Where are they setting out from? Looks like Falmouth or Fowey in Cornwall, UK.

I'm trying to work out the rigging and headsails ...

It looks like a small furling headsail on the forestay, a larger furling headsail on a Solent stay and then 2 inner stays like a cutter rig that meet the mast halfway between the spreaders. No sign of running backstays to carry the load of the inner forestays as done on Jolie Brise (the Magpie 34 for sale).

If anyone has more information, I'd be very grateful.

Cheers,
Kinora

Kinora said..
I'm trying to work out the rigging and headsails ...

It looks like a small furling headsail on the forestay, a larger furling headsail on a Solent stay and then 2 inner stays like a cutter rig that meet the mast halfway between the spreaders. No sign of running backstays to carry the load of the inner forestays as done on Jolie Brise (the Magpie 34 for sale).

If anyone has more information, I'd be very grateful.

Cheers,
Kinora

Can't think of a boat that I would feel safer in to do that sort of trip. Perhaps the only alteration to the rig to prevent it going AWOL in a rollover might be to consider doubling up on the lowers so that there were fore and aft lowers. That is assuming it was not a tunable mast which would advantageously bend with a bit of back stay.

Caught up with Alex today. This was his answer:

===

That red jib was an experiment - It was intended to be poled out for a downwind twin pole arrangement. I set it on a furler temporarily tacked to the stem fitting ahead of the forestay and it was easy to set and furl using a spinnaker halyard. I tried various other sails the same way. Brolgas originally had an inner forestay tacked to the forward end of the coachroof only about 2ft from the mast, mostly just adding downward pressure on the mast and not otherwise very effective. I removed it and installed a big throughbolted fitting inside the forepeak at the forward waterline to anchor a s/s cable connected to the underside of a throughbolted deck pad with a becket about half way along the foredeck. These became the ends of an inner forestay with a highfield lever that worked a lot better and allowed me to set a storm jib on it if needed. I did make a set of running backstays from the upper crosstrees using skinny wire with a multipart dyneema tackle at the lower end, attached to the mooring cleats on each quarter when in use. They were a bit of a handful but they did the job.


===

Kinora said..

sydchris said..
Caught up with Alex today. This was his answer:

===

That red jib was an experiment - It was intended to be poled out for a downwind twin pole arrangement. I set it on a furler temporarily tacked to the stem fitting ahead of the forestay and it was easy to set and furl using a spinnaker halyard. I tried various other sails the same way. Brolgas originally had an inner forestay tacked to the forward end of the coachroof only about 2ft from the mast, mostly just adding downward pressure on the mast and not otherwise very effective. I removed it and installed a big throughbolted fitting inside the forepeak at the forward waterline to anchor a s/s cable connected to the underside of a throughbolted deck pad with a becket about half way along the foredeck. These became the ends of an inner forestay with a highfield lever that worked a lot better and allowed me to set a storm jib on it if needed. I did make a set of running backstays from the upper crosstrees using skinny wire with a multipart dyneema tackle at the lower end, attached to the mooring cleats on each quarter when in use. They were a bit of a handful but they did the job.


===

Many thanks, sydchris, that is very useful. Please thank Alex for taking the time. Experience coupled with courtesy is an increasingly rare combination.

I'm considering the same arrangement for an inner forestay. Alex's comment about the running backstays is particularly helpful as I was unsure if the arrangement needed them. But if it worked on Berrimilla II ...

Cheers,
Kinora

I put an inner forestay on my S&S34. Provided the stay is attached to the mast within 10% of the top stays you don't need running stays to support the mast. That is the advice of a few riggers, Joe Walsh did mine.
it worked brilliantly on three Lord Howe trips.

Yara said..

MorningBird said..

Kinora said..

sydchris said..
Caught up with Alex today. This was his answer:

===

That red jib was an experiment - It was intended to be poled out for a downwind twin pole arrangement. I set it on a furler temporarily tacked to the stem fitting ahead of the forestay and it was easy to set and furl using a spinnaker halyard. I tried various other sails the same way. Brolgas originally had an inner forestay tacked to the forward end of the coachroof only about 2ft from the mast, mostly just adding downward pressure on the mast and not otherwise very effective. I removed it and installed a big throughbolted fitting inside the forepeak at the forward waterline to anchor a s/s cable connected to the underside of a throughbolted deck pad with a becket about half way along the foredeck. These became the ends of an inner forestay with a highfield lever that worked a lot better and allowed me to set a storm jib on it if needed. I did make a set of running backstays from the upper crosstrees using skinny wire with a multipart dyneema tackle at the lower end, attached to the mooring cleats on each quarter when in use. They were a bit of a handful but they did the job.


===

Many thanks, sydchris, that is very useful. Please thank Alex for taking the time. Experience coupled with courtesy is an increasingly rare combination.

I'm considering the same arrangement for an inner forestay. Alex's comment about the running backstays is particularly helpful as I was unsure if the arrangement needed them. But if it worked on Berrimilla II ...

Cheers,
Kinora

I put an inner forestay on my S&S34. Provided the stay is attached to the mast within 10% of the top stays you don't need running stays to support the mast. That is the advice of a few riggers, Joe Walsh did mine.
it worked brilliantly on three Lord Howe trips.

Thats basically a Solent stay, isn't it?

Yes I believe they are called that. I preferred to describe it as a cutter rig as everybody knows that rig style.