Rigging Tips
The spritsail, spars and rigging that accompany Crawford Boat Building's MELONSEED SKIFF are an example of simplicity and efficiency. It is unlikely that any rig is the equal of the sprit rig in providing performance with a minimum of hardware and fuss.
The following is a illustration followed by a description of the component parts, their assembly and function:
MAST...
A 10' length of solid wood which sets into the boat and is held in place by the mast step at its bottom (heel), and the mast partner at deck level. It has four pieces of hardware fastened to it. Starting from bottom to top they are:
1. A small 3" cleat that the sail downhaul is tied to. On the opposite side of the mast are the other three pieces.
2. A second cleat to tie off the boom snotter.
3. An eye strap to turn this snotter.
4. Further up the mast, a cleat for the sprit snotter.
Don't be confused by the unfamiliar nautical terminology at this point. Just notice the four pieces of hardware. The rigging will be described later.
BOOM...
Technically a SPRIT BOOM ... This has a slot in the end that goes forward and a hole with a snap attached to it in the aft end. To get optimum performance on all points of sail the boom will be set on the opposite side of the sail from the sprit - (It doesn't matter which side you put either spar on.) This causes the least average overall interference to the shape of the sail. You may set both spars on one side of the sail if you wish although you will get a better shape sail on one tack than the other. (This can only be useful if you are going to be on mostly one tack over a sustained distance.) Attach the boom to the sail by clipping the snap on the end of the boom to the grommet on the CLEW of the sail. The clew is the corner of the sail that is on the bottom of the sail closest to the transom.
The forward end of the boom is attached to the mast with another small line called a Boom SNOTTER. This short line should be permanently on the mast for sake of convenience. It has either a knot or a loop in one end, and goes down through the eye strap to the jamb cleat. Put the knot or loop into the SLOTTED of the boom, and tension the boom snotter according to the wind strength.
SPRIT...
The item from which the rig gets it's name. This is a 10' stick with a spike in the upper end and a line (called a snotter) attached through a hole in its bottom end. Setting this into the rig is extremely simple, but adjusting the upward tension against the sail top (PEAK) is the single most important adjustment you will make. It goes like this: Grab the sail peak and insert the spike into the rope loop that is sewn into the sail. Push the sprit upward. Tie off the snotter to the cleat located on the mast nearby. Now this is where you can get the most out of the rig's performance potential. The more the wind, the stronger the sprit tension! If you ever see sag lines in the sail because the sprit is not tensioned enough, then you are not getting maximum performance. Remember, soft wind, soft sail .... stiff wind, stiff sail. There are some very technical reasons for this, but that's a two beer conversation. A simple rule of thumb is to always OVERTENSION the sprit a bit anyway because the snotter seems to slip a bit naturally. When sailing to windward, you should never see sag lines in the sail in any direction.
SAIL...
A quadrilateral (square) sail of dacron weighing approx. 4-5 oz. per yard. It has numerous holes called grommets set into it, to which line (rigging) is attached. The edge that is set against the mast is called the LUFF. Using the light 15" light lines provided, tie the luff to the mast so that sail stands evenly about "' away from the back edge of the mast. Tie each of these LACE LINES tight with a good firm square knot. Tie the top most grommet to the hole in the top of the mast using a longer (24") lace line, and go through the hole at least twice and tie off very well. At no point should the sail luff appear crimped!
The corner of the sail that is at the bottom of the luff is called the TACK. Hanging down from the tack is a line attached to the sail called the DOWNHAUL. Now refer back to the mast hardware descriptions and this will start to come together. Tie the downhaul line to lowest cleat on the mast, the one just above deck level, the downhaul cleat. Be sure to tension the luff fairly tight. Good luff tension is very important. The sail is on the mast now so let's continue to rig it up.
SHEET...
A 25' length of dacron line with a snap on one end. Snap the sheet onto either the grommet in the clew (along with the boom end snap) or to the snap itself. Newer boats have a RING attached to the bottom of the boom. Snap the sheet to this ring. Run the other end of the sheet through the block on the rudder head and IMMEDIATELY tie a figure eight-knot in the end.
One of the wonderous features of the Melonseed Skiff is that with just a little practice, this rigging drill can be accomplished in
ONLY A MINUTE OR TWO!!!
Now that you have accomplished all this, take fifteen knots of wind and two hours of spare time. Mix well. Apply as often as necessary! Caution; continuous use of this rig and boat can lead to addictive sailing behavior.
Masthead Rigging Feed the 1/8” braided Dacron line through the grommet as shown.
Put the two ends through the hole in the top of the mast.
Put your thumb between the two lines, and take the line on the left side of your thumb and pass it through the left side of the grommet. Do the same with the right side line and put it through the right side of the grommet.
Keeping the lines neat “right to left” make more passes through the hole with the lines as seen next.
IMPORTANT: You will tie off the excess with a square knot, but before you do, be sure that the sail is NOT pinched up tight against the mast, and that the luff runs STRAIGHT up the mast. The luff should be stretched fairly tight but not overly tight. Each lace line should allow the luff to be spaced evenly away from the mast.
Cut off the excess line with a heat gun, or if you don’t have one, trim it with a scissors and then VERY carefully burn the ends of the line to seize them and keep them from fraying. I also melt the line (tricky!) in one side of the knot just a tiny bit so that it won’t become undone.
DONE!