Columbia River Cruise on a Crab Claw Sail Hobie

Cruising with a Crab Claw Rigged Hobie on the Columbia River.
Puffy winds mostly ~5-10 knots

• Category

  Sports

[Nick Burningham]

The topping lift appears to be counter productive. It's not a feature of traditional crabclaw rig, and it seems to cause the leach of the sail to drive astern. The real virtue of the rig is the upward vector of the sails pull. As the wind gets stronger you can ease sheets, even when going to windward to create a big upward vector -- that's what makes the rig fast.

[mozzerelli]

Thanks for the input Nick. It's actually a variation on a brailing line found on a number of Polynesian rigs. It depowers the sail by raising the lower spar so gibes are uneventful. I got distracted during the video and didn't let it back out, so the sail shape was not what it should have been.

Take Care

[mozzerelli]

Not yet. When the weather improves I am planning on spreading the top of the A-frame mast wider, which will give better sail trim and should help. Based on the data available (Marchaj mostly) I probably won't ever be able to. The classis bermuda rig pinches better, but the crab claw does exceptionally well on a broad reach. I'll keep you posted this summer.

[jasaeld]

Nice indeed, and not everyday I hear a soundtrack from Iona, either! Great song from a great album about those sea faring ancient Irish saints.

[mozzerelli]

Thanks jasaeld! I wonder if St Brennan ever really made it to America?

Fair winds & God Bless!

[mozzerelli]

Hi Jollymonmon, thanks for the encouraging words. The center of effort is a little bit lower than a standard rig, which I like. I am a newer transplant from the monohull community, and I never really enjoyed heeling that much. I am still learning how to get the most out of the rig, but it is not quite as fast as a std rig on most points of sail. It is especially powerful on a broad reach, though, and it really accelerates well. Tacks like a uni-rig unfortunately, and I have to backwind a lot.

[djn1066]

Who really cares if it's as fast as a standard rig. It's beautiful and it has lots of advantages. Everything is a compromise in sailing, and running a traditional Polynesian rig on a Hobie is COOL!

[Kolon999]

Can you get as close to the wind as with a regular Hobie rig?

[jollymonmon]

Hi there mozzerelli, very nice and innovative design looks like you put allot of thought and effort into this. I can see a big advantage to this set up in that the COE is much lower on the rig so would experience less heeling... if you don't mind me asking do you see any difference in speed? also what about tacking? those H16 are notorious for being difficult to tack often requiring to backwind the jib... hows that work with the crab claw ? thanks and again well done!