rig vs Cutter Rig

A solent rig is traditionally called a slutter–a little bit sloop and a little bit cutter. This configuration features two large headsails mounted close together. The solent rig is good if you do a lot of downwind sailing. You can pole out both headsails and go wing-on-wing, with one headsail on the starboard side and one on the port side.

If you are on any other point of sail, you can only use one solent rig headsail at a time. If you use the inner sail, the wind flow is disrupted by the furled forward sail. And, if you use the forward sail, you’ll have to furl it to tack because there’s not enough space between the forestays.

The solent rig is a way to add more sail options to a standard sloop. Most solent stays are not required rigging to keep the mast up, so owners remove them when not in use to make tacking the primary headsail easier.

Advantages of a Cutter Rig

There are a lot of reasons to like a cutter. A cutter rigged boat has redundant rigging and spreads the sail load across its rigging. And a cutter rig offers increased sail options–it offers increased sail area in light winds and easy and efficient ways to decrease sail area in heavy weather.

In heavy weather, a cutter will drop or furl her larger headsail – usually a yankee or a genoa. That leaves just the smaller inner staysail. This arrangement is superior to the standard sloop, which sails in high winds by reefing her headsail. The staysail, however, lowers the center of effort on the sail plan and maintains draft over the reefed mainsail. That makes the boat more stable, maintains performance, and reduces stresses on the rig.

If you imagine the sailor going to sea and needing to reef, it’s easy to see how many more choices they have than the sloop sailor. While each sailor can reef their mainsail, a cutter skipper has full control over both headsails as well.

Because a cutter rig spreads the load across two headsails, it’s easier to manage. There might be more sails, but each sail is smaller and has smaller loads on it. That makes cutters the preferred option for sailing offshore when short-handed, as are more cruising couples.

Lastly, it has to be added that there’s something appealing about the traditional looks of a cutter.

Disadvantages of a Cutter Rig

While there are many benefits of a cutter, there are drawbacks and disadvantages too.

Sailors will have more lines to manage and more processes to think through. More sails mean more halyards and sheets. And when it comes to maintenance and upkeep, a cutter will have more standing and running rigging to replace, along with one more sail.

Cutters are also harder to tack. You’ll be dealing with two headsails instead of just one. Many designs deal with this problem by making the staysail self-tacking. This has fallen out of favor, but it’s a great advantage if you find yourself short-tacking up or down rivers.

Regardless of whether you need to tack both headsails or not, getting the larger sail to tack through the slot and around the inner forestay is sometimes a challenge. Many skippers find themselves furling the headsail, at least partially, to complete the tack.

Cutters need extra foretriangle room, which can mean adding a bowsprit, moving the mast back, or both.

Cutter Rig Position

Looking at a cutter rigged sailboat diagram, you might see a bowsprit depicted. Often, cutters fly their yankee from a bowsprit. Bowsprits allow boat designers to increase the fore triangle’s size without making the mast taller. Other cutters don’t use a bowsprit and mount the yankee sail on the bow.

A cutter sailboat might seem like more work. After all, there are two sails to trim and manage. In addition, you’ll have to perform maintenance on two sails and purchase and maintain double the hardware.

However, the two headsail arrangement can be easier to manage when the sails are under load. Instead of having one jib or genoa to trim, the weight and pressure are spread across two sails.

Mast Location

Today’s modern boat designers often focus on providing living space in the cabin. Designers often move the mast forward to create a larger, more open saloon. When the mast is forward, there’s less space to mount two headsails. A cutter sailboat needs a decent foretriangle area.

A cutter rigged sailboat is also more expensive for boat builders. The deck must be strong enough to handle the inner forestay’s loads. Between the additional building costs, saloon design issues, and customers’ concern over increased complexity, boat builders often favor a single headsail.

Easier on the Boat and Crew

Since the loads are distributed between two smaller sails instead of being handled by one large genoa. This means there’s less pressure on attachments points and hardware, and therefore less wear and tear. In addition, because there are separate attachment points on the deck for each sail, the load is distributed across the deck instead of focused on one spot.

Because each headsail is smaller, the sails are easier to winch in, so the crew will find it easier to manage the sails.

There’s nothing cookie-cutter about a sailing cutter. From the cut of the jib to the configuration of the staysail, each cutter sailboat is unique.

Yankee, Jib, or Genoa

Traditional cutters have a yankee cut headsail along with a staysail. The yankee is high-cut and usually has no overlap. The high cut improves visibility, and a yankee has less twist than a typical jib. By sloop standards, it looks very small, but on a cutter it works in unison with the staysail.

A jib is a regular headsail that does not overlap the mast, while a genoa is a big jib that does overlaps. The amount of overlap is measured in percentage, so a 100-percent working jib fills the foretriangle perfectly. Other options include the 135 and 155-percent genoas, which are popular for sailors in light winds.

The problem with using a big jib or genoa with a staysail is that there will often be a close overlap between the two headsails. If flown together, the air over the staysail interferes with the air over the outer sail, making each one slightly less efficient. In these cases, it’s often better to drop the staysail and leave it for when the wind pipes up.

Roller Furler, Club, or Hank-On Sails

Sailors have many options to manage and store their cutter’s sails. Sailors can mix and match the options that work for them.

Roller Furler vs Hank-on Sails

You can have both sails on roller furlers, both hanked on, or a mix of the two.

Buying and maintaining two roller furlers is expensive, but it makes the sails easy to manage. You can easily unfurl, reef, and furl both headsails from the cockpit without having to work on the deck.

Hank-on sails are fool-proof and offer less expense and maintenance. You can use a hank-on staysail, either loose-footed or club-footed, depending on your needs. Hank-on sails make sail changes easy and they never jam or come unfurled unexpectedly.

The most common setup on most cutters is to have the larger yankee or jib on a furler, and the smaller and more manageable staysail hanked on.

Club-footed Staysail

A club-footed staysail is attached to a self-tacking boom. Since there is only one control sheet to handle, there’s a lot less work to do to tack from the cockpit. It tacks just like another mainsail. You can tack the yankee while the club-footed staysail self-tacks.

Island Packets and many other cutters feature this arrangement, which makes tacking easy.

However, a club-footed staysail takes up space on the foredeck–it’s always in the way. It’s harder to get to your windlass and ground tackle. In addition, it’s harder to store your dinghy on the foredeck under the staysail boom. The boom also presents a risk to anyone on the foredeck, since it can swing during tacks and jibes and is even lower to the deck than the mainsail boom.

Loose-footed Staysail

Keeping a loose-footed staysail on a furler clears space on the deck. Without the boom, you can more easily move around the foredeck, and you’ll have more space when you are managing the anchor. In addition, you can more easily store your dinghy on the foredeck.

However, the staysail loses its self-tacking ability. You’ll now have to have staysail tracks for the sheet’s turning blocks and another set of sheet winches in the cockpit. When it comes time to tack the boat, you’ll have two headsails with four sheets and four winches to handle. Most owners choose to furl the outer headsail before the tack. Then, they can perform the maneuver using the staysail alone.

The good news is that most offshore boats are not tacking very often. If you’re on a multi-day passage, chances are you’ll only tack once or twice on the whole trip.

Downwind and Light Air Sails

There are a number of light air sails that will help your cutter perform better when the wind is light. Popular options include the code zero, gennaker, and asymmetrical spinnaker.

Adding one of these sails to your inventory can make it a dream sailing machine. A code zero can be flown in light air. Since the cutter is already well equipped for sailing in heavy air, a light air sail really gives you the ability to tackle anything.

Sloop Rig, Ketch, and Yawl

While some describe a cutter as a cutter-rigged sloop or a sloop cutter, a modern sloop has one mast and one permanent headsail.

But you’ll also find the cutter rig used on a ketch or a yawl. A cutter ketch or yawl offers a cruising sailor increased sail area and choices by adding the mizzen mast and sail behind.

Sailing a cutter rigged boat is not that different from sailing a traditional sloop. Sailors will have to pay close attention to trim and tacking.

Sailing a Cutter Rig to Windward

A cutter usually can’t point as high as a sloop when sailing to windward. The yankee hinders the staysail’s airflow, and the staysail starts to stall.

Tacking a Sailboat Cutter

If you need to short tack up a narrow channel, and both your sails are loose-footed, you can roll up one of the headsails and just use one headsail to tack. Many staysails have a boom and are self-tacking. This means you can tack the yankee, and the staysail will take care of itself.

Reefing a Cutter

A cutter sailboat has more options to easily get the right amount of sail. You can add a reef to your mainsail, then furl or reef the yankee a little, and then add another reef to the mainsail. As the wind increases, you can take the yankee in all together, and sail with a double-reefed mainsail and the staysail. Finally, you can add the third reef to the mainsail. Some staysails can be reefed, too.

A cutter rig offers many options during heavy weather. For example, you may end up taking the mainsail down altogether and leaving the staysail up. Or, you might choose to replace the staysail with a tiny storm sail.

Adding a storm jib on a sail cutter is much easier than a standard sloop. On a sloop, you’d have to remove the large genoa from the bow and then add the storm sail. This operation places the skipper in a challenging situation, which can be avoided on a cutter.

On a cutter, you can remove the staysail and add the storm jib to the inner forestay. Working a little aft of the bow will give you increased stability while managing the staysail’s smaller load.

While many modern sailboats are sloop-rigged, cutter-seeking sailors still have options.

Rustler Yachts

While many new yachts have ditched the sturdy offshore cutter rig in favor of greater simplicity, Rustler is making a name for themselves by bringing it back. It’s still one of the best options for offshore sailing, and it’s great to see a modern yacht company using the rig to its full potential.

The Rustler doesn’t need a bowsprit to accommodate its cutter rig. The Rustler is set up for single-handed and offshore cruising with all lines managed from the cockpit. Their smaller boats are rigged as easier-to-sail sloops for coastal hops, while the larger 42, 44, and 57 are rigged as true cutters with staysails and yankees.

Cabo Rico Cutters

Cabo Rico built cutters between 34 and 56 feet long. They aren’t currently in production but often come up on the used boat market. They are beautiful, semi-custom yachts that turn heads where ever they go. Of all the cutters the company built, the William Crealock-designed Cabo Rico 38 was the most long-lived, with about 200 hulls built. The second most popular design was the 34. The company also built a 42, 45, 47, and 56—but only a handful of each of these custom beauties ever left the factory. Most of the larger Cabo Ricos were designed by Chuck Paine.

Cabo Ricos have bowsprits, and the staysail is usually club-footed, although owners may have modified this. Cabo Ricos are known for their solid construction, beautiful teak interiors, and offshore capabilities.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hold Fast Sailing (@sparrowsailing)

Pacific Seacraft

Pacific Seacraft features a full line of cutters. Pacific Seacraft boats are known for their construction, durability, and overall quality.

Just a few of the best-known cutters built by Pacific Seacraft include the following.

Pacific Seacraft/Crealock 34
Pacific Seacraft/Crealock 37
Pacific Seacraft 40

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jeffersön Asbury (@skipper.jeff)

Island Packet Yachts

Island Packet boats are probably the most popular cutter design available today. Designer and company founder Bob Johnson created beautiful cutter-rigged full-keel boats with shallow drafts that were very popular around Florida, the Bahamas, and the east coast of the US.

Island Packets are known for their comfortable, spacious layouts. Older models could be ordered from the factory as either sloop or cutter-rigged. The result is that you see a mix of the two, as well as plenty of cutters that have removed their staysails to make a quasi-sloop.

Island Packet is still in business today, but now favors solent-rigged sloops with twin headsails.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by SV Miette (@sv_miette)

Hess-Designed Cutters

Lyle Hess designed several famous cutter-rigged boats, including the Falmouth Cutter 22 and the Bristol Channel Cutter 28. These gorgeous boats are smaller than most cruising boats but are a joy to sail. Lyle Hess’ designs were popularized by sailing legends Lin and Larry Pardey, who sailed their small wood-built cutters Serraffyn and Taleisin around the world multiple times.

These beautiful cutters have a timeless look like no other boats. They have inspired many other designs, too. You’ll find them built from both wood or fiberglass, but a variety of builders and yards have made them over the years.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Professional photographer (@gary.felton)

Cutter rigged boats offer cruising sailors a flexible sail plan that’s perfect for offshore sailing. Sailors can adjust the amount of sail according to the current wind conditions. Traditional cutters were known for being fast and agile, and today’s cutters carry on the tradition with pride.

What is a cutter rigged yacht?

A cutter rigged yacht features two headsails. One headsail, usually a high-cut yankee, is all the way forward, either on a bowsprit or the bow. The staysail is smaller and attached to an inner forestay.

What is the advantage of a cutter rig?

A cutter rig offers cruising sailors more flexibility. They can easily increase and decrease the sail area and choose the optimum combination for the sailing conditions. While there are more lines and sails to handle, each sail is smaller and therefore easier to manage.

Matt has been boating around Florida for over 25 years in everything from small powerboats to large cruising catamarans. He currently lives aboard a 38-foot Cabo Rico sailboat with his wife Lucy and adventure dog Chelsea. Together, they cruise between winters in The Bahamas and summers in the Chesapeake Bay.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

The Solent Has Its Own Stay!

A stay that gets its name from a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of southern England, the Solent . This traditionally windy place with strong currents can cause rough sea conditions and can make for some interesting sailing, to say the least. This body of water is also famous for hosting one of sailing’s largest events known as Cowes Week . These sometimes unrelenting sailing conditions have brought forth the conception of an entire stay, aptly called the Solent Stay.

As most boats these days are equipped with headsail furlers, rigging a Solent stay is a modification that many blue water cruisers are considering, more and more. The Solent stay is an inner fore-stay that provides an alternative to the Sta-sail stay . Its benefits, similar to that of the Sta-sail Stay, are to provide an inner stay that can fly a smaller/ heavier headsail without having to unfurl, douse and change out the boats everyday headsail.

The Solent stay is unique to the Sta-sail in that the stay is rigged close enough to the fore stay at the mast, eliminating the needs for any additional back-stays, i.e. running backstays. It is also possible that the new Solent sail could share sheet leads with the boat’s existing Genoa lead cars, depending on design and lay-out, and Solent Sail cut.

The tricky part, when adding any stay to the boat, be to locate a strong place on deck that is available to anchor the chainplate for the Solent Stay. Typically there will be only 1 or 2 reasonable locations for this. This may result in the two forward stays not being parallel to each other (see image left). If you can get over the appearance (easily done especially if it is removable, and I can’t say that it has ever bothered me anyways) this set-up probably makes the most sense. Especially if you consider it a good idea to move the center of effort inboard when trying to reduce sail and ensure control of the boat.

~The on-deck attachment can be moved as far inboard as a conventional Sta-sail stay!

Some Solent stays are rigged to be removable and stowed aft (more on stowing removable stays here ). This is a totally acceptable practice. However, as the boat length increases so does the sail size and the associated hardware. Therefore, rigging the Solent stay and sail can become a bit more difficult, if nothing else more burdensome. Therefore It is also common, and totally acceptable, to install a more permanent solution by rigging stay in place with a furler . When rigging the Solent stay with a furler, a good concept might be to have a smaller sail (maybe 110%) built that will carry you through most sailing conditions, medium to heavy (i.e. say… 15-30 knots wind speed), with at least one, maybe two reef points. This sail should be cut to achieve all points of sail from the hard beat to the beam reach. Now, the headstay furler should get a full cut-over-sized Genoa (maybe 150% or larger) that can be used as a light air drifter or full cut Genoa.

~Yes, this sail will need to be furled completely during tacks, but shouldn’t be a problem in light airs.

This new light air headsail should be cut for working upwind from a close reach, to downwind, just below the beam reach for light to moderate conditions (i.e. say… 5-12 knots wind speed). For more foresail options regarding downwind sailing, read our blogs here and here .

Lastly, there is one final consideration: the tension of putting two fore-stays opposite of the one back-stay can end up sharing the loads. This can lead to the Solent stay sagging to leeward, moving the draft aft and causing issues with being able to point the boat upwind. This is not preferred in most heavy weather conditions, especially when having to work upwind. The solution lies in the how the rig tune is set up. The headstay will need to be slackened a good bit, and the new inner Solent stay will need to be tightened fairly tight; so that the backstay is pulling on the Solent Stay not the headstay. This set up will compliment the aforementioned light air Genoa/ Drifter sail on the headstay and everyday jib on the Solent Stay.

In the case of the Solent Stay being removable, make sure your Highfield lever is set to a tighter tension than the Head-stay. This should cause the Head-stay to become slack when the Solent stay is in use. Then to combat the leeward sag of the Solent Stay even further, it is also a good idea to make sure the back-stay is at its maximum recommended working tension (usually approx. 30% of breaking strength).

As always, you should seek the advice of your local rigger to ensure this Solent stay system is set up completely and properly. Have question or a comment, please leave us a few words in our comments box below.

Thanks for the read!

Harken Travelers

Harken dominates the sailboat parts market in many areas. Travelers are no exception. Don’t think for a minute that this product is only for racers, it is for cruisers too! There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to move the traveler while under load (what’s the point of having one otherwise?). Of course there…

Views From Aloft

This was a spar finish and rigging package that we put together back in the summer of 2014. Originally this mast was an Annapolis Spars design (our previous employer). I love the way these masts were built. This is exactly how the top of a Pro Furl furler “Wrapstop” system should look when the sail…

Anchors Aweigh

Sometimes in sailboat racing the guy that deploys the anchor first, pulls into the lead. Winds have been light and variable for most of this leg, as expected. However, the teams are nearing the final rounding mark and things may start “heating up”, as the teams begin to turn upwind ~ see what I did…

VOR – A Finish In Miami

If you are near Miami, Florida you may want to consider stopping by the Race Village and checking out the sites the next few days. The teams have under 250 NM and are currently expected to arrive tomorrow evening. So head on down, see the sites and watch the boats finish. Hopefully Team Puma will…

Team Vestas Wind Gets a New Boat…

…well, maybe. If you’ve not heard by now, the Volvo Ocean Race Team Vestas Wind smashed into the earth several days ago. The boat grounded in the Indian Ocean Off of the southeast coast of Africa on the Cargados Carajos Shoals (St. Brandon), some 260 miles north east of Mauritius. Here is the latest edit of…

18 Comments

Good morning, I have a Lagoon 52f rigged up with a solent staysail with a facnor fx7000 continus furler. The sail has a soft luff and 2:1 halyard. I am having issues furling the sail. Does is this have to do with halyard tension or set up of the system itself. It just seems to be really tough to furler. An advice is greatly appreciated Thank you

First thing is always the spin test. With the system down and the parts disconnected, spin the drum by hand to see if it’s free moving. Perhaps it’s a ratcheting unit (those will require some understanding as they will lock and unlock in both directions via a mechanism in the drum). Do the same thing with the headswivel, ensure it spins freely.

If nothing jumps out about either of those, and they seem to be spinning and operational as expected. Then look into how the furling line is lead, follow it back from the drum to ensure that it can run freely without any interference from lead points. Then with the sail disconnected and using the halyard to hold up the drum, mock up the Furling system with the furling line, sans sail and headswivel, and try to spin/Furl the drum from cockpit via furling line…. back and forth, just to double check.

Once you feel good about all of that, rig the compete system again. Remember, the tosrion cable that goes through the luff of the sail needs to be very tight prior to furling/unfurling to provide a good axis for the sail to wrap around. Having said that, overly tight can bind the bearings. Especially if the unit is older, what seemed to spin fine without load (1st test) may not be the same under load. This means a rebuild or replace is necessary, this is unlikely unless the unit is significantly old or damaged.

The last part of using it properly (and usually the problem) is that you have to ease the sheet a lot, especially initially during the furl to get it started. Only during the last 30% of the Furl do you need to add a bit of sheet resistance to ensure a tight Furl.

I have also heard of sailmakers changing to swiveling tack to allow the unit to Furl from the top down, which may make it easier. Make sure you talk to your local sailmakers about this theory and their thoughts on it.

If problems persist, it may be time to consult your local rigger.

Good luck and we hope that helps. ~T.R.C.

Hi…Thanks for the blog…so helpful…I am a new owner of a Beneteau 473 Oceanis Clipper. Sailing in Med…(Greece right now) would like to sail blue water…have you ever rigged a 473 Oceanis? do you have specific ideas about where the stay should be attached? The mast has a V-shaped bracket on top, with blocks to hang (I suppose) a spinnaker halyard…so a tiny bit off-center on each side. My brother added a sprit to his boat older wooden boat to rig an asymmetrical spinnaker…do think I have the option to do both?–a sprit and solent stay or inner forestay? Thank you…(for the spin could use a sock but i would really like to be able to roller furl it instead of stowing it and rigging it every time…:) Thanks for your blog.

Thanks for contacting us. I do think you should be able to add a sprit no problem. From the sound of it the V shaped bracket that you refer to is very likely to support a block (or two) for a spinnaker halyard (s). If you compliment this with a Top Down furler , I think this would be the most user friendly set up.

For the Solent Stay, you will need to choose a spot (may already have one) pretty close to where the backstay connects, about a 12-18 inches from the top of mast. Then a sheave box for the halyard will need to be installed. The biggest part here is the deck attachment (and storage of the stay when not in use), some boat’s already have a strong point for this inside of the headstay, but some have to add it.

Send us some pictures to [email protected] and we can help further.

Hope this helps.

We own a Bene 473 and installed a Solent rig. This boat is actually designed to have one as an option and you can obtain a CAD drawing of the deck fitting that attaches to the bulkhead separating the chain locker and the V-berth. The mast also is prefitted to accept the inner-stay which makes for an easy installation. This sail comes in handy above about 23-25 kts or more of wind when beating and is great for dead-down-wind with the genoa.

Thank you, great comment and useful info for Beneteau owners!

Cheers, ~T.R.C.

Gents, Generally a nice piece but I respectfully suggest there are a few details (those pesky critters) I would argue against. I have consulted on perhaps eight of these stays and only one used a hyfield lever, because it was already there.

The top of mast to anchor-bulk-head version establishes a triangle that does not lend itself to making sails that will work easily across the speed and angle spectrum conductive to the sail’s size. The Aspect ratio is way to high. This condition is exacerbated in the event of the boat using a furler. Such a high aspect ratio makes for a sail with a really small head angle, very acute and so very difficult to remain in shape of the life cycle one wishes sails to have. More so if on a furler

The use of a high field lever is not suggested, at least by me. Rather a tackle system.

Prime reasons: They are heavy and clunky. For the tensioning part of the installation costs, they may well me more expensive than the equivalent portion of the entire system using cordage and thimbles. They require the lever and the sail to be carried forward and connected to the boat. If the lever is to remain connected to its location ion the bow, it needs to be secured to stop banging around. Then one must attach the stay, under conditions when the amount of time you spend on the bow is preferred to be less not more. There are ways to mitigate all this but they require their own systems and more steps in the procedure. Once set and the stay is attached, it is not possible to adjust the tension on the stay, well not without a lot of work. All ‘stays’ regardless of material will stretch over the hours the stay is set. With the tackle arrangement, the tension on the stay can be adjusted to compensate for this.

Independently one should, I strongly suggest a spectra type cordage, NER EnduraBraid for instance, one can use ‘regular’ (bronze) hanks and need not break the bank for soft hanks.

IF one installs two pad eyes, one either side of the mast in the appropriate location, AND a spectra loop or lashing passing between the two, to which the top of the stay is secured, AND installs a halyard deflector in the bight of the subsequently formed V, one can use the boat’s second genoa halyard if so equipped and so avoid cutting holes in the mast, for a stay fitting and halyard. This method also lends itself to being installed with the mast in place.

I have consulted on the design and installation of Solent stays on: A Quest 30 used in the Bermuda 1-2. Outbound 44 used in the OSTAR on 2009. A Baltic 39 used for offshore cruising, in about 2008 A J-105 on which I sailed DH in things like the Halifax race. Beneteau 45’ish’ footer Used for cruising in the NE.

The concept is really good, but the devil IS in the details.

http://joecoopersailing.com/?s=solent&submit=Search

http://joecoopersailing.com/Solent-stays/

We are on the same page when it comes storing the removable inner stay, I think, have you read this…. https://theriggingco.com/2014/07/09/how-to-stow-your-inner-fore-stay/

I also learned from your high aspect sail cut tid bit, very informative. It sounds viable and makes sense. Although, I think about boats with non overlapping jibs with 7/8 fractional masts (don’t need to name them, there are plenty). They must suffer from this as well then? We are not sail makers (and do not claim to be in the least). Are there any sail makers out there that would like to comment on this? Anyone? Bueller?

PS – I bet I can connect my highfield lever faster than you can reeve and lash your tackle ;-0) Game on!!!! Haha…just a joke and thank you for taking the time.

I am in the process of adding a solent stay to my Beneteau 473 for offshore use. My plan is to add a furler to the inner-stay with a heavy weather jib 100-110%. I know these inner stays are often used for spitfire (storm) jibs, but with the furler changing out sails would not be ideal. Can you suggest a solution?

Thanks for commenting. I think adding a furler and making this a permanent stay (if I hear you correctly) of the boat is a great idea! One concept is to loosen the existing headstay/ furler arrangemnet a bit and cutting a full size large Genoa for it. This is good for light air sailing, but it must be furled to tack, due to the small space between furlers. This sail should carry you in a range of 5-10 knots of windspeed. Then adding the permanent Solent Stay/ Furler arrangement with a 110 (or so) Jib that might have one reef to it. This would be the day in and day out foresail for the boat. Ideally it should be a sail that can be flown in 15-20 unfurled and 22-30 reefed, but that conversation is best suited for a sailmaker.

Add a whisker pole and your boat should be able to handle various points of sail and wind speeds without much ado.

Hope that helps thanks for taking the time.

Thanks for a good article!

I have a CS36 (Canadian Sailcraft) with two docking cleats close together in the exact spot on the foredeck where one would attach an inner forestay or Solent stay. Is there a way to use those cleats as an attachment point (I’m thinking two cleats could possibly distribute load somewhat) and how can I tell if they’ll bear the load? Ordinarily I would just reinforce the spot and move the cleats elsewhere but it would involve major below-deck rearrangment. The trip I’m planning would probably have me using that particular stay for a hank on storm jib.

Hello! Thanks for taking the time to comment. Sorry I am bit late on getting back to you. To answer your question, NO, I would not use the horn cleats to attach an inner forestay of any kind. Horn cleats (although very strong) are made to be loaded in shear and therefore are typically not tied into the boat’s keel. The chainplate for any stay must be tied into the boat’s keel by way of the hull, bow stem, transom or any other structural knee or bulkhead. Most likely there is an anchor locker bulkhead nearby and this is usually the best place to tie into for an inner forestay. Although you will need to make sure that it is an actual structural bulkhead. Be sure to contact your local marine carpenter, fiberglass repair man, or rigger if you are unsure.

I am sure this is not the answer you were looking for but I hope that it is helpful either way.

Thanks for the Read, ~T.R.C.

The Catalina 445 comes with a Selden bowsprit which is intended to be used with a downwind sail and a luff rope furler on a continuous line. That sail needs to be taken down after it’s furled. With some reinforcement do you think it would be practical to put up a conventional furler and a rig this as a solent rig? Solo sailing a lot, it would be nice to have two sails up front, similar to what Tartan yachts does.

Thanks for the comment and YES this is totally do-able, BUT not from the sprit. Your boat is a perfect candidate and we do this upgrade quite frequently. You would install a tang on the mast and depending on how the bow is configured, add a chainplate near where the forestay connects now. Then install a stay and rig it with a furler. This would become the tightest stay and fly the boat’s everyday foresail….maybe even make it self tending depending on what type of conditions the boat sails in. The old headstay/furler is then loosened a bit and outfitted with a large light air drifter sail, which can also be very handy when poled out sailing downwind.

‘Appreciate you checking us out and thanks for the read. Please don’t hesitate if we can help further.

Thanks Jim, this looks like a good option too. Will carry on the research, and thanks so much for answering my questions! Cheers Viki

Reblogged this on Astrolabe Sailing and commented: This looks like a good concept! Great blog to check out for Rigging ideas.

Is it beneficial to add running backstays with a solent stay?

It can be beneficial, but only to eliminate excessive mast pump if that is an issue. A true Solent Stay does not require the use of additional back-stays as it should be rigged close enough to the headstay so that it can utilize the boats dedicated backstay. All-in-all It is not necessary and defeats the purpose, to use running back-stays for a Solent Stay. If mast pumping is an issue there may be better solutions and you should consult a rigger for your boat specifically.

Thanks for the comment, ~T.R.C.

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

Lost your password?

Review Cart

No products in the cart.

Privacy Overview
Strictly Necessary Cookies

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Attainable Adventure Cruising

The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Cruising Rigs—Sloop, Cutter, or Solent?

I was working on Part 3 of our review of the Outbound 46 , but when I got to thinking about the rig, I realized that the tradeoffs of the solent rig against sloops and true cutters—there are always tradeoffs—should actually be a chapter of this Online Book, so here we go:

Please Share a Link:

More Articles From Online Book: Sail Handling and Rigging Made Easy:

Six Reasons To Leave The Cockpit Often
Don’t Forget About The Sails
Your Mainsail Is Your Friend
Hoisting the Mainsail Made Easy—Simplicity in Action
Reefs: How Many and How Deep
Reefing Made Easy
Reefing From The Cockpit 2.0—Thinking Things Through
Reefing Questions and Answers
A Dangerous Myth about Reefing
Mainsail Handling Made Easy with Lazyjacks
Topping Lift Tips and a Hack
12 Reasons The Cutter Is A Great Offshore Voyaging Rig
Cutter Rig—Should You Buy or Convert?
Cutter Rig—Optimizing and/or Converting
Sailboat Deck Layouts
The Case For Roller-Furling Headsails
UV Protection For Roller Furling Sails
In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing—Convenience and Reliability
In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing —Performance, Cost and Safety
The Case For Hank On Headsails
Making Life Easier—Roller Reefing/Furling
Making Life Easier—Storm Jib
Gennaker Furlers Come Of Age
Swept-Back Spreaders—We Just Don’t Get It!
Q&A: Staysail Stay: Roller Furling And Fixed Vs Hanks And Removable
Rigid Vangs
Rigging a Proper Preventer, Part 1
Rigging a Proper Preventer—Part 2
Amidships “Preventers”—A Bad Idea That Can Kill
Keeping The Boom Under Control—Boom Brakes
Downwind Sailing, Tips and Tricks
Downwind Sailing—Poling Out The Jib
Setting and Striking a Spinnaker Made Easy and Safe
Ten Tips To Fix Weather Helm
Running Rigging Recommendations—Part 1
Running Rigging Recommendations—Part 2
Two Dangerous Rigging Mistakes
Rig Tuning, Part 1—Preparation
Rig Tuning, Part 2—Understanding Rake and Bend
Rig Tuning, Part 3—6 Steps to a Great Tune
Rig Tuning, Part 4—Mast Blocking, Stay Tension, and Spreaders
Rig Tuning, Part 5—Sailing Tune
12 Great Rigging Hacks
9 Tips To Make Unstepping a Sailboat Mast Easier
Cruising Sailboat Spar Inspection
Cruising Sailboat Standing Rigging Inspection
Cruising Sailboat Running Rigging Inspection
Cruising Sailboat Rig Wiring and Lighting Inspection
Cruising Sailboat Roller Furler and Track Inspection
Download Cruising Sailboat Rig Checklist

No surprise, I generally agree with you conclusions. Cutters are certainly king offshore in many conditions. I have never sailed a solent rig offshore but I will admit to being intrigued by the possibility of 2 headsails poled out for the tradewinds even though I understand your reservations about being locked in with this rig. To me the question is always how do you fly storm canvas on a cutter rigged boat. Do you make the staysail and furling gear so heavy that it can do it, do you undersize the staysail and make it heavy so that it never needs reduction, do you make the staysail hank-on or do you plan to swap sails in a furler. I have sailed on boats set up for all and all have their issues but I think that if I were really planning to sail hard offshore, I would be tempted to go hank-on for the staysail up to 50’+. Doing a trade-winds run, I would put the staysail on a furler and then plan to swap for a storm sail well in advance of any weather.

Since you mention coastal, I think that fractional sloop rigs can be great coastal rigs. Even 40′ boats can run hank-on sails in many cases and they are small enough that they don’t force you to swap the jib often, you can do most adjustment in the main. If roller furled, it also has a wide wind range before you are too furled and shape goes to heck.

One of the most important points you make is about importance of jib shape and how closely tied it is to whether it is roller reefed or not. Our boat is a sloop with hank-on sails and my absolute favorite setup is when we go to our 100% blade jib (slightly high cut for a true blade). Amazingly, on the wind this sail keeps up with a 150% jib by about 10 knots true and by 12 it is faster. Reaching, those numbers go up but only by a small amount. The 150% was a basically new sail when we bought the boat and I just bought a new 135% this year as I felt that the 150% was just too big and narrowed the top end of its range too much and was too inefficient otherwise (we carry 3 jibs and an asym). My own feeling is that most of the boats around us would do better overall with a smaller jib. If I were going roller furling right now, I think that I would put a 120% on the furler for our New England weather and have a second bare stay for hank-on jibs for higher winds. Our boat stays more balanced than I would have expected as we change the jib size so I often go to our “storm” (really a gale jib) jib by the time it reaches 30 steady and can simply adjust the main from there.

I realize that my post reads like an ad for hank-on sails and the funny thing is that I don’t totally love them but having 1 smaller headsail be hank-on really give you a lot of flexibility. However, for a genoa on a 50’er, there is no way I would consider hank-on, it has to be the right application.

Agree. I go further: the working staysail is hanked on and the storm staysail is hanked on below it in its bag, which is lashed down.

That is how we roll, too, with our cutter rig. Plus a yankee on a furler forward on a short, stout bowsprit.

Yes, good point on using both headsails downwind on a solent boat, that said it’s worth remembering that one could do the same on a cutter and that the projected area would be about the same (unless the solent used an extending pole) given that the cutter will have a bigger foretriangle.

The big problem I see (aside from the being locked in) is that all of these twin headsail rigs require two poles to use effectively offshore, unless one guys out the boom, and so doing is just another lock in.

On using the roller furling staysail as a storm sail on a cutter, we have never found it that complex, but there are some things that make it work for us: https://www.morganscloud.com/2013/06/01/how-to-heave-to-in-a-sailboat/

That said, we do carry a storm jib, but have never had to use it. About the only time I could see that ever happening would be if we had to beat off a lee shore. Obviously the change could be a challenge, but given that both sails are quite small, even on our boat, and that we have retaining tabs sewn to both, quite doable. See this post for more on changing to the storm jib: https://www.morganscloud.com/2012/03/23/handling-roller-furling-sails/

That said, for the first three years we had the boat we had a hanked on staysail and while we now prefer roller furling, it’s not by a huge margin. Probably boat size is the governing parameter.

And yes, I totally agree on what a bad idea 150% genoas are. Our boat had one when we bought her (staysail stay was removable at that time) and I sold it without ever taking it out of the bag. The damned things are simply the result of poorly thought out rating systems.

As for hank on sails generally, I’m a fan, but again I think it’s boat size dependant, and probably age too!

And I love fractional rigs with big mains and blade jibs. In fact one of the lead contenders for my old age boat is rigged just that way, although it needs to be said that a sail area to displacement ratio of 24 is a lot of what makes that work—most cruising boats would be slugs rigged that way.

I agree that hanked on sails are an age and boat size dependent thing. I am still young enough and have the advantage of being a physically large guy so that I find it manageable. Our new 130% is around 450 ft^2 and the old 150 was obviously a bit bigger and only occasionally did I find it to be a pain in the neck (we do almost all sail handling solo). I also have the advantage of having sailed on some boats with much larger hank-on sails that really were tricky and could be carried in much stronger conditions so that when they finally did need to come down, they could be a handful even with several crewmembers, these boats made everything else feel a lot easier.

It is interesting that you have never had to use your storm jib. I have had several occasions to use a “storm jib” but in truth I would not consider any of them to actually be a true storm jib and rather just ones sized appropriately for a strong gale. That said, I have never actually needed to change a headsail on a cutter, all of the changes have been on sloops which is a rig not well suited to heavy weather anyways because of this issue. This may fall into the category of every 1 in 50 years you are incredibly thankful to have it but all the other times it is more convenient and safer to have a good staysail on a roller furler. I had missed the post that shows the loops you have, I can imagine that those are critical to managing the sail outside the foil.

I think that’s exactly it: 1 in 50 years that you will want the roller furling staysail off and the storm jib on. In fact that’s exactly my experience in that just about 40 years ago, on the way home to Bermuda in my old boat one fall, we got caught in an un-forecast bomb off Cape Hatteras and were thankful for a storm jib as we had to claw off. Also the reason I carry a storm trysail: https://www.morganscloud.com/2013/06/01/lee-shores/

But since then I have actually carried the part rolled staysail in as much wind, but with it aft and never felt the need to change. The point being that as long as one is not trying to claw off a lee shore a staysail works fine since you just roll in enough that the loads are low. Ditto heaving to: https://www.morganscloud.com/2013/06/01/how-to-heave-to-in-a-sailboat/

And yes, the loops are vital to our strategy. A trick I learned from Dodge Morgan.

Hi Eric, When I bought my cutter rigged 40-foot boat back when, I was initially disappointed that the staysail was on a roller furler. Fairly quickly, a couple of things started to become apparent. One, I had the staysail deployed anytime the wind was forward of abeam so I was just using it a lot more than expected. In that way having the staysail on a furler approached the reasons I have the jib on a furler. As my sail plan quickly evolved to a low-clewed staysail and a higher clewed jib topsail, the synchronicity with which they worked together, just made a furler even more sensible. Those boats that sail more like a sloop: jib out and roller reefed till doused when the staysail is then deployed, might more reasonably take to hanked-on sails. But on cutters where the staysail is frequently used I appreciate roller furling. The other thing was the versatility I experienced. My take is that cruising boats do passages where wind is generally steady and changes gradual, but that, in practice, a majority of time and mileage is coastal cruising. And so many of these day sails start out in mild breezes, only to crank up as the day progresses. Being able to throttle down with no visits to the fore-deck is just really nice, comfortable, and safe. Often, by the end of the day, we are sailing with just the staysail and a reef or two in the main, all without drama and work. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

That’s been pretty much exactly our experience too

As I mentioned in my reply to John, I find it interesting that he has never used the storm jib on Morgan’s Cloud. Hopefully my initial comment was clear that I would tend towards a roller furling staysail in normal sailing and my speculation on a hank-on one was for more adventurous places than coastal cruising or tradewind sailing. Of course, I believe that you and John both been to higher latitudes than I so it is interesting that you both lean towards roller furling. Interestingly, I really don’t mind the extra time associated with hank-on, we actually take the jib off most times that it comes down so that the foredeck is clear and it doesn’t influence our decision of which sail to use the next time.

All this is said by the owner of a sloop but who has sailed on several different cutters with different setups but I have never actually gotten to set one up myself for my preferences. If I bought one for my current sailing, I would think that it would be all furler based and it may be that it is overly conservative to go hank-on even for more adventurous places.

Hi Eric, I have had a fortunate life in many ways, but one is that I have never had to claw off a lee shore in high winds. I have gone to wind in gale conditions on numerous occasions: often towards the end of day along the Turkish coast when I wished to get to an anchorage (and, of course, when anchored the wind died giving us a beautiful evening). On these occasions, the staysail and main with three reefs have done the trick (and hand steering- fun for a couple hours- allowing me to feather in gusts). I believe I have only reefed the staysail when hove-to and that, in part, so the leach does not rub on the radome. I do not carry a storm jib and had the staysail made robustly of HydraNet Radial, a material I have been very pleased with for 7 years now. My best, Dick

Hi John, love the variety of topics you are covering – good stuff. To go offshore, Doyle Sails suggested changing from our 135% genoa to a 100% high modulus jib (solent), low cut as you suggest John. AND YES we can see OK underneath the solent upwind, if we duck down (harder in a big sea but not impossible) and we can more easily look around it, being a much smaller jib. From experience in running a low cut jib solent rig, a couple of other points… On the wind you want inside sheeting for pointing, but even with slightly eased sheets we find we NEED outboard sheeting. As you say the low cut blade shape is not as forgiving as a higher cut genoa off the wind. So we run inboard and outboard tracks and two sheets per side, the outer tracks being on the cap-rail. This gives us great luff and sail shape control at all times, but the downside is if we are careless, having two lazy sheets they can get in a knot, whilst tacking. We could just attach the outboard sheets when eased off, but offshore and shorthanded this doesn’t seem practical. Secondly, the benefit of having jib battens to hold good jib sail shape – Doyle advised we use vertical battens, which work great and roll perfectly aligned with the forestay, but these make it harder to quickly drop and flake the jib on the foredeck when required. But the relatively flat blade jib rolls much tighter than our old, fuller genoa, so we don’t often feel the need to remove it. For completeness, we run a high cut Doyle “Code 0” forward of the jib / forestay, on an extended and much strengthened bow roller-fairlead with solid support strut under. So I do call ours a solent rig as when out cruising, the Code 0 stays rolled up ready to use (except on long windward legs, at anchor more than overnight, or if a gale is expected). And we use the Code 0 a lot. Similar to Eric, the VMG performance cross-over between jib / genoa for us came at about 13-14 knots. But we can hold the Code-0 upwind to around 12 knots (12-14 if the wind is stable), so a small performance hit. Overall I think it is a good compromise for production boats designed with genoas, looking for a more manageable sail combination offshore. Rob

Sounds like a great rig, and very much in line with where my thinking has been going lately. That said, I would call it a sloop with a removable code zero, not a solent, which implies to me a fixed genoa furler that can’t be removed.

And yes, sheeting outboard improved things a lot when reaching with a blade, but a high cut sail will always be better yet and does not generally require a lot of messing with leads—it’s all about tradeoffs.

An additional advantage of cutter vs. sloop, certainly for offshore work, is mast stability. The additional stay, and running back stays, add stability and redundancy. The mast is much less likely to be lost if one support snaps for whatever reason.

True, in fact I agree so much that I think all offshore boats should be so equipped:

Also, all boats, once they get offshore in swell, benefit from the mast stabilization afforded by an inner headstay and runners, particularly when the main is heavily reefed, to the point that I believe they are required equipment.

John I recently sold my Xc45. It was a solent rig set up, and had a pretty tall, powerful mast for a boat that size. The furling staysail was set on a 2:1 halyard on the inner stay. On three occasions in my first 2 years of cruising, when we had over 35 knots of wind on the bow, the furled staysail would unfurl from the top. Once when trying to motor around Cape Lindesnes in Norway, once when trying to get out of Rorvik en route to the Faroes, and once in a marina in Spain. Apart from the marina episode, both other episodes required crew to get onto a pitching foredeck to secure the situation. I thought it to be an unsafe rig. The high angle of the stay sail given the mast height on the Xc45 made it impossible to get an adequately tight furl at the top. I would add this to your list of Solent rig negatives. Anthony

Hi Anthony,

I’m not sure it’s fair to hit the solent with that one since I think the problem you had with furling was more about having the staysail set flying on a two to one halyard so not able to get it tight enough for a good roll. We have never had any problems furling our staysail, or with it unrolling, but it’s set on fixed roller furler. My thinking is that sails that are set flying, even on a 2:1 halyard should not be left up once things get bumpy. Mind you Lindesnes is a nasty place that can test any furl!

Have an Outbound 46. Have a blade, 130 and a parasailor. Have expandable cf pole. The parasailor virtually never comes out of its bag. Find with no main and both head sails out can go nearly DDW. The Hydrovane tracts fine with this set up at all wind speeds . I can roll up or out either headsail as conditions require in a second or two. Can sail the boat by myself and not leave the cockpit. Allows me safety so even at night can sail the boat near its potential not being scared of a line squall coming through. I went oz. up and in vectron so after 7 years minimal creep and no sag. Windward Dyneema runner is used only to prevent mast pumping when it occurs. Rig is tuned for the solent with a little backstay on. Genny stay is tuned with a slight bit of sag when no backstay on. Underway you tune genny stay with hydraulic backstay. You put more backstay on when you roll the genny. Then let if off if you’re going downwind. I’ve had several cutters previously. Like many sail mom and pop which means you’re singling much of the time. Most people do a few passages each year but sail frequently once cruising grounds are reached. With a cutter found we got lazy. Handling 3 sheets plus mainsail shape controls means you put the coffee or drink down frequently. So for short hops may even power sail not wanting to deal with tacking 3 sails. Having the solent means you put the coffee on with the bride asleep. Leave under sail. Get your coffee. Have breakfast when she wakes up. Before passage rig our removable inner dyneema storm jib stay and sheets. Running backs line up to its stay. With third reef on the main ready to go and the stormjib deployable by one with no bother that’s great. Having that inner stay up means like with the genny you need to roll up the solent to tack but you very rarely tack on passage. Very much happier with the solent than the cutter rig for mom and pop sailing.

Great analysis, thanks. That said, I think the solent to cutter choice is more about where sailing and how than mom and pop. Back in the day we were doing huge offshore miles just the two of us and the cutter rig was great. Now days with more inshore sailing a sloop or solent has a lot to recommend it and I would say that might be age independent. For example, I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up with a sloop for my geriatric boat.

Sorry to hear that Anthony. On 69 Outbounds have never heard that happening. Must be particular to the boat or just insufficient angle of halyard to stay. Think that’s a generic problem with any roller furling headsail not related to the type of rig. John curious as to why you left out split rigs in your analysis? For the cruising sailor they still have desirable characteristics.

I didn’t get into split rigs for two reasons, first off I’m not a fan of ketches and second I wanted this to be manageable so I kept it fundamentally about the foretriangle. I find if I widen the subject too far for a given article it just turns to mush with too many variables and qualifications to be useful.

Hi John, I would hope, with your writing, that someone would start building a true cutter (mast almost amidships) once again. I do not know of any in production, but it is not really a loop I am in, nor have I noticed any one-offs lately. It is my take that the term “cutter”, as a boat description, has evolved into a romantic term that gets bandied about with little regard to an agreed upon definition: hence the recourse to the awkward “true cutter”. Many of the sailboats that call themselves cutters are more accurately described, to my mind, as double head-sail sloops (mast farther forward). This is not just a splitting of hairs as on boats my size (40 feet) with the mast almost amidships, I can successfully fly both headsails going to wind (jib topsail over a low clewed staysail) whereas a double headsail sloop (in a similar boat length) has trouble doing so. Its J is just too short (with the mast forward like it is) and the sails set too close to each other and turbulence results slowing down the boat. I have sailed next to double head-sail sloops who have called me on the radio to ask for suggestions as to why they slow down when they fly their staysail. My observation is that their J is just too small to allow for good clean air to work on both head-sails until the boat overall gets large. They go faster flying only one head-sail. I would suggest that the Tayana pictured in the article can fly two head-sails together as pictured because of its overall length (52 feet) which also lengthens the J and allows both head-sails to works with clean air. I would also call the Tayana pictured in the article a double head-sail sloop, or a cutter rigged sloop, but not a cutter: its mast is just too far forward. Random thoughts, my best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

As before, we will have to agree to disagree on that one since I don’t think that whether or not a boat is a cutter is governed by mast position.

More on that here: https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/09/17/12-reasons-the-cutter-is-a-great-offshore-voyaging-rig/

As to why boats slow down with the staysail, I think it’s a lot more about poor trim and setup (usually not having the tracks in the right place) than foretriangle size. The bottom line is that most cruisers, these days when few have raced, are pretty bad at sail trim and trimming a cutter well does take more skill than a sloop. The other problem is sailmakers who don’t understand cutters and saddle their clients with low cut genoas that will never work well with a staysail.

More on how to set up a cutter right: https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/10/04/cutter-rig-optimizing-andor-converting/

All that said, I totally agree that it’s sad that cutters are dying out given that it’s still the rig that rules offshore, particularly short handed.

So what is the ideal J and J2 relationship in percentage? And mast set more amidship- in what percentage? Say 40% of LOD?

Hi Taras, Interesting question and I suspect it changes with boat length. I do not know ideal, but years ago I worked out my mast position and (from memory) it was 47% back from the bow on a 40-foot LOD (Valiant 42). That said my boat has a substantial anchor platform that kicks the forestay out ~~2 feet which results in a larger J. I will try and check out those figures. This design has proved “ideal” for me and I have not wished the mast to be elsewhere. My J length allows enough room for both headsails to work together synergistically (higher clewed jib topsail and lower clewed staysail). It is my very casual observation that this may be about the lower boat length that allows both sails to fly together going upwind without generating turbulence resulting from the sails being too close together. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Sorry, just realized I misunderstood your question.

You will find the answer in our cutter optimization chapter:

https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/10/04/cutter-rig-optimizing-andor-converting/

In my experience, for maximum efficiency, the staysail stay should be parallel to the headstay and set about 30% of the foretriangle base (J) back from the headstay.

I also have an Outbound 46. I concur with Lee Corwin’s comments above. I don’t have a light air sail and have missed this on a few occasions only. Downwind I use poled out Genoa and Solent to leeward – all three sails flying. This works up to almost 160 degrees true wind angle. The result is a very stable boat with minimal roll. I have secondary winches installed to facilitate more sail configurations than the standard OB46 which has primaries only. I also have a high wind staysail on a removable furling stay, which is set up for long offshore passages. The Solent rig can be easily configured for all points of sailing in winds from 5-45 knots with minimal effort and no heroics with hanked on sails, which is simply not an option for me and my wife! I agree with your pros and cons of the Solent rig – there is always a compromise. Yawing at anchor in high winds is definitely a negative and I’m planning to get a FinDelta anchor riding sail. The risk of high wind unfurling the headsails is not an issue with the OB46.

That makes sense. Based on our own experience with a jib top and main downwind, which would be probably be about the same area, we can’t really sail well until the true wind hits 12-14 knots and a bit more in swell. At lower windspeed there’s nothing for it but the spinnaker and hotter angles.

You have a bit higher SA/D ratio than us, so I’m guessing you can make it work at 10-12 true, at least in smooth water, but after that it’s either a light air sail or the motor. I have to confess that as we age the latter often happens before the former.

I would also guess that when you say 45 knots you are referring to a storm jib set on an internal stay as I can’t see the solent and main standing to that, except for a gust or two, or maybe downwind.

John, your comments are spot on of course. When I said 5 to 45 knots, I was referring to the versatility of the rig and the ease of setup. 12-14 kn is the lower limit for downwind with both headsails flying. Upwind on flat water we get 5kn boatspeed in 5kn wind. Recently, a 50kn front was chasing me up the NSW coast. I put in 3 reefs and set the pole in readiness. We ran with just 3 reefs for a few hours until it eased to 35kn, then let out a small triangle of headsail. AP steered the whole way.

Thanks for confirmation on the downwind lower limit.

And it’s good to hear, once again, that the boat will track well with just the main in those conditions. I really do think that the fixation we see these days on sailing off the wind with just headsails is a lot because so many boats don’t track well and so people gravitate to taking the main down in an attempt to fix that. I still believe that’s not a good habit:

https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/11/17/your-mainsail-is-your-friend/

Hi John, One of the advances in safety most appreciated over the years on Alchemy was to get rid of the aluminum spinnaker pole and to buy a carbon fiber whisker pole (I do not own a symmetrical spinnaker). The alum pole was just a beast, sized to racing rules, and scared me when handling on the foredeck before it was adequately secured, especially offshore in swells. The cf pole weighs just over 14 lbs/6.5kg and is sized to stretch my jib topsail out fully. It seemed outrageously expensive at the time as it needed to be custom made, but this was 15-20 years ago and I know that cf tubing is much easier to come by these days. In any case, it was money well spent, as I felt much safer deploying the pole and we found that we used to pole far more often. I have found many cruising couples wary of a pole and nervous enough so they rarely use it, in large part because they find the aluminum pole a challenge. This is a shame, as with a cf pole, added to Colin’s fine article on downwind wing and wing sailing in years past on these pages, using a pole can become a doddle. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy Ps. Agree that extension poles are unwise buys (I have owned two, push button and line control).

I agree on carbon poles: don’t leave home without one!

I love the solent arrangement on our Outbound 44. Ours has high cut 125 Genoa and low cut 105 jib. For offshore work we always hank on the storm jib to our removable inner stay and much like Lee, have three reefs available on the main. The benefit of a dedicated storm jib, rather than the dual purpose staysail we had on our previous Crealock is I believe very significant. We also have a reacher on it’s own furler as well as an assymetrical – so we’ve got the bases covered! On our last trans-atlantic, we had great success (a 2 day run) with reacher ‘poled out’ on the boom to starboard (with main with 2 reefs), genoa poled out to port and storm jib held tight amidships (to reduce roll)! The combinations are endless! Cheers!

Saga 43 owner for the past 20 yrs here. We love our Solent rig and I’ve added an inner “storm” jib on a free furler that’s easy to hoist on a 2:1 halyard. The head of that sail aligns nicely with the head of a double reefed main which seems to reduce the need for runners. With the little jib sheeting to the self tacking track it’s also a perfect sail for harbor tours (lots of tacking) with inexperienced (nervous) guests aboard. John, you’re right on the money with the headstay tuning comment. I’ve set us up so the inner forestay is as tight as possible but that means the genoa stay has quite a bit of sag. Not a big issue off the wind but when closehauled under our 100% jib the genoa does bounce around too much. I’d say the main downside to the Solent rig is the large amount of windage far forward which exacerbates sailing back and forth at anchor. But the Saga is nicely set up with twin anchor rollers and dropping the secondary anchor, even on short scope, quiets the boat immediately. Keep the great articles coming, John!

That makes sense, and I agree a staysail is a great “harbour tour” sail.

Thanks for the great analysis. I have sailed on plenty of sloop rigged club boats and seen the limitations you describe firsthand. I’ve sailed most of my offshore miles on a cutter rigged J42 with a yankee foresail and a blade staysail. Your article helps me better understand why this rig is so versatile.

I am under contract for a new Boreal 47 which has a low cut genoa and a blade staysail. What are the pluses and minuses of rigging a Boreal 47 low cut genoa vs a yankee ? Why is running w both low cut sails not advised? I assume you would characterize the Boreal 47 a solent rig, correct?

Thanks, David

The boreal is a special case, being neither cutter, or really a solent since the staysail is further back, but I guess closer to the latter than the former.

I have long wondered how the boat would do as a full on cutter and have a feeling that it would be an improvement, at least for offshore work. That said, it would take quite a few changes including staysail tracks and moving the runner terminations points forward to make it work well, as well as a sailmaker who was fully committed to designing a really good staysail and yankee to work together.

The benefits would be many including getting rid of most of the overlap on the genoa while actually increasing area up wind and close reaching in light air, as well as all the other stuff I detail in the cutter articles: https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/09/17/12-reasons-the-cutter-is-a-great-offshore-voyaging-rig/

I did talk it over with the JFs when I visited the yard and neither were keen on it. Given that, if it were me, I would not push them into it. The point being that to do this right would take their enthusiastic participation.

As to the mainsail downwind, my thinking is here: https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/11/17/your-mainsail-is-your-friend/

It also looks like turning a Boréal into a true cutter to John’s requirements would require moving the foot of the inner forestay slightly to the aft. Not a minor change! So sad that (in general, not specifically on a Boreal) it looks impossible to get the advantages of a true cutter while keeping a self-tacking staysail!

Actually, I’m not a big fan of the self tacking staysail on the Boreal. My thinking is that a sail that size, particularly on a boat the size of the Boreal 44/47 is just not that hard to tack, so, if it were me, I would get rid of all the clutter of the self tacking track anyway.

Same happened with the Garcia Exploration 52.

Since #6 they have got rid of the self tacking staysail (which was too small) and installed a bigger jib instead. Jib + Code Zero is also a perfect combination for light winds.

https://i.imgur.com/UKw0uVx.jpg

Wow, this is my kind of sailing! (and the on-roof jackline looks great)

Thank you for the information! It looks like they have kept the genoa-intended track, but it’s probably less of an issue, since this is not a true cutter, and you don’t often sail upwind with the jib on flat water(?).

I have a removable inner solent stay, which we keep rigged offshore. Hanked on solent jib and storm jib. But for cruising among BC islands, the solent stay most of the time is back at the mast because my Morgan 382 needs the bigger jib in light inshore winds and there is no way to short tack with the solent stay in place. (Ted Brewer designed sail plans to make the boat a cutter, but very few have ever been so rigged.) We have inner and outer tracks. If and when we go offshore again, I may put the solent jib on a permanent furler for all the reasons you discuss. Anyway, your discussion of blades reminded me of my one disappointment with the rig on which perhaps you can comment. I told my sailmaker I wanted a blade for the solent jib. He told me could not make it work and would have to make it a higher cut, very much like the Outbound solent. He said that was because I was going to sheet it to the inner track, which begins just behind the aft lower shroud. To use a blade, I would have to move the sheeting point forward. He is a very good sailmaker and I trust his designs. Now, having lost a lot of solent sail area, I wish I had figured how to put in a forward sheeting point. Nonetheless, I generally like the arrangement for inshore sailing, where the genoa is primary our headsail, but having the solent available makes long days tacking upwind in anything above 15 knots a joy. I hate partially rolled in furling genoas.

Hi Terence,

Yes, your sailmaker is right, cutting the jib with a lower clew requires moving the sheet lead forward, so, in your case, it would have required extending the track.

On the genoa inshore, this is, as you have found, probably the best bet for your boat since she is comparatively short rigged and so, as you say, a blade just won’t be enough sail area, particularly in BC where I understand the winds are light much of the time.

Definitely worth exploring making her a cutter for offshore work though.

See our three chapters on the cutter rig for tips on that: https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/09/17/12-reasons-the-cutter-is-a-great-offshore-voyaging-rig/

A much appreciated article; I’ve spent a lot of time researching many views and ideas on the foresail enigma and I was delighted to read that I had stumbled to an identical conclusion to the one you had reached via decades of real world experience.

My Adams 40 was always set up as a true cutter, but it came with a sodding great 130% genoa on a furler that I’m not fond of at all and I’m definitely replacing with a high cut jib. The staysail is hanked on and there is a storm sail which looks good. The staysail track is nice and tight and it trims well.

But currently there is nothing forward of the main furler, nothing to mount a true downwind sail on. I’m planning on adding that (and extending the bow roller a bit) soon.

My question is this; for a specialised downwind sail the obvious choice is a cruising code zero. On the other hand I’m also attracted to the idea of a twin ‘blue water runner’. A couple of variations are around but the best described one is this : https://wavetrain.net/2018/02/12/elvstrom-blue-water-runner-modern-interpretation-of-downwind-twin-headsails/

Which would appeal to you more?

Definitely go with the code zero/asymmetric spinnaker type. You will already have a great rig for running off when the wind is up using the jib top and main so buying another running rig that would not be as efficient as an asymmetric spinnaker in light air would be a waste of money.

Also, I’m simply not a fan of those downwind rigs for a whole bunch of reasons—probably should write an article on that. But the short version is that they are really a hang over from the old days when boats needed twin jibs—or “twin spinnakers” as they were called then—to self steer in the trades. Today they have been obsoleted by advances in cruising running and reaching sails.

Today the only good reason for the twin jib set up, that I can think of, is on boats with radically swept back spreaders that can’t let the main out enough on a run.

If you read Charlie’s article between the lines you can pick up on many of the problems with the twin jib rig. Note that he points out that you will need twin poles, or at least some kluge using the boom to pole out one side.

More here on why sailing without the main up is not a good idea: https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/11/17/your-mainsail-is-your-friend/

I think I’ve come to rely on you for my ultimate sanity check.

Yikes, I hope I can live up to that!

Hi all, I am curious whether others share my instinctual (meaning I have a hard time completely justifying it logically) wish to have some main deployed when underway. I write this presently as there is this talk of running under just tandem headsails. I certainly have operated Alchemy under just a headsail. In fact, I enjoy those days when coastal cruising and on a day hop when we just roll out the jib or, better yet, deploy the asym in light air and leave the mainsail furled and covered. That said any longer sail, and any sail overnight or where there might be unsettled weather, I always want to have the mainsail up, at least part way. Even if I choose to not have the main working very hard, I might pull it up and set the third reef. As soon as I do this, I am much happier and feel like I am better prepared for surprises. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

I don’t call that instinctual, I call it good seamanship based on the many miles you have sailed. I only needed to wrestle to hoist the main in a hurry offshore in big breeze and waves a couple of times to get the message.

What really scares me is when I see boats offshore sailing along with just a jib and the sail cover still on, and the main halyard not even attached. On one day sail along the Nova Scotia coast in 25 knots with a good 2-3 meter sea running I saw three boats doing this. If they need the main in a hurry they are truly and utterly screwed as they wrestle to get the cover off standing on top of the cabin top with nothing but a swinging boom to hold onto, and obstructed by cockpit enclosures and way too many solar panels on a wildly pitching boat—that’s how tragedies happen.

Roll-furl vs hank-on is always an interesting q. If I’ve understood this discussion the cutter seems to offer a sweet spot configuration: Roller jib and hank-on staysail. The rolled up jib is smaller than a rolled genoa so presents less windage. And, it’s easier to go forward to handle a hank-on staysail because you don’t have to go so far forward.

True, but there are also benefits (and tradeoffs) to putting the staysail on a roller furler too. See Dick’s and my comments earlier in the thread.

Great article John, thank you. My Niagara 35 came to me with a detachable Solent ‘bob stay’ that got me making a lot of enquiries during our refit. As a long-time cat boat sailor, a foresail, let alone two of them, presents new challenges. We have only a little experience testing this rig since recommissioning late last year. We have a 90 and 140 jib for the roller furling headfoil. The 90 has proven to be enough in last summer’s brisk winds around CapeBreton. I have a hank-on tiny storm jib for the Solent stay and assumed that would be the stay’s main purpose. Since reading this article I am thinking perhaps to get (Or recut my 90) a hank on blade for the Solent stay and leave the 140 on the roller for light air. And to use both Wing on wing with no main, DDW. As a 2 handed geriatric crew we will not carry a poled spinnaker. BTW our removable bob stay has a quick release shackle to deck, with turnbuckle. I assume that enables tuning the rig when Solent Sail is in use. Thanks again. AAC has given me a lot of ideas and info during my refit, and it continues.

Hi Gregory,

I’m a bit confused by the terms in your comment. To me a “bob stay” is one running from the waterline to the end of a bow sprit. Also, how far back is the the inner stay? To be a solent it needs to be right forward and go close to the top of the mast. If it’s further back than that it’s an inner forestay and the sail set on it is a staysail not a solent. I’m not just being pedantic here, since which it is has a lot of effect on how to use it and the right sails to have.

Also, I would not recommend running off with two headsails. Much better and easier on your boat with straight spreaders to use the main on one side and poled out jib on the other. https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/11/17/your-mainsail-is-your-friend/

Ha!! I’m certain that I’m the guy Andy is talking about at the beginning of the clip. He and I were hanging out last summer, I believe aboard Ice Bear in Lunenburg, when we had the discussion about whisker poles. Well, I took his advice and found an appropriately sized $100 aluminum pole.

I’ve finally filled a big gap in my downwind sailing arsenal, and it’s been fantastic to have aboard! That said, you guys are right about there being a learning curve, and I’m glad it’s an inexpensive pole I’m bashing about, rather than one that was really not in the budget to begin with. When the time comes to upgrade to carbon, I’ll be more confident I’m bringing the right pole aboard.

Busted! Seriously, good call.

Am ever so slightly surprised that ketch rigged boats weren’t considered in an article comparing rig benefits for cruising boats. Am I missing something?

See this comment: https://www.morganscloud.com/2020/05/28/cruising-rigs-sloop-cutter-or-solent/comment-page-1/#comment-293318

Hi Peter, I never had a ketch, but I had a yawl for 15+ years and have now had a true cutter for 20 years. I consider split-rigs as existing, in large part, as a reflection of the gear that was in use in days past. The split-rig argument for a simpler, more user friendly, array of sails reflects old gear. Modern equipment makes handling sail area on spars a doddle compared to 40 years ago. I would never return to my old yawl for offshore sailing as on the cutter, with modern equipment, the ability to carry large sails and then to reduce sail to meet conditions is so very easy. In addition to the ease that modern equipment allows for larger sail handling, there is, with two masts, the rigging/spar inspection, maintenance and expense which approaches almost double a single mast rig. There is enough that can go wrong without doubling the chances. Also, I had all that “stuff” aft that always seem to be in the way, especially at anchor. My friends with ketches felt similarly even as they loved their boats. I also loved our yawl in most ways and for coastal cruising it checked most of the boxes for me and my family. I don’t miss it, however, except those moments when I think fondly of that beautiful old yawl sitting at anchor with me gazing at it as I row away in our dinghy. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

I did a bunch of offshore miles in a ketch (three races to Bermuda and a bunch of other stuff) and I’m 100% with you.

On that boat we crew used to say “best use of this second mast is to hang a bunch of bananas on…and everyone knows that bananas on a boat are bad luck.”

As you say, ketches made sense before reliable roller furling jibs, and powerful multi speed self tailing winches, but today they are largely obsolete.

Fun fact: Yawls only came to be because the old CCA rule did not measure the area of mizzen staysails so it was a rule cheat feature. The other thing the CAA rule saddled us with was overlapping genoas, again because the overlap was not counted. I can remember seeing boats with 170% genoas!

Hi John, Interesting fun fact: thanks for sharing. Never heard that bananas on board were bad luck. One season I sailed my yawl with no mizzen (my mizzen was bigger than most yawls and was 12% of the sail plan if I remember correctly: still a smaller sail compared to ketches). I do not remember missing it in most sailing (sailing characteristics seemed largely unchanged) except for the occasional fun of flying the mizzen staysail and throttling down to jib and jigger. I do miss the looks and I do miss how steady she was at anchor with the mizzen out. I finally determined that the mizzen mast was a great place for the radar and for mounting a soft pleasant down-light for cockpit illumination. My best, Dick

I disliked my mizzen mast so much that I left it behind in a boatyard in Guernsey. Could it still be there ? This was my second ketch in a row. It was a time, 1984, that most second hand steel boats in Europe were ketch rigged. And I really wanted a steel boat to go south in.

The space between the mast and the bow was big enough to support an existing cutter rig so I reasoned that I could dispense with the clutter aft. I bought a longer boom and had a bigger main made. We seemed to cover just as many miles every 24 hours for a lot less effort. And when we shredded the new main and reverted to the old sail the daily mileage still remained the same for the last 10,000 miles.

They used to say there are three things you don’t want on a yacht: an umbrella, a stepladder and a naval officer. I would rather have an umbrella than a mizzen mast.

Hi Mark, Good thought about switching the words. And interesting story of your not missing your mizzen on a ketch where the sail area is more significant than a yawl. And creative thinking on extending the boom. Too many of us (I believe) are hesitant to make changes and are willing to accept that the boat as it came to us was the way it should be. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

That’s a good point, although on the flip side I have seen some truly horrible and ill advised owner modifications!

That makes sense. What about a wheelbarrow?

Thanks for pointing out the advantages of lowering cut of the Solent sail on the Outbound 46 you pictured. That’s the actual boat I’m in the process of buying and she has the same sail on her now, though not in anywhere near as good shape.

That’s fun. Also looked like that boat is pretty well tricked out by an owner who appreciates her performance.

When I left the Pacific NW in 2011 heading for NZ my cutter rig had a hank on staysail and consequently only got used occasionally when conditions got rough. In 2013 I changed to roller furling on the staysail and now I use the staysail a lot. Because of the relatively small size of the staysail the loads on the furling line are small which means it furls very easily so I can quickly add or subtract it from the sail plan. It is also a great sail for coastal work where the destination is directly upwind and you are trying to get there before dark; you can make good speed and progress, at low heel angles by motor sailing far enough off the wind (30 degrees on this boat) to keep a closely sheeted staysail full. This is 2-3 knots faster than motoring directly into the wind. If anyone has a cutter rig and still has a hank on staysail you will use and enjoy the sail much more if you change to roller furling. It was one of the few boat jobs I have done that came under budget – I did most of the work myself and the cost of the Furler was less than I expected since a smaller Furler is perfectly adequate (based on the square footage of the sail even allowing for using the sail in high wind speeds)

That is pretty much exactly our experience.

Hi John, just a quick note; a faster boat is, usually, also a more comfortable boat…..

Hi Jorn, Please explain further your thinking that a faster boat is generally a more comfortable boat. I can think of many boats that are fast, but that I would not want to be offshore on them. Fast too often means light weight, quick motion and increased work to run offshore: there are exceptions surely, but too often I believe that is what occurs when speed is an excessively important criterion. I generally think moderation and balance in all design provides the best combination for crossing oceans. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

I may be putting the wrong words into Jorn’s mouth but he may have meant to imply ” a comfortable boat is a fast boat ”

As beam narrows would the efficacy of a cutter be in question?

I presume narrow beam reduces possible sheeting angles – would this be a problem?

Not unless it was extreme. For example the Morgan’s Cloud is comparatively narrow for her length 56/15 but the jib top sheet leads are still a good foot inboard.

And back in the day, particularly in the UK under the old RORC rule, these we a lot of very narrow cutters that sailed well.

Morgan’s Cloud’s beam/length ratio is 0.27.

I was wondering how cutters might work on the sort of hull’s that Steve Dashew has promoted with B/L ratio’s around 0.22 – 0.23.

And, yes of course there was Illingworth’s Myth of Malham which had a B/L ratio of 0.25 and was a very successful racer. Illingworth obviously was a big fan of offshore racing cutters.

I would think a cutter could be done on one of Steve’s boats, but a bigger question would be if it would be the best approach. That brings in all the issues of mast position and whether or not to make the boat a ketch, which Steve did with his later and larger sailboats. Huge number of variables there. Given that Steve went with very large roach main and mizen and a small fractional foretriangle I don’t think a cutter makes sense.

It’s also worth knowing that Steve’s boats are not rigged to perform particularly well in light air. Rather, his design strategy was to motor in those conditions. He also relied heavily on asymmetric sails to add area reaching. And his later boats were so fast with big breeze that they never sailed on a run, which again changes things.

https://setsail.com/beowulf-the-ultimate-short-handed-cruiser-updated-march-2014/

Yes, he doesn’t like moving much under 10 knots under any conditions. 🙂

And his yachts were generally underpowered. Apart from Beowolf and Sundeer 64 most of his boats had S/D ratios under 18.

John and Phyllis, New to AAC. Approaching 86. As soon as this blasted virus problem is solved with a proven vaccine, I’m considering scaling down land living, getting a boat that I anticipate will be mostly solo sailing and devoting at least a year getting to know her in as many different situations as possible. Was wondering what you would suggest — you answered w/out a question with your comment: “. . . I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up with a sloop for my geriatric boat.” I laughed outloud! With a limited budget, now to determine best size for solo “geriatric” sailing. Being realistic and considering age, doubtful to be world wide, however, . . . who knows what the seas hold? Perhaps you have written on this and I’ll be looking. Am really enjoying your writings as well as reader comments. Thanks.

We have an entire online book with our thinking on buying a boat: https://www.morganscloud.com/category/boat-design-selection/book-how-to-buy-a-cruising-boat/

It does need a bit of cleaning up—next winter’s project—but you will still find a huge amount to help you decide which boat is right for you.

You may also find the Adventure 40 series of interest: https://www.morganscloud.com/category/boat-design-selection/adventure-40/

Types of Sailboats
Parts of a Sailboat
Cruising Boats
Small Sailboats
Design Basics
Sailboats under 30'
Sailboats 30'-35
Sailboats 35'-40'
Sailboats 40'-45'
Sailboats 45'-50'
Sailboats 50'-55'
Sailboats over 55'
Masts & Spars
Knots, Bends & Hitches
The 12v Energy Equation
Electronics & Instrumentation
Build Your Own Boat
Buying a Used Boat
Choosing Accessories
Living on a Boat
Cruising Offshore
Sailing in the Caribbean
Anchoring Skills
Sailing Authors & Their Writings
Mary's Journal
Nautical Terms
Cruising Sailboats for Sale
List your Boat for Sale Here!
Used Sailing Equipment for Sale
Sell Your Unwanted Gear
Sailing eBooks: Download them here!
Your Sailboats
Your Sailing Stories
Your Fishing Stories
Advertising
What's New?
Chartering a Sailboat
Cutter Rig or Solent Rig?

Is the Cutter Rig More Useful than the Solent Rig for Offshore Cruising?

For years the cutter rig has been extremely popular with offshore sailors, providing greater flexibility and easier sail handling than the sloop rig in varying wind and sea conditions.

But look around any anchorage where offshore cruisers congregate and you'll notice that the solent rig is mounting a serious challenge to the cutter rig.

But why is that, and what's the difference between these two rigs?

The best way of showing the physical difference is with a couple of pics...

But of course there's rather more to it than that, each of the two rigs having significant benefits and disadvantages when compared to the other. Let's take a look at them...

The Cutter Rig

Unlike the solent rig, both sails are intended to be flown at the same time. Usually the jib will be a high-cut yankee and the smaller staysail will have a lower clew catching the wind that would otherwise escape below the yankee.

With both headsails set, the boat can be tacked without the need to furl the jib.
In high winds, the yankee can be furled completely leaving the staysail set with a deeply reefed main. Many fin-keel cutters reefed down like this will heave-to satisfactorily, whereas they're much less likely to with a partially rolled jib on the forestay.
The lower combined centre of effort of two smaller sails when compared to that of a larger single sail produces a lower heeling moment. Translation - a cutter sails more upright!

Disadvantages

Hard on the wind, the jib stalls the staysail, leaving you with two options. Either drop the staysail or bear off the wind a little.
Downwind, the staysail will blanket the jib and has to be dropped, leaving a relatively small jib to power the boat.
Running backstays must be set up to resist the forward pull on the mast by the inner forestay. Alternatively, aft intermediate stays could be incorporated in the standing rigging.

You can read more about the cutters here...

The Solent Rig

The Solent Rig is quite different from the Cutter Rig in as much as it's effectively a sloop with two different sized headsails on separate in-line stays - usually set on furlers.

You fly one sail or the other - not both at the same time as with the cutter rig.

You have a choice of headsails. Typically, the forward sail could be a 140% genoa for use as an offwind/reaching sail and the aft one a 100% working jib for windward work.
Having said earlier that you fly one sail or the other, I'll immediately contradict myself by saying that you can sail dead downwind 'wing-and-wing' with one sail poled out to port and the other poled out to starboard. You certainly can't do that effectively with a cutter.
With both stays attached close to the top of the mast, there's no need for running backstays, swept-back spreaders or aft intermediates as there is with the cutter.
You can't tack the forward sail through the gap between it and the one behind it - you have to furl it away completely before hauling it out again when you've gone through the wind.
Hard on the wind, the furled sail disrupts the airflow over the working sail, reducing performance.
With the forestay tension shared between two stays, the luff of the sail may fall away more than you'd want it to, also reducing windward performance.

Retrofit a Solent Rig?

Yes, it can be done - as on 'Badgers Sett' above - and this article shows how...

Or Maybe a Cutter Rig and a Solent Rig?

Provided the mast is far enough aft and the fore-triangle can accommodate it, why not a solent rig with a staysail - a solent-rigged cutter perhaps?

You'd have a lot of lines in the cockpit, but could this be the best of both worlds?

Other popular rigs for cruising offshore...

Is The Ketch Sailboat the Best Type of Sailboat for Offshore Cruising?

It's true that the ketch sailboat with its split rig can make an attractive cruising sailboat for a short-handed crew, but there is a downside to these types of sailboats

The Jeanneau Sunfast 37 Sailboat

Interested in the Jeanneau Sunfast 37 sailboat? Here are the pics, specs and performance predictions you're looking for...

The Hallberg-Rassy 37 Sailboat

Interested in the Hallberg-Rassy 37 sailboat? Here are the pics, specs and performance predictions you're looking for...

Recent Articles

Used Sailing Equipment For Sale

Jun 14, 24 03:54 AM

Beneteau Oceanis 473 Clipper for Sale

Jun 13, 24 11:13 AM

Hallberg Rassy 42e for Sale

May 23, 24 03:01 AM

Here's where to:

Find Used Sailboats for Sale...
Find Used Sailing Gear for Sale...
List your Sailboat for Sale...
List your Used Sailing Gear...

Our eBooks...

Cruising Boats...

Our ever-growing gallery of pics and basic specifications of many popular cruising boats...

A few of our Most Popular Pages...

English - United Kingdom

Bluewater Cruising - Cutter Rig vs. Solent Rig (Part 1)

Published date: october 9 2018.

Two popular options for off-shore cruising are the cutter rig and the solent rig, both sporting their own pros and cons.

The cutter rig utilises two headsails that sit relatively far apart from each other: a high-cut yankee connected to the main forestay (high clew to avoid the foot catching in waves when reaching), and a staysail connected to the inner forestay (the lower-clewed staysail catches the wind the high-cut yankee does not). Both sails can be used and tacked at the same time.

The solent stay, on the other hand, sits directly behind the main forestay. It allows the use of two different sized genoas but only one is used at any one time, and the forward genoa needs to be furled during a tack.

Unsure which to choose? In this two-part series, we will provide some views on both setups to aid your choice of rig.

First, we will look at the cutter rig.

One advantage is that, compared to a single large genoa, the two smaller headsails of the cutter rig produce a lower centre of gravity and therefore heeling angle. This means that the boat sails more upright and reduces the risk of capsizing, facilitating easier handling in varying weather conditions.

Image Credit: Butch Ulmer, UK Sailmakers

A second advantage of the cutter rig is that, if winds are high and you want to reduce power, the yankee can be furled away completely, leaving just the staysail which can be used with a deeply reefed main. This can facilitate a satisfactory heave-to, which is otherwise unlikely with a boat that has a partially rolled genoa on the main forestay.

Traditionally the cutter rig - which thrives in reaching conditions - has had limitations on other points of sail. For example, close hauled the staysail can be stalled by the forward jib, and visa versa running downwind. However, this is where modern performance sailing techniques can help to revitalise this classic rig setup.

With the addition of a code zero and an asymmetric to a cutter rig you get very close, in our opinion, to the perfect cruising setup. In light airs, beating and reaching, where the traditional cutter rig may lack power, the code zero will provide the perfect boost. As windspeed increases, furl the code zero and you are in the optimum zone for the yankee and staysail. With more wind, furl the yankee and run with the staysail and reefed main. As you crack off the wind, the code zero provides all the power you would need, up to moderate wind speeds, and then downwind you unfurl the asymmetric.

Upffront would advocate that sailing your downwind angles with an asymmetric is faster, more efficient and more comfortable than dead-downwind sailing. However, if you really want to keep those twin poles, and go downwind in a straight line, then poling out the code zero with the yankee is also an option!

As you may be able to tell, Upffront is a fan of a modern cutter rig, however there are some downsides to consider. If your boat is not already setup for a staysail, the retrofit is more complicated than for a solent rig. Adding an inner forestay requires an attachment point for the new stay as well as a halyard sheave on the front of the rig but also, importantly, additional backstays to support the new, inner forestay load.

At the end of the day, the right choice for you and your boat will come down to a number of different, competing priorities: your existing rig and sail wardrobe setup, sailing style and of course budget!

Read Part two here where we look at the Solent Rig in more detail

If you have any questions about code zero and asymmetric furlers, please feel free to email us at [email protected] , or click the link below to see our full range:

Kerri Robson

There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

We are constantly reporting on the latest innovations in the marine industry which offer weight savings whilst, at the same time, increasing safety factors. The result: lighter, faster, safer and more exciting sailing.

Payment Methods

Testimonials
News & Blog
Download Centre
Image Credits
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
Interest Based Ads
+49 431 2202140
: [email protected]

joecoopersailing.com

Sailing coaching, consulting and instruction, crew training, sailing systems & techniques for solving sailing's challenges. call coop at 401-965-6006, storm jibs and solent stays.

Regular readers will know of my enthusiasm for Solent stays as a great “Gear Change” for most conventional sailing boats. The Solent is particularly effective if the boat in question has a low aspect-ratio rig. That is the height divided by the J-this distance is roughly the forward side of mast at deck level forward to the head-stay fitting on the deck. So for instance a spar height (commonly referred to by riggers, mast makers & sailmakers as the “I”) of say 45 feet and a J of 15, is a three: one aspect ratio. A boat with a 47’ x 12’ rig is close to 4:1 aspect ratio.

And yes a tall skinny sail is just fine more or less—When sailing up wind close hauled—Only. For the average cruising boat high aspect-ratio sails are not so good. This has to do with both the strain on the head of the sail: the top of the sail tends to go very round in the head pretty quickly and more importantly, when the sheet is eased, the top of the sail twists off dramatically. When adding foresails to the inventory, an owner would be well advised to consider the aspect ratio of the where the sail is to set.

Quest 30 arriving in Newport. Headsail in use is the primary sail on the furler. You can see that the sail is relatively tall and skinny

With this in mind I have been working on just such a problem over the past month or so. A mate of mine is preparing his Quest 30 for the Bermuda 1-2—a solo race to Bermuda from Newport, RI then a DH race back from Bermuda to Newport. The Quest has an “I” of 41.0 feet and a “J” of 10.7 feet so again close to 4:1. Since the boat is to be sailing the ocean, simply relying on only one headsail on the furler to sail across the most likely spectrum of winds between Newport and Bermuda in June is not a sound seaman like option. Especially with this type of furler which is merely a furler, not a reefing headstay.

The boat does not readily allow of a Solent set up, in the classic fashion–Roughly parallel to the headstay and a foot aft. Thus I had to design a system for setting a small sail that ended up being a Solent hybrid. A cross between a “cutter” stay and a Solent. In this case the bottom of the stay lands very close to the stem head of the boat, like a Solent stay would. BUT the top of the stay lands at the second (top) spreader in the way a conventional Cutter stay might. There are a few reasons for this.

Primarily the fact that the spar had already the fittings necessary for a stay, runners, a sheave box and the halyard all at the top spreader-See image above.

So there were a lot of the basics for a stay on which a small sail could be set, with out re-designing the entire mast and deck layout. Overall my goal was:

Design a system that could be deployed easily quickly and with the least amount of ruckus given that when it is going to be used, it will be blowing at least 25 kts.
Ideally the installation made use of the various equipment already installed and available on the boat-We did not have time or inclination to get into the boat building business.
Do it in a way that was cost effective, the more so since the entire staysail arrangement would only be rigged up on the spar and deck and perhaps not even deployed at all, every two years for the Bermuda 1-2. The rest of the time it will live in a bag in a locker somewhere.
Get it all designed, fabricated, installed and sea trialed as soon as could be done so any adjustments could be done in a timely given the start of the B-12 is 08 June.

I know this boat, intimately as it turns out:(I sailed this boat to Plymouth, UK in April 1996 so the then owner could sail it back in the OSTAR-But that is another story) So my first question was to look at the rest of the sail inventory to discover what headsails were to be carried in the race?

The primary headsail is a 105% or so slightly high clewed jib set on a roller.
The mainsail has three reefs. The head of the mainsail is below the top spreader when the third reef is set-Watch for this detail later-on in this post.
There is a small sail called a storm jib, but having used this sail on the boat, I know it is a useless in practice. It is the wrong geometry completely.
The boat has water ballast. This is in effect another gear/reef. As the wind comes on, rather than reefing, filling the water tanks is the equivalent of reducing sail.

The primary 105% furling headsail sets on a furler at the stem head, like normal, but not on a “normal” Harken type furler with a foil. It sets on a Facnor 4500 foil-less furler. As the images below show, the furler is very simple:

There is a stay made from 1×19 wire as is pretty normal. The tack of the sail attaches to the drum–You can see the horizontal pin with the key ring and light line holding it to the boat in the above picture. The drum is driven by an endless loop line (led aft) that rotates the drum and so the wire: the head swivel rotates freely. The sail is attached to the stay by the soft hanks made of Velcro.

The sail is attached to the stay by “soft hanks” made of webbing and velcro

The idea here is to get the best of two worlds. A sail that can be furled, most of the time, BUT when it needs to be removed, it can be unrolled and lowered to the deck like a sail, with, well hanks-Just like the old days-So the sail is not going to blow all over the foredeck life lines and end up in the water.

The furler for the primary headsail is an foil-less furler. The Jib uses soft hanks connected over the wire stay. The grey cylinder is the top swivel

The white material aft of the drum attached to the tackle is a strop we fabricated to pass through the deck and connect to the headstay pin. To minimize chafe we installed a through-hull fitting into the deck for the strop to pass through. We attached a Wichard eye to the headstay pin and secured the strop to the eye with a soft shackle–The image seen below is a light line we used to line up the hole through the deck to the headstay pin.

To anchor the bottom end of the stay, we threaded an eye to the aft end of the pin holding the headstay to the boat. The light line is a guide we used to line up the angle of the stay through the deck with the eye fitting so we could get the right location in the deck for the stay strop to pass thru.

In practice I cannot see unrolling this sail lowering it, (the material is pretty stiff and the sail has vertical battens-as seen in the top picture sailing into Newport Harbor), lowering it to the deck, removing the battens, flaking the sail, getting it in a bag, releasing the hanks, pulling the tack pin out, un-shackling the head of the sail from the swivel, without losing the shackle, getting the whole show below without losing anything over board, including yourself, getting banged up yourself and then finally reversing the process with another small sail.

I cannot see that process talking less than an half an hour per sail even on a 30 footer.

So as a practical matter, the primary headsail would be furled up and a smaller sail set so the boat needed an inside stay.

A quick scan of the possibilities indicated that the best option would be to have a sail set from the top spreaders and landing just aft of the head-stay. Some of the issues to do with this that needed to be addressed included:

The main furler is installed below decks in the anchor well, so immediately aft of the forestay, there is nothing meaty enough to land a stay on.
Since the sail would go to the top spreaders, the rig would need running back-stays
If the small sail was to be set on the foredeck, at the aft end of the anchor locker, then the aspect ratio would be too tall and skinny-Not good geometry for a hard air sail, to be used in the ocean. The aspect ration of this triangle is over 3.5:1-too tall and skinny.

This image shows the location of the one pad eye aft of the stem, at the aft end of the anchor locker. (far left of picture) This was unsuitable because to install the stay tensioning tackle properly would have needed another couple of pad eyes AND the sail would be too small AND not very good geometry–Too high aspect. The results of what we did-Install a tackle and stay just abaft the stem-head, can be seen in this image.

“Normally” inside stays for most cruising boats today (although I am apparently single-handedly changing this), of any flavor use some kind of mechanical ratchet crank device or a Hy-Field lever. Both of these options are:

Heavy, difficult to handle, very difficult to tension after a while when everything as stretched in, and being heavy are awkward to man-handle around the foredeck when needed. They cannot be removed in a hurry as circumstances dictate.

A Wichard hand crank adjuster on the Solent stay on a 44 footer, using a wire stay-This particular wire stay has been replaced by a textile stay that weights 5 pounds. Handling the crank, stay and a sail is way too much work and being heavy throws a lot of inertia around in the seaway that will be in evidence when this equipment is in use.

At the end of the day I designed a set up as follows:

Textile stay fabricated from a Spectra fiber product known to Hall Rigging, who made it for me, as Fiber wire.

The Fiber Wire stay. The keys are to give idea of scale. The “T” fitting is visible on the right hand side

This stay attached to the spar using a T fitting, seen above

The bottom end of the stay was tensioned by a 4:1 tackle running through Antal thimbles.

The stay is tensioned by a 4:1 tackle running through Antal thimbles

The tensioning line is dead ended on the port side and runs aft, through the pad eye on the starboard side to a clutch in front of another Antal thimble and from there the tail is long enough to go to any winch.

The stay is tensioned by a 4:1 tackle running through Antal thimbles. Since the line is not required to be adjusted all the time, the thimbles are perfect. They are light, strong, in-expensive in general and particularly when compared to a ball bearing block of equal strength, the latter by perhaps a factor of 10:1. The knobby ball of cordage connecting the stay to the top thimble is a “soft shackle” an increasingly widely used device for attaching anything to something else, as one would with a stainless shackle

There are a pair of running backstays connected to the spar.

The running backstays are attached to the mast just below the upper spreaders and opposite the point where the inside stay connects to the spar. This is high enough that with the third ref in, the head of the sail is below the runners. The end of the boom is far enough forward that both runners can be set up and the boat can be gybed and tacked without handling the runners. An extra insurance policy on hard conditions.

These are tensioned by a 2:1 tackle led through Antal thimbles, to a clutch, thimble and again with enough tail to get to any winch.

I used himbles again on the flying part of the runners: They are light (does not hurt so much when it hits you in the head….)strong & inexpensive-A trifecta that is hard to beat.

The running backstays are led through a thimble secured on the transom and forward through a clutch to another thimble permitting any winch to be used to tension them

The serendipitous aspect of the runners and where they land in the spar is that with the third reef in the mainsail the head of the sail is below where the runners attach to the mast AND the runners are sufficiently aft of the end of the boom, so BOTH runners can be set up when it is really howling and the boat can be tacked or gybed without attending to the runners. In this configuration the assumption is the inside stay will be deployed so the spar has another level of security to defend against damage.

The runner tails are dead ended on the same chain plate as the standing backstay, led up through the flying part of the runners, back to a thimble and forward through a clutch, thimble and so to any winch available.

New Sailboats
Sailboats 21-30ft
Sailboats 31-35ft
Sailboats 36-40ft
Sailboats Over 40ft
Sailboats Under 21feet
used_sailboats
Apps and Computer Programs
Communications
Fishfinders
Handheld Electronics
Plotters MFDS Rradar
Wind, Speed & Depth Instruments
Anchoring Mooring
Running Rigging
Sails Canvas
Standing Rigging
Diesel Engines
Off Grid Energy
Cleaning Waxing
DIY Projects
Repair, Tools & Materials
Spare Parts
Tools & Gadgets
Cabin Comfort
Ventilation
Footwear Apparel
Foul Weather Gear
Mailport & PS Advisor
Inside Practical Sailor Blog
Activate My Web Access
Reset Password
Customer Service

Free Newsletter

Pearson 37 and 37-2 Used Boat Review

Keep an eye out for corroded exhaust and signs of water intrusion, which could lead to expensive repairs in the future.

DIY Survey Checklist for Used-Boat Buying

Valiant 40: Reshaping the Cruising Hull

Bristol Channel Cutter 28: Circumnavigator’s Choice

Irwin Vise-Grip Wire Stripper. (Photo/ Adam Morris)

Best Crimpers and Strippers for Fixing Marine Electrical Connectors

600-watt solar panel system on Summer Twins 28 sailing catamaran Caribbean Soul 2. (Photo/ Clifford Burgess)

Thinking Through a Solar Power Installation

How Does the Gulf Stream Influence our Weather?

A lithium conversion requires a willing owner and a capable craft. Enter the Privilege 435 catamaran Confianza.

Can You Run a Marine Air-Conditioner on Battery Power?

Practical Sailor Classic: The Load on Your Rode

Anchor Rodes for Smaller Sailboats

Ground Tackle Inspection Tips

Shoe Goo II Excels for Quick Sail Repairs

When starting lights up the tester, that means your spark plug is good. (Photo/ David Corrao)

Dinghy Outboard Diagnostics

This Perkins M20, 3 cyl, 18hp diesel engine is cleaned, inspected and antifreeze flushed after a winter on the hard. Due to proper prep for both winter and spring, it is now running smoothly. (Photo/ Marc Robic)

Spring Season Engine Start-Up for Winterized Engines

Solutions for a Stinky Holding Tank

Diesel Performance Additives

With a few inexpensive materials and a bit of patience, you can redo the vinyl lettering on your boat yourself. (Photo/ Marc Robic)

Vinyl Boat Lettering DIY Application and Repair

Little things that are hardly necessary but nice to have start in the galley.

Those Extras you Don’t Need But Love to Have

Hidden Maintenance Problems: Part 3 – Gremlins in the Electrics

Three-Model BBQ Test

Alcohol Stoves— Swan Song or Rebirth?

Living Aboard with an Alcohol Stove

Preparing Yourself for Solo Sailing

How to Select Crew for a Passage or Delivery

Preparing A Boat to Sail Solo

Re-sealing the Seams on Waterproof Fabrics

Chafe Protection for Dock Lines

Waxing and Polishing Your Boat

Reducing Engine Room Noise

Tricks and Tips to Forming Do-it-yourself Rigging Terminals

Marine Toilet Maintenance Tips

Adding a solent stay.

Whether you view it from the top down or the bottom up, a Solent rig needs to be carefully thought out, well-engineered, and strategically located. Some sailors add a short bow sprit or U-shaped, tubular extension that includes a bobstay and supports the attachment of a new headstay. The old headstay chainplate becomes the new tack point for the Solent stay. Another approach is to retain the existing headstay and simply attach a new tang just a bit below the headstay sheave box. Then add a deck fitting to attach the Solent stay and tack the sail(s). The deck must be reinforced with a transverse member, or a tie rod must be mechanically fastened to the stem so that the tension loads don’t damage the deck.

Either approach can be a win-win solution, but as with all sailboat modifications, the devil is in the details. On the up side, both options offer a double-headsail rig that doesn’t require the addition of running backstays. But when the sprit option is chosen, rig support can be jeopardized due to the placement of the headstay outboard of the stem of the vessel. On a traditional cutter, the same thing occurs, but the original stem-mounted headstay simply becomes the forestay, and the loads are shared. With a removable Solent stay disconnected, this belt-and-suspenders security is lost.

Make sure that the loadbearing capacity of the sprit and its attachment points have been carefully calculated. This structure must account for more than tension in the headstay(s). It includes designing the structure to counteract forces such as those exerted by one or two anchors pounding into short, steep seas on a squally afternoon sail home. Little things can play a major role down the road, like properly sizing bobstay terminals and fittings to account for degradation caused by intermittent or continuous immersion in seawater. Many modern designers prefer to add a little more ballast and a little more height to the mast rather than put the headstay outboard on a 21stcentury bowsprit. However, plumbbowed boats have complicated anchor handling, making short sprits almost a necessity.

In the case of boats with high sail area-displacement ratios, you may want to put a light-air genoa or a drifter/reacher on the headstay and set up another roller-furler with a non-overlapping sail on the Solent stay. The trick is knowing when to switch gears from the lightweight sail on the headstay and unwind or hank on the small jib that sets on the Solent stay. In either case, when the stay becomes a permanent fixture, the rig is better supported, but each tack or jibe of the larger headsail requires rolling it and unrolling it.

Privacy Policy
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Online Account Activation
Privacy Manager

IMAGES

Is the Cutter Rig Superior to the Solent Rig for Offshore Cruising?
Schlagwort: Solent Rig
The Solent Has Its Own Stay!
Cruising Rigs—Sloop, Cutter, or Solent?
Revisited The solent Rig
Revisited The solent Rig

VIDEO

Solent Boat Fishing
in with the new. #solent #sailboat #engine#volvo
Tanton 45 for sale
5 Reasons Why the 34-Foot Boat Rules the Solent Waters
Sailboat Alchemist
Boat fishing in The Solent

COMMENTS

Solent (sailing rig)
A solent [1] refers to a sail and rigging system on sailboats, typically sloops. Sailors, particularly British sailors, often refer to a 100% jib as a Solent, because its smaller size is preferable when sailing in the strong winds found in the Solent between the Isle of Wight and Britain. The common use of roller-furling headsails, or genoas ...
Revisited The solent Rig
The Solent RIG. The principal difference between a cutter staysail and a Solent jib is that, unless a hurricane is blowing, the staysail is not big enough to power a yacht upwind alone, but a Solent jib is a full size working jib. The sail area of the Kraken 50 Solent jib is 52.6 m2. If we cutter-rigged the K50, the staysail would be 25.5 m2.
Bluewater Cruising: Cutter Rig versus Solent Rig
Unlike the cutter rig, it is not intended for both headsails on a solent rig to be flown at the same time. That said, it is possible to use twin headsails (which help to steady the boat) to sail dead-downwind, with one sail poled out to starboard and the other to port. This is one of the major advantages of the solent rig.
Solent
Rigs: Solent. A development of the 14 HYDRA. Double engine system allows for temporary use as a motorsailer. Reported sail area = Main + 100% fore triangle. Plan also available with a deeper twin keel. Draft: 1.62 m / 5.31 ft. Plans also available with fin keel: ... Sail area:-Main: 20.4 m² / 219.6 ft² ...
Which is the perfect rig for blue water cruising?
The Solent rig, also known as the 'Slutter rig', is arguably the perfect rig for short -handed, blue water cruising ( shown to right ). The rig can provide so many different combinations of sail form that the ideal profile is always available to suit wind strength and direction. Based on a sloop rig it has the advantage over ketch, yawl ...
The DIY Solent Stay or Inner Forestay
A Solent stay is a stay that sets between the mast and the forestay. It connects to the mast at a point that is only slightly below the existing backstay, and meets on the deck only slightly abaft of the existing forestay. Under such an arrangement, the mast requires no additional support. The existing backstay provides adequate tension to ...
CRUISING SAILBOAT RIGS: Sloops, Cutters, and Solent Rigs
Cruising sailors once upon a time preferred such rigs, at least on larger cruising boats, because each separate sail requiring handling was smaller and thus more manageable. These days, however, by far the most popular rig for both racing and cruising sailboats is the simple sloop rig. This has a single mast supporting a single Marconi mainsail ...
SOLENT CLASS
S.A.: Sail Area. The total combined area of the sails when sailing upwind. S.A. (reported) is the area reported by the builder. (Verses ** S.A. (100% Fore + Main Triangles) which is the area as defined by the rig measurements.) S.A. (reported) can differ depending on the size of the head sail used to calculate the S.A.
Bluewater Cruising: Cutter Rig versus Solent Rig
Two popular options for off-shore cruising are the cutter rig and the solent rig, both sporting their own pros and cons. The cutter rig utilises two headsails that sit relatively far apart from each other: a high-cut yankee connected to the main forestay (high clew to avoid the foot catching in waves when reaching), and a staysail connected to ...
Sailing with a Solent Rig: Who needs a chute?
In this Episode, Is a Solent Rig for everyone? Nope. But for us, it's a great configuration. Here's a video of us doing various sail changes through many poi...
Solent Rig
solent rig 368. Sailing downwind, the two headsails set on the solent rig¿s stays help steady the boat and increase speed. Michael Hilbruner. Osprey is the first boat we've ever owned with a solent rig, that is, two headsails that are placed close together fore and aft and in line with one another. At deck level, a mere 21 inches separates ...
Cutter Rigged Sailboats [GUIDE] Advantages, Sailing, Options & Features
Solent Rig vs Cutter Rig. A solent rig is traditionally called a slutter-a little bit sloop and a little bit cutter. This configuration features two large headsails mounted close together. The solent rig is good if you do a lot of downwind sailing. ... The solent rig is a way to add more sail options to a standard sloop. Most solent stays are ...
Adding a Solent Stay
Then add a deck fitting to attach the Solent stay and tack the sail (s). The deck must be reinforced with a transverse member, or a tie rod must be mechanically fastened to the stem so that the tension loads don't damage the deck. Either approach can be a win-win solution, but as with all sailboat modifications, the devil is in the details.
The Solent Has Its Own Stay!
The Solent stay is an inner fore-stay that provides an alternative to the Sta-sail stay . Its benefits, similar to that of the Sta-sail Stay, are to provide an inner stay that can fly a smaller/ heavier headsail without having to unfurl, douse and change out the boats everyday headsail. The Solent stay is unique to the Sta-sail in that the stay ...
Cruising Rigs—Sloop, Cutter, or Solent?
To define our terms, a solent rig is one with two headsails but, unlike a cutter, they are never used at the same time and the stays are much closer together. The inner headsail (solent) is cut for going upwind and is usually about the same size as the foretriangle with little or no overlap. And the outer sail is a genoa used for reaching ...
Is the Cutter Rig Superior to the Solent Rig for Offshore Cruising?
The Solent Rig. The Solent Rig is quite different from the Cutter Rig in as much as it's effectively a sloop with two different sized headsails on separate in-line stays - usually set on furlers. You fly one sail or the other - not both at the same time as with the cutter rig. Benefits. You have a choice of headsails.
Bluewater Cruising
Two popular options for off-shore cruising are the cutter rig and the solent rig, both sporting their own pros and cons. The cutter rig utilises two headsails that sit relatively far apart from each other: a high-cut yankee connected to the main forestay (high clew to avoid the foot catching in waves when reaching), and a staysail connected to ...
Short-handed sailing: The Solent Stay
The sail can be hanked onto the stay while the stay is restrained aft against the mast, thus the Solent sail can be close to all rigged and ready to go, before it is needed. The tackle helps pull the sail forward, so if there are two people on watch, the aft crew member can tail the fall of the tackle and the crew on the bow can help it stay ...
Solent vs Cutter rigs
I have a sloop that I modified to be a solent rig by adding a wire stay about 10" behind the headstay. It is designed to be as strong as the headstay in order to add redundancy. My sail plan is a little different than the typical solent plan, which has a larger genoa on the headstay and a smaller jib on the solent. Instead, I have a 115% furling genoa on the headstay that gets used in wind 13 ...
Convert Your Sloop to a Double-Headsail Rig
The Solent sail. 1. The sail need not overlap the mast, since a 100 percent headsail will be plenty big enough in the conditions under which you typically set a Solent. 2. The sail can be slightly higher clewed, depending on the sheet lead. 3. It should hank on. You can use one of three types of hanks.
Storm Jibs and Solent Stays
Storm Jibs and Solent Stays. Posted on May 28, 2013. Regular readers will know of my enthusiasm for Solent stays as a great "Gear Change" for most conventional sailing boats. The Solent is particularly effective if the boat in question has a low aspect-ratio rig. That is the height divided by the J-this distance is roughly the forward side ...
Adding a Solent Stay
Then add a deck fitting to attach the Solent stay and tack the sail (s). The deck must be reinforced with a transverse member, or a tie rod must be mechanically fastened to the stem so that the tension loads don't damage the deck. Either approach can be a win-win solution, but as with all sailboat modifications, the devil is in the details.
Cutter vs Solent Rig
Converting a sloop to cutter will as others have said require running backstays and I would go quite a distance to avoid those - they always get in the way. As far as versatility goes, the Solent rig, if both headstays are on furlers, allows a 135% genoa on the main headstay with a perhaps 100% heavy duty jib on the secondary stay. This gives space for a (third) baby stay to use for a hank-on ...