Wednesday, 9 April 2014

Putting a Lightning 368 rig on a Minisail, part 1

Spring is here - time to start playing again!

Thinking about putting a Lightning 368 rig on the Minisail. I have a spare mast and sail, so why not?

First question - how to the sails compare?



So, the Minisail sail is a tiny bit longer, which is a surprise, but otherwise has a longer foot but lacks the roach at the top. Not much in it, but the MS sail is bigger.

Then I thought to compare the R&J sail I used above with the Morgan sail:

Looking at them, the Morgan sail and the Lightning sail are about the same length in the luff - a few inches shorter than the R&J, which was extended by the maker after trials when new. The sail areas must be very similar. Not clear in the pic, but the R&J has more luff curve, making it a fuller shape. Explains why the Morgan sail needs no cunningham compared to the R&J.

So, next stage will be to make the Lightning 368 mast fit the MS mast pot. That will be a project for after Easter.