Open Canoe Cruising 



II. — Description of the lateen rig and why it is best suited 

 for the open canoe for cruising, sail -making, masts, etc. 



15y E. T. Keyser 



THE canoe lateen, when set, resem- 

 bles a leg-of-mutton sail. Its ad- 

 vantages over the leg of mutton 

 type are that it requires a shorter mast, 

 needs no mast hoops, which are prone to 

 jam, and that the peak sets far enough 

 aft of the mast to give good driving power. 

 For open canoes this is the best all-around 

 rig, as its sim- 

 plicity and 

 compactness 

 more than off- 

 set, for the open 

 cruiser, the 

 greater driv- 

 ing power and 

 increased wind- 

 ward possibil- 

 ities of the 

 b a t s w i n g 

 type of sail. 



A given area 

 divided into 

 two sails is pref- 

 erable than 

 the same area 

 in a single sail, 

 as it allows of 

 carrying a pretty fair spread of canvas in 

 light weather and reducing to the mini- 

 mum — the mizzen alone — in heavy winds. 

 For a 17-foot canoe, an area of 68 sq. ft. 

 will be about right. If the skipper is very 

 light in weight, or the canoe be of 1.5 

 or 16 ft. length, a total area of 52 sq. ft. 

 will suit conditions better. 



The forward or main mast should be 

 stepped just aft of short forward deck. 

 The after, dandy or mizzen mast, at for- 

 ward side of after seat. This arrange- 

 ment calls for I3 of total sail area in 

 mizzen and % in main sail. For a 

 rig of 68 square feet, lay off on a floor 

 with a chalk line a base line 9 ft. 3. in. 

 long, as shown in Fig. 6. From right 

 end of base line describe a circle with a 

 radius of 10 ft. 6 in. From left end of 

 base line describe a circle with a radius 



A canoe equipped with two lateen sails, which 

 make the best all-around rig for an open cruiser 



of 11 ft. With chalk line, join the inter- 

 section of these circles with the ends of 

 base line and you will have the outline of 

 a mainsail with an area of '4 5 square feet. 

 The base is the boom, the right side the 

 yard and the left the lea leach edge of the 

 sail. With this outline as a pattern, lay 

 out your sail of light unbleached mu.slin, 



running the 

 strips parallel 

 with the leach 

 and allowing for 

 a turned over 

 ^i-in. hem f?2 

 in. of material) 

 along the three 

 edgesofthesail, 

 and for a 1-in. 

 strapped seam 

 to join the 

 stripsofmuslin. 

 Get40-in. mus- 

 lin and split 

 each strip in 

 two so that 

 your sail will be 

 made up of 20- 

 in. widths. Pin 

 strips together as you go along and have 

 sail stitched and hemmed on a machine. 

 Along the three sides of sail stitch 1-in. 

 wide non-elastic webbing. Through this 

 webbing, on the boom and yard edges 

 set sheet brass washer grommetc 1 ft. 

 aparu, making sure that a grommet is set 

 in each corner of the sail, and that each 

 grommet has a 3 16-in. eye. 



The dandy or mizzen sail is to be of 

 23 sq. ft. area and measures 6 ft. 9 in. on 

 boom, 7 ft. 8 in. on yard, and 7 ft. 10 in. 

 on leach. If the 52 sq. ft. rig is desired, 

 the following dimensions should be sub- 

 stituted : 



Mainsail Dandy 



Leach, 9 ft. 6 in 6 ft. 10 in. 



Yard. 9 ft. .S in 6 ft. 6 in. 



Boom, 8 ft. 3 in 5 ft. 10 J^ in. 



Booms and spars should be of straight- 



767 



