Last night I was re-reading a childhood favourite of mine “Vanishing Craft” by Frank Carr when I came across the mention of the first Zulu, named Nonsuch designed by William Campbell of Lossiemouth and launched in 1879. (Page 60). She was a fifie forward and a scaffie aft combining the best features of both types of fishing boats.
Like our Nonsuches, they had free standing masts. The hull designs of the fishing and work boats around the coasts of the UK were refined to the conditions they operated in. Some were beached head on and dragged ashore while others that operated on steep shingle beaches were dragged ashore stern on.(Yorkshire Coble). What was nearly universal around the coast was the use of lugsails which were one of the most powerful sails invented, partly because they provided lift. This is common to square, gaff and lateen rigs. Only Bermudian/marconi rigs force the hull down which is a hazard for open fishing boats operating year round in British waters.
Zulus were named after the Zulu wars going on at the time. The Zulu became the design of choice with the biggest up to 84’ overall and 61’ on the keel. These had unstayed foremasts of around 70’ and were easily capable of speeds of 10 knots in a hard breeze.
Jorgen Moller and I experimented with the lugsail rig on the Nonsuch 26. As expected, the mast was too far forward unless one rigged a mizzen which we were not prepared to do. The other issue with the rig was when the sail was dropped. There is an awful lot of sail that needs to be handled that is not secured to the mast or boom. This was not an issue with fishermen with large crews, but we wanted a rig that was good for single handing. Our solution was the standing gaff rig with the sail tethered to the mast and boom which proved to be a good compromise and well balanced. I mention this, as we had queries from the Nonsuch fleet about why we dropped the idea of developing the lugsail for the Nonsuch 26.
The gaff rig gives our boats the advantage of creating lift so the bow does not tend to bury itself in a strong breeze while running and far easier to handle due to the sail’s 15’ foot. It suits us at our time in life when we have given up racing under PHRF rules which severely penalizes fat heads and gaffs. Mascouche had a rating of 249. The new rig with around 10% less sail area has a provisional rating of 100!. This is why there are so few cruising boats with gaff rigs after WW1. They are the ones that would benefit the most from the rig. It is not the first time handicap rules are at odds with sound design. The rules require revising to promote good design. I am enclosing a photo of Mascouche with a single reef running through the western gap, Toronto in a strong breeze. Note how she is sailing on her waterline. (excuse the sloppy reef due to the clew breaking)
John,
Mascouche 26C1 Toronto
