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Which is the perfect rig for blue water cruising.

March 7, 2020

The Solent rig is the go-to rig for ocean cruising, says Dick Beaumont

The Solent rig, also known as the ‘Slutter rig’, is arguably the perfect rig for short –handed, blue water cruising ( shown to right ).

The rig can provide so many different combinations of sail form that the ideal profile is always available to suit wind strength and direction.

Based on a sloop rig it has the advantage over ketch, yawl or schooner because its high aspect mast is placed further aft so that the forward sail triangle, which creates drive, is proportionately much larger.

That said its advantage over the standard sloop rig is that it has, in addition to the genoa, a 100% full-size blade jib as well. This blade jib has the clew controlled by a jib sheet that runs through a car on a track well inside the shrouds, making it more efficient for sailing hard up wind because it still sets properly even up to 20 degrees to the wind. Whereas the standard sloop with its single genoa, with its track outside the shrouds, cannot point as high.

Also the standard sloop genoa must be cut to be both the upwind and reaching sail, whereas with the Solent rig, the genoa is cut for reaching and the blade jib is cut for beating.

The advantage the Solent rig has overa staysail cutter ( shown to right ) is that the jib is much bigger because its tack is taken right forward to within 80-100cm of the genoa, and the foot is very low cut, again creating more sail area.

Also a Solent rig inner forestay goes almost to the mast-head, so when under heavy load, it isn’t pulling the middle of the mast forward as happens with a staysail, so the problematic running backstays required on a staysail cutter are not needed.

When using the Solent rig for downwind sailing, asymmetric sails – cruising chute, gennaker or Code sail are a matter of choice, they are not obligatory.

On a standard sloop in relatively light winds say 15kts of apparent, the common profile for running dead down wind is ‘goose-winged’ with genoa on one side and mainsail on the other. The propensity for a wind shift or course variation to cause an uncontrolled gybe is ever present and even with a preventer rigged up, damage is highly likely should this happen.

Sailing for several days with this set up in the trade winds, say, and a will be very stressful as a lack of concentration may cause the dreaded Chinese gybe. Relying on using the autopilot pilot to steer dead down wind is not fail safe either; it places a lot of faith on technology, if the autopilot should drop the helm for any reason, the result can be catastrophic.

With a Solent rig the jib and the genoa are set up butterfly rigged. The worst that can happen if the yacht falls of course or the wind shifts is the headsails might back: the risk of gybing, however, is eliminated. So you can run dead down wind without concern.

Ideally the yacht will also have a code sail or gennaker with a pole, or even better two poles of different length ( shown to right ) .

The number one pole should be a bit shorter than a spinnaker pole so it can be used on the gennaker or code sail and the genoa.

The number two pole, if you have it, should be at full length for the jib so it can be used on the jib and the genoa.

If you don’t have a gennaker or code the pole sizes should be the perfect length for the jib and genoa. If you only have one pole it should be the correct size for the genoa.

Sail options for running down wind:

6- 15 knots apparent wind : Gennaker and genoa. As the wind increases the genoa is furled.

10-20 knots apparent wind : Gennaker or code only

15-25 knots apparent wind : Genoa and jib, as the wind increases the genoa is partially furled.

20- 30 knots apparent wind : Genoa only, furling as required.

30 knots plus apparent wind : Jib only furling as required.

And for up wind:

6 -12 knots apparent wind : Gennaker or code plus mainsail but off the wind 40 degrees plus. Jib and mainsail can be set if the course is hard on the wind but may require motor sailing in very light winds.

10-20 knots apparent wind : Genoa and mainsail but not too hard on the wind 35 degrees plus or jib and mainsail if hard on the wind.

15- 50 knots apparent wind : Jib and mainsail, reefing main and jib as required.

50 knots plus apparent wind : Jib only, reefing as required.

Some Solent rigs are comprised of a self -tacking jib which looks convenient, but this jib will also be your heavy weather foresail or storm sail and, whatever anyone tells you , a self-tacking foresail sail cannot be properly reefed. This is because as the sail is furled away around the foil the foot will tighten up and the leech will go slack and start flogging: in 40 knots plus, the sail will be ruined in no time.

When the jib sheets are run through cars on tracks the car is moved forward or back as the sail is furled to change the angle of force of the sheet, so the sail stays properly trimmed and set. I would advise having power winches for the genoa reefing line, as the genoa has to be fully furled to tack it.

There is only one disadvantage of the Solent rig compared to others: It is a lot more expensive.

Those extra costs come from:
Second forestay and chain-plate,
Second furler and foil.
Jib halyard
2x Jib sheets
Six to eight additional heavy duty blocks to carry the jib sheet aft to the cockpit.
Four additional blocks to carry the jib halyard back to the cockpit.
2x jib tracks and deck cars,
2x clutch cleats each side
2x cockpit winches.

The total cost will vary according to the size of yacht but for example on a 50ft yacht the additional cost is circa 30,000-40,000 euros.

The Solent rig is standard on every Kraken Yacht, for all these reasons.

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Cutter Rigged Sailboats [GUIDE] Advantages, Sailing, Options & Features

Cutter rigs are often more prevalent in boating magazines and theory than they are in your marina. Most cruising sailboats are Bermuda rigged sloops with just one permanently attached headsail. So, are two headsails better than one? Or, are they double the trouble?

History of Cutters

What is a Cutter Rig?

Cutter features, cutter rig options, sailing a cutter rigged sailboat, 5 popular manufacturers making cutter rigs, it takes two to tango, cutter rigged sailboat faqs.

History of Cutters

Cutters became popular in the early 18th century. These traditional cutters were decked (instead of open) and featured multiple headsails. Smugglers used cutters to smuggle goods, and the coast guard used cutters to try to catch the smugglers.

Various navies also used the cutter rig. Navy cutters featured excellent maneuverability and were better at sailing to windward than square-rigged ships.

Navies used cutters for coastal patrol, collecting customs duties, and “cutting out” raids. These “cutting out” operations consisted of a boarding attack. Fast, maneuverable cutters could stealthily approach an enemy vessel and board it. This type of attack was common in the late 18th century.

US Coast Guard ships, now powerful, fast, engine-driven, steel vessels, are still called cutters today as a nod to their past.

A cutter rig sailboat has two headsails instead of just one. The jib is located forward and is either attached to a bowsprit or the bow. The inner sail is called the staysail and is attached to an inner forestay.

Traditional cutters were built for speed. Today, cutter rigged sailboats are popular with ocean-crossing sailors, cruisers, and sailors looking for an easy to manage, versatile rig for all conditions.

It’s important to distinguish cutters from other types of boats with a single mast. Cutters regularly fly two headsails on nearly every point of sail. Many sloops are equipped to fly different-sized headsails, but it is unusual or unnecessary for them to fly more than one at a time.

Solent Rig vs Cutter Rig

A solent rig is traditionally called a slutter–a little bit sloop and a little bit cutter. This configuration features two large headsails mounted close together. The solent rig is good if you do a lot of downwind sailing. You can pole out both headsails and go wing-on-wing, with one headsail on the starboard side and one on the port side.

If you are on any other point of sail, you can only use one solent rig headsail at a time. If you use the inner sail, the wind flow is disrupted by the furled forward sail. And, if you use the forward sail, you’ll have to furl it to tack because there’s not enough space between the forestays.

The solent rig is a way to add more sail options to a standard sloop. Most solent stays are not required rigging to keep the mast up, so owners remove them when not in use to make tacking the primary headsail easier.

Advantages of a Cutter Rig

There are a lot of reasons to like a cutter. A cutter rigged boat has redundant rigging and spreads the sail load across its rigging. And a cutter rig offers increased sail options–it offers increased sail area in light winds and easy and efficient ways to decrease sail area in heavy weather.

In heavy weather, a cutter will drop or furl her larger headsail – usually a yankee or a genoa. That leaves just the smaller inner staysail. This arrangement is superior to the standard sloop, which sails in high winds by reefing her headsail. The staysail, however, lowers the center of effort on the sail plan and maintains draft over the reefed mainsail. That makes the boat more stable, maintains performance, and reduces stresses on the rig.

If you imagine the sailor going to sea and needing to reef, it’s easy to see how many more choices they have than the sloop sailor. While each sailor can reef their mainsail, a cutter skipper has full control over both headsails as well.

Because a cutter rig spreads the load across two headsails, it’s easier to manage. There might be more sails, but each sail is smaller and has smaller loads on it. That makes cutters the preferred option for sailing offshore when short-handed, as are more cruising couples.

Lastly, it has to be added that there’s something appealing about the traditional looks of a cutter.

Disadvantages of a Cutter Rig

While there are many benefits of a cutter, there are drawbacks and disadvantages too.

Sailors will have more lines to manage and more processes to think through. More sails mean more halyards and sheets. And when it comes to maintenance and upkeep, a cutter will have more standing and running rigging to replace, along with one more sail.

Cutters are also harder to tack. You’ll be dealing with two headsails instead of just one. Many designs deal with this problem by making the staysail self-tacking. This has fallen out of favor, but it’s a great advantage if you find yourself short-tacking up or down rivers.

Regardless of whether you need to tack both headsails or not, getting the larger sail to tack through the slot and around the inner forestay is sometimes a challenge. Many skippers find themselves furling the headsail, at least partially, to complete the tack.

Cutters need extra foretriangle room, which can mean adding a bowsprit, moving the mast back, or both.

Cutter Rig Position

Looking at a cutter rigged sailboat diagram, you might see a bowsprit depicted. Often, cutters fly their yankee from a bowsprit. Bowsprits allow boat designers to increase the fore triangle’s size without making the mast taller. Other cutters don’t use a bowsprit and mount the yankee sail on the bow.

A cutter sailboat might seem like more work. After all, there are two sails to trim and manage. In addition, you’ll have to perform maintenance on two sails and purchase and maintain double the hardware.

However, the two headsail arrangement can be easier to manage when the sails are under load. Instead of having one jib or genoa to trim, the weight and pressure are spread across two sails.

Mast Location

Today’s modern boat designers often focus on providing living space in the cabin. Designers often move the mast forward to create a larger, more open saloon. When the mast is forward, there’s less space to mount two headsails. A cutter sailboat needs a decent foretriangle area.

A cutter rigged sailboat is also more expensive for boat builders. The deck must be strong enough to handle the inner forestay’s loads. Between the additional building costs, saloon design issues, and customers’ concern over increased complexity, boat builders often favor a single headsail.

Easier on the Boat and Crew

Since the loads are distributed between two smaller sails instead of being handled by one large genoa. This means there’s less pressure on attachments points and hardware, and therefore less wear and tear. In addition, because there are separate attachment points on the deck for each sail, the load is distributed across the deck instead of focused on one spot.

Because each headsail is smaller, the sails are easier to winch in, so the crew will find it easier to manage the sails.

There’s nothing cookie-cutter about a sailing cutter. From the cut of the jib to the configuration of the staysail, each cutter sailboat is unique.

Yankee, Jib, or Genoa

Traditional cutters have a yankee cut headsail along with a staysail. The yankee is high-cut and usually has no overlap. The high cut improves visibility, and a yankee has less twist than a typical jib. By sloop standards, it looks very small, but on a cutter it works in unison with the staysail.

A jib is a regular headsail that does not overlap the mast, while a genoa is a big jib that does overlaps. The amount of overlap is measured in percentage, so a 100-percent working jib fills the foretriangle perfectly. Other options include the 135 and 155-percent genoas, which are popular for sailors in light winds.

The problem with using a big jib or genoa with a staysail is that there will often be a close overlap between the two headsails. If flown together, the air over the staysail interferes with the air over the outer sail, making each one slightly less efficient. In these cases, it’s often better to drop the staysail and leave it for when the wind pipes up.

Roller Furler, Club, or Hank-On Sails

Sailors have many options to manage and store their cutter’s sails. Sailors can mix and match the options that work for them.

Roller Furler vs Hank-on Sails

You can have both sails on roller furlers, both hanked on, or a mix of the two.

Buying and maintaining two roller furlers is expensive, but it makes the sails easy to manage. You can easily unfurl, reef, and furl both headsails from the cockpit without having to work on the deck.

Hank-on sails are fool-proof and offer less expense and maintenance. You can use a hank-on staysail, either loose-footed or club-footed, depending on your needs. Hank-on sails make sail changes easy and they never jam or come unfurled unexpectedly.

The most common setup on most cutters is to have the larger yankee or jib on a furler, and the smaller and more manageable staysail hanked on.

Club-footed Staysail

A club-footed staysail is attached to a self-tacking boom. Since there is only one control sheet to handle, there’s a lot less work to do to tack from the cockpit. It tacks just like another mainsail. You can tack the yankee while the club-footed staysail self-tacks.

Island Packets and many other cutters feature this arrangement, which makes tacking easy.

However, a club-footed staysail takes up space on the foredeck–it’s always in the way. It’s harder to get to your windlass and ground tackle. In addition, it’s harder to store your dinghy on the foredeck under the staysail boom. The boom also presents a risk to anyone on the foredeck, since it can swing during tacks and jibes and is even lower to the deck than the mainsail boom.

Loose-footed Staysail

Keeping a loose-footed staysail on a furler clears space on the deck. Without the boom, you can more easily move around the foredeck, and you’ll have more space when you are managing the anchor. In addition, you can more easily store your dinghy on the foredeck.

However, the staysail loses its self-tacking ability. You’ll now have to have staysail tracks for the sheet’s turning blocks and another set of sheet winches in the cockpit. When it comes time to tack the boat, you’ll have two headsails with four sheets and four winches to handle. Most owners choose to furl the outer headsail before the tack. Then, they can perform the maneuver using the staysail alone.

The good news is that most offshore boats are not tacking very often. If you’re on a multi-day passage, chances are you’ll only tack once or twice on the whole trip.

Downwind and Light Air Sails

There are a number of light air sails that will help your cutter perform better when the wind is light. Popular options include the code zero, gennaker, and asymmetrical spinnaker.

Adding one of these sails to your inventory can make it a dream sailing machine. A code zero can be flown in light air. Since the cutter is already well equipped for sailing in heavy air, a light air sail really gives you the ability to tackle anything.

Sloop Rig, Ketch, and Yawl

While some describe a cutter as a cutter-rigged sloop or a sloop cutter, a modern sloop has one mast and one permanent headsail.

But you’ll also find the cutter rig used on a ketch or a yawl. A cutter ketch or yawl offers a cruising sailor increased sail area and choices by adding the mizzen mast and sail behind.

Sailing a cutter rigged boat is not that different from sailing a traditional sloop. Sailors will have to pay close attention to trim and tacking.

Sailing a Cutter Rig to Windward

A cutter usually can’t point as high as a sloop when sailing to windward. The yankee hinders the staysail’s airflow, and the staysail starts to stall.

Tacking a Sailboat Cutter

If you need to short tack up a narrow channel, and both your sails are loose-footed, you can roll up one of the headsails and just use one headsail to tack. Many staysails have a boom and are self-tacking. This means you can tack the yankee, and the staysail will take care of itself.

Reefing a Cutter

A cutter sailboat has more options to easily get the right amount of sail. You can add a reef to your mainsail, then furl or reef the yankee a little, and then add another reef to the mainsail. As the wind increases, you can take the yankee in all together, and sail with a double-reefed mainsail and the staysail. Finally, you can add the third reef to the mainsail. Some staysails can be reefed, too.

A cutter rig offers many options during heavy weather. For example, you may end up taking the mainsail down altogether and leaving the staysail up. Or, you might choose to replace the staysail with a tiny storm sail.

Adding a storm jib on a sail cutter is much easier than a standard sloop. On a sloop, you’d have to remove the large genoa from the bow and then add the storm sail. This operation places the skipper in a challenging situation, which can be avoided on a cutter.

On a cutter, you can remove the staysail and add the storm jib to the inner forestay. Working a little aft of the bow will give you increased stability while managing the staysail’s smaller load.

While many modern sailboats are sloop-rigged, cutter-seeking sailors still have options.

Rustler Yachts

While many new yachts have ditched the sturdy offshore cutter rig in favor of greater simplicity, Rustler is making a name for themselves by bringing it back. It’s still one of the best options for offshore sailing, and it’s great to see a modern yacht company using the rig to its full potential.

The Rustler doesn’t need a bowsprit to accommodate its cutter rig. The Rustler is set up for single-handed and offshore cruising with all lines managed from the cockpit. Their smaller boats are rigged as easier-to-sail sloops for coastal hops, while the larger 42, 44, and 57 are rigged as true cutters with staysails and yankees.

Cabo Rico Cutters

Cabo Rico built cutters between 34 and 56 feet long. They aren’t currently in production but often come up on the used boat market. They are beautiful, semi-custom yachts that turn heads where ever they go. Of all the cutters the company built, the William Crealock-designed Cabo Rico 38 was the most long-lived, with about 200 hulls built. The second most popular design was the 34. The company also built a 42, 45, 47, and 56—but only a handful of each of these custom beauties ever left the factory. Most of the larger Cabo Ricos were designed by Chuck Paine.

Cabo Ricos have bowsprits, and the staysail is usually club-footed, although owners may have modified this. Cabo Ricos are known for their solid construction, beautiful teak interiors, and offshore capabilities.

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Pacific Seacraft

Pacific Seacraft features a full line of cutters. Pacific Seacraft boats are known for their construction, durability, and overall quality.

Just a few of the best-known cutters built by Pacific Seacraft include the following.

Pacific Seacraft/Crealock 34
Pacific Seacraft/Crealock 37
Pacific Seacraft 40

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Island Packet Yachts

Island Packet boats are probably the most popular cutter design available today. Designer and company founder Bob Johnson created beautiful cutter-rigged full-keel boats with shallow drafts that were very popular around Florida, the Bahamas, and the east coast of the US.

Island Packets are known for their comfortable, spacious layouts. Older models could be ordered from the factory as either sloop or cutter-rigged. The result is that you see a mix of the two, as well as plenty of cutters that have removed their staysails to make a quasi-sloop.

Island Packet is still in business today, but now favors solent-rigged sloops with twin headsails.

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Hess-Designed Cutters

Lyle Hess designed several famous cutter-rigged boats, including the Falmouth Cutter 22 and the Bristol Channel Cutter 28. These gorgeous boats are smaller than most cruising boats but are a joy to sail. Lyle Hess’ designs were popularized by sailing legends Lin and Larry Pardey, who sailed their small wood-built cutters Serraffyn and Taleisin around the world multiple times.

These beautiful cutters have a timeless look like no other boats. They have inspired many other designs, too. You’ll find them built from both wood or fiberglass, but a variety of builders and yards have made them over the years.

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Cutter rigged boats offer cruising sailors a flexible sail plan that’s perfect for offshore sailing. Sailors can adjust the amount of sail according to the current wind conditions. Traditional cutters were known for being fast and agile, and today’s cutters carry on the tradition with pride.

What is a cutter rigged yacht?

A cutter rigged yacht features two headsails. One headsail, usually a high-cut yankee, is all the way forward, either on a bowsprit or the bow. The staysail is smaller and attached to an inner forestay.

What is the advantage of a cutter rig?

A cutter rig offers cruising sailors more flexibility. They can easily increase and decrease the sail area and choose the optimum combination for the sailing conditions. While there are more lines and sails to handle, each sail is smaller and therefore easier to manage.

Matt has been boating around Florida for over 25 years in everything from small powerboats to large cruising catamarans. He currently lives aboard a 38-foot Cabo Rico sailboat with his wife Lucy and adventure dog Chelsea. Together, they cruise between winters in The Bahamas and summers in the Chesapeake Bay.

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Two Headsails Are Better Than One

By Wendy Mitman Clarke
Updated: September 28, 2010

solent rig 368

Osprey is the first boat we’ve ever owned with a solent rig, that is, two headsails that are placed close together fore and aft and in line with one another. At deck level, a mere 21 inches separates the two furlers, an arrangement that has distinct advantages, especially for downwind sailing, and disadvantages, when it comes to going to weather. After about two years spent learning this rig, last summer we added a third furler for the staysail, which we find has given the arrangement far more versatility on all points of sail.

The most obvious benefit of this type of rig is the ability to have multiple headsails ready to deploy. On the headstay, we carry our No. 1, a 145-percent genoa, and we have our 125-percent genoa, the No. 2, on the inner forestay. These two sail sizes are what the boat came with. A third headsail, a 90-percent jib, is carried on the staysail stay. Before we added a furler on this stay, we used a hank-on staysail, but with the furler, we’ve found new ways to put this small sail to use; more on that later.

The solent rig truly shines going downwind, particularly dead downwind. What, on many other boats, is an awkward, rolly, nerve-wracking point of sail is, on Osprey, often like riding the rails on a fast-moving train. Along with its headsail arrangement, Osprey came with two spinnaker poles, which we mounted on a double-car track. With both our genoas poled out and the mainsail either double-reefed or taken down completely, the boat sails dead downwind extremely comfortably. With the mainsail down, we eliminate the worry of an accidental jibe, and as soon as the poles are set, the boat becomes remarkably stable. In 25 knots of true wind and 10-foot seas, we’ve made steady speeds of 7 to 8.5 knots with little effort while in complete control. (In air under 10 true, we use the cruising chute when possible for dead-downwind sailing).

Setting Sails Launching this sail arrangement takes a little time and requires someone on the foredeck, which in rolly seas can be tricky. Starting with the headsails furled, we position one pole with the sheet through the jaws, then unfurl the sail against the pole, pulling the pole aft until the sail is set. Because the poles are on a single track and each pole car is independently controlled, it’s necessary to launch the lower pole first. On Osprey, the lower pole is the starboard pole. Once the starboard pole is set, we repeat the process by lowering the inboard end of the port pole and launching it.

To get the most from this double-pole rig, the ability to adjust the sheet-lead angles is critical. We use 12-foot-long Harken Big Boat genoa tracks and adjustable cars with a 4-to-1 purchase.

Once the sails are set, the boat nearly sails herself. And because the two sails balance each other out, the load and strain on the autopilot is greatly diminished. However, one disadvantage to this rig is that once the poles are out, our ability to maneuver radically for any reason-quickly altering course, for instance, to avoid another vessel or floating object-is limited. On a run, we make it a point to be extra vigilant so we have plenty of time to douse one or both poles if needed.

We’ve found with practice that dousing this rig is also fairly easy. Starting with the upper pole-on Osprey, the one set and stored to port-we ease the jib sheet, letting the pole go forward. It becomes pretty easy to furl the headsail. We disconnect the pole, raise it to the top of the track, and stow it in its proper vertical position, with the inboard end at the top of the track and the outboard end mounted on an attachment point just aft of the forward lower shrouds on the port side. Next, we do the same with the starboard pole, whose outboard end mounts on the starboard side at a similar mounting point. Sometimes we need to refurl the last 10 feet of the headsails to get a proper furl.

With the solent rig, the spinnaker poles also come in very handy on a broad reach. With an apparent-wind angle of 170 to 120 degrees, we pole out one of the headsails to windward and run the main to leeward. Wind velocity determines which headsail we choose and whether we reef the main. My husband, Johnny, came up with this idea from his years spent sailing Snipes and other racing dinghies that employ whisker poles rather than spinnaker poles. On our 14-ton Osprey, this arrangement has proven extremely fast and stable. The windward pole eliminates the blanketing effect of the mainsail, which can collapse a leeward-set jib, making the boat roll and the sails slap and bang. Heading from the Bahamas to the U.S. East Coast across the Gulf Stream in lumpy conditions and 10 to 12 knots of true wind at 130-degrees apparent, we were able to sail pretty comfortably at 5 to 6 knots of boat speed while the two boats with us, which couldn’t pole out their jibs, were often forced to motor, rolling all the while.

The Downside to the Solent Rig As the wind angle closes, some of the solent rig’s disadvantages become more apparent. Unlike a cutter rig, in which the head stays are separated by a good distance, the close proximity of the two headsails in the solent arrangement makes flying both at the same time impossible; you must choose one or the other. In lighter air, when we use the No. 1, the rig behaves very much like a traditional sloop-rigged boat. The biggest problem with this, however, is tacking-Johnny likes to say that the rig was designed to tack once a month, and that seems about right. The slot between the two sails is so narrow that it’s extremely hard, without furling the No. 1, to get it through to the other side. Also, in heavier air, the close proximity of the headstays significantly disturbs the airflow on the No. 2, degrading the boat’s ability to point using this headsail.

When sailing upwind in 10 to 15 knots of true wind, we use the No. 1 and the full main. This gives us the power that Osprey needs to sail through wind chop and moderate swell while making anywhere from 5 to 7 knots, depending on the sea state. In wind speeds of 15 to 20 knots true, we use the No. 2 and, depending on conditions, a full main or a single reef. In 25 knots and up, going upwind, we double-reef the main (we only have two reefs), and reef the No. 2 as needed.

To try and mitigate some of the solent rig’s upwind foibles, we started experimenting with the staysail. We found it to be so useful that last summer we added a third furler for it. This extra sail is easy and quick to deploy and tack. Now, for instance, if we’re sailing upwind in 25 knots or more, rather than use the No. 2 at all, with its limited pointing ability, we now deploy the staysail. Should we be sailing close to the wind with the No. 1 and need to tack, we can unfurl the staysail, furl the No. 1, and with the added horsepower of the small staysail, the boat moves efficiently through the tack instead of stopping dead, particularly in choppy conditions. Now we often add the staysail on all points of sail. We use it to complement the No. 1 when we’re sailing upwind or close to the wind, and it usually adds half a knot of boat speed. The staysail also works well with either of the genoas when they’re poled out to windward.

The roller-furled staysail also eliminates another disadvantage to the solent rig: heaving to. Unlike a cutter rig, with its small, setback yankee jib, Osprey’s No. 2 is too big and too far forward for us to easily find the sweet spot to balance the boat. The staysail, due to its size and its location farther aft, lets us heave to quickly and comfortably.

After two and a half years of getting to know the solent rig, we feel we’re finally starting to make it work to its full potential. Its long-distance downwind-sailing abilities and its off-the-wind versatility thus far have outweighed its disadvantages when going upwind. And by adding the staysail as a permanent fixture, we’ve mitigated many of those problems. It’s not the easiest system, but for us it’s proven its worth time and time again.

The Clarkes in May sailed Osprey , with poles out, 1,200 nautical miles downwind from the Dominican Republic to Guatemala, where they plan to spend hurricane season.

More: How To , keelboat , monohull , sail handling , sails and rigging , seamanship
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CRUISING SAILBOAT RIGS: Sloops, Cutters, and Solent Rigs

In our previous episode in this series we discussed what I like to call split rigs–ketches, yawls, and schooners–where a sailplan is divided among two or more masts. Cruising sailors once upon a time preferred such rigs, at least on larger cruising boats, because each separate sail requiring handling was smaller and thus more manageable. These days, however, by far the most popular rig for both racing and cruising sailboats is the simple sloop rig. This has a single mast supporting a single Marconi mainsail with a single headsail supported by a single headstay flying forward of it.

Its advantages are manifest: there are only two sails for the crew to handle, each of which can be hoisted with a single halyard and trimmed with a single sheet. While sailing, there are normally only two lines–the jib sheet and mainsheet–that need to be controlled at any given moment. And because there is but one headsail flying forward of the main, tacking a sloop is easy, since the headsail, even if it is a large overlapping genoa, can pass easily through the open foretriangle.

Sloop rigs are highly efficient to windward, thanks to the so-called “slot effect” created by the interaction of the mainsail and headsail. How this actually works is a matter of some debate. The traditional theory is that airflow in the narrow slot between the sails is accelerated, which decreases air pressure on the leeward side of the mainsail, thus increasing the lift the sail generates.

The revisionist theory is that air deflected from the headsail actually works to decrease airflow in the slot, increasing pressure on the windward side of the headsail, thus increasing the lift it generates. Since increasing the lift generated by one sail seems to necessarily decrease that generated by the other, others believe a single Marconi sail must be just as aerodynamic, if not more so, than two sails. This last proposition, however, is contradicted by real-world experience, as no one has yet created a single-sail rig that is as fast and closewinded as a double-sail sloop rig.

The almighty slot in action. Its effects are salubrious, but no one can really explain why

The primary disadvantage of a sloop rig is that the sails must be relatively large. They are therefore harder to handle in that they are heavier (making them harder to hoist) and generate larger loads when flying. Much of this difficulty, however, is obviated by modern winches and roller-furling gear, which is why sloop rigs are now so popular, and deservedly so. In light to moderate sailing conditions, which is what most sailors normally encounter, a sloop is by far the fastest, most easily handled rig currently available.

In heavier conditions sloops do present some challenges. To reduce sail area forward of the mast, if the headsail is hanked on to the headstay, which was the traditional practice, you must change the sail for a smaller one. This requires crew to work for extended periods on the bow of the boat, where conditions can get wild and wet. If the headsail is on a modern roller-furler, the sail can be easily roller-reefed from the cockpit, but past a certain point a roller-reefed headsail’s shape becomes inefficient. You either must live with this or unroll the sail and change it for another smaller one. The stronger the wind gets, the more distorted the roller-reefed sail becomes, and the more important it is to change it. Changing a sail on a furler in a strong wind, however, is an awful chore. The very first thing you must do (unroll the sail) greatly increases sail area right when you most want to decrease it. Then you must somehow control a large headsail as it comes off a furling rod with its luff unrestrained in strong wind.

Coastal cruisers are never likely to sail in strong conditions for very long. On the few brief occasions their boats are pressed hard they are normally willing to limp along on an ugly scrap of roller-reefed genoa. They are also more likely to have to short-tack their boats in confined areas, thus the ease of tacking a sloop makes it the rig of choice on coastal boats. Bluewater cruisers, on the other hand, may sail in strong weather for days on end, so there are advantages to cutting up the sail area in the foretriangle into smaller more manageable pieces. Bluewater cruisers traditionally therefore often prefer a cutter rig, which has a single mast and a headstay like a sloop, but also an inner forestay behind the headstay from which a smaller intermediate staysail can be flown.

Modern cutter-rigged cruiser sailing under a staysail and a reefed mainsail

The big advantage of a cutter rig is that in a big blow the jib on the headstay can come right off (or be rolled up) and the smaller staysail can carry on alone, more inboard and lower in the rig, where it balances better against the reduced area of a deeply reefed mainsail. Cutters are also efficient to windward, though some claim they are not as efficient as sloops. Personally, I’ve found cutters are sometimes actually more closewinded than sloops, at least in moderate to strong winds, as the sheeting angles on a pair of smaller, flatter headsails can be narrower than the angle on one larger, more full-bodied sail. In very heavy conditions, with just a staysail and reefed mainsail deployed, I believe a cutter is almost always more efficient to windward than a sloop.

On anything from a beam reach to a tight closehauled angle, a cutter can also fly both its headsails unobstructed. Sailing on a broad reach, however, the staysail blocks air from reaching the jib, reducing the rig’s effective sail area just when the decrease in apparent wind speed caused by the wind blowing from behind the boat demands that sail area instead be increased. Another problem is that a cutter requires extra standing rigging–not only the inner forestay, but also, very often, either an extra set of swept-back aft shrouds or a pair of running backstays to help support the inner forestay from behind. This adds complexity and increases rig weight well above the deck.

The biggest disadvantage of a cutter rig is that there are two headsails to tack (or jibe) across the boat instead of just one. There is an extra set of sheets to handle, plus the jib quarrels with the inner forestay every time it comes across the foretriangle. This is less of a problem if the jib is small and high-cut (these are called yankee jibs) so that it slips more easily through the narrow gap between the inner forestay and headstay. When flying a large genoa, however, crew must often go forward to help horse the sail around the inner forestay. If you don’t have enough crew for this, you may have to roll up part of the genoa (assuming it’s on a roller-furler) before tacking or jibing and unroll it again afterward, which is a bother. Also, if the wind grows strong again, but not so strong that you can sail on the staysail alone, you either have to change your genoa for a smaller sail or roller-reef it into an inefficient shape, which is (theoretically) precisely the conundrum that drove you to favor a cutter rig in the first place.

On a true cutter specifically designed to accommodate a staysail, the mast is usually farther aft than it would be on a sloop and/or there is a bowsprit to enlarge the foretriangle. This allows for a larger, more useful staysail and should enlarge the gap between the headstay and inner forestay so a jib can tack through more easily. A larger foretriangle also allows the jib to be larger without overlapping the mainsail, but a big overlapping genoa will still present problems when tacking or jibing.

A “true” cutter under sail. With the mast aft the foretriangle is bigger, which allows for a bigger, more useful staysail. As on this boat, a true cutter often flies a high-cut yankee jib forward of the staysail

The staysail can also be made club-footed with its own boom. Such a spar, known as a jib-boom, can be controlled by a single sheet that need not be adjusted when tacking. When short-tacking in enough breeze for the boat to sail under main and staysail alone this is the height of convenience. You can shift the helm back and forth without ever touching a line. A jib-boom, however, unless sheeted tight, will flail about the foredeck whenever its sail is luffing while being hoisted, doused, or reefed. It may harm crew on the foredeck during an accidental jibe, as it can sweep suddenly across the boat with some force unless restrained by a preventer.

A cutter-rigged cruiser with a club-footed staysail

Bear in mind, too, that enlarging the foretriangle, particularly on a boat without a bowsprit, usually means mainsail area must be reduced commensurately. In many cases the mainsail is then too small and/or too far aft for the boat to sail and maneuver under main alone. When attempting to dock, anchor, or moor under sail this can be a significant disadvantage. (Note, however, that many sloops are also often unable to maneuver under mainsail alone.)

One variation increasingly popular with bluewater cruisers is a sloop/cutter hybrid, sometimes called a slutter rig, where a removeable inner forestay is installed on what would otherwise be a straight sloop rig. The removable stay normally has some sort of quick-release mechanism at deck level that makes it easy to set up and tension the stay and to loosen and remove it. When stowed, the removeable stay is brought aft to the mast and secured.

Example of an inner forestay with a retro-fitted inner forestay with a quick-release fitting that allows the stay to be moved out of the way when desired

To a large extent, the slutter rig does offer the best of both worlds. In light to moderate winds you can stow the inner forestay and sail the boat as a straight sloop with one large genoa passing through an open foretriangle. In heavy conditions, you can set up the inner forestay, hank on a staysail, roll up or douse the large genoa, and sail the boat under main and staysail alone. Since setting up an inner forestay and hanking on a staysail is normally less taxing than stripping a large genoa off a furling rod and hoisting a smaller working jib and/or storm sail in its place, this is a viable practice.

Sometimes you see true cutters that have been converted to slutters. Here the foretriangle is normally large enough to fly two headsails simultaneously if desired, which is often not possible on a converted sloop. The downside to this arrangement is that making the inner forestay removable makes it impossible to install either a roller-furling staysail (currently a popular arrangement on cutter rigs) or a club-footed staysail.

Another variation that has appeared more recently is the so-called solent rig, where a solent stay is installed directly behind a boat’s headstay. The headstay carries a big genoa (usually on a roller-furler) that is flown in light to moderate wind, and the solent stay carries what is effectively a smaller working jib (or a “blade jib,” as some like to call them now) to fly in stronger conditions. The solent jib (which is normally larger than a staysail) can be rigged permanently on its own roller-furler, or it can be on a removable stay, as is seen on slutters and some cutter rigs.

The huge problem with a permanent solent rig is that the genoa forward on the headstay is normally so close to the solent stay that it cannot be pulled through the gap between the stays, but must be entirely rolled up and unfurled again every time the boat is tacked. In some cases the solent stay actually isn’t terribly close to the headstay, but still the top of the stay is always very close to the top of the headstay and tacking is thus always problematic. For this reason, personally, I strongly favor removable solent stays.

Typical solent rig with the two stays quite close together

On this example, the two stays are farther apart, until you get up to the masthead

One recent innovation that has made the handling of removable sails much easier are sails with torque-rope luffs that are mounted on continuous-line furlers. These were developed first on shorthanded ocean-racing boats, but are now leaking on to cruising boats with increasing frequency. For these to work the sail must usually be a lighter laminated sail rather than straight Dacron. A length of high-modulus rope especially designed to resist twisting, a torque rope so called, is sewn into the luff of the sail, which is then mounted on a removable lightweight continuous-line furling drum. Once the sail is hoisted with its torque rope tensioned it can be furled up on its own luff. It can also be taken down and stowed in a bag this way, all rolled up on itself. And it can be hoisted again while still rolled up. Handling the sail is thus very easy, as the only time it is unrolled and flying free is when you are actually flying it.

The great flexibility of a torque-rope sail actually gives you two different options if you are trying to create a solent rig. The smaller solent sail can be made a removable torque-rope sail, in which case you will be setting and flying it inside the headstay. Or you can keep a small working jib on your headstay and set up a larger removable genoa-size torque-rope sail forward of it. Sails like this have all sorts of names–Code Zero sails, screechers, gennakers, etc. The most important thing, if you are ordering one, is not what you call it, but rather that it is cut flat enough to sail efficiently to windward. Also, when flying such a sail you’ll need some sort of bowsprit forward of your headstay to carry it, and the sprit must be strong enough to carry the rig’s full headstay load when the sail flying.

The headsail arrangement on my cutter-rigged boat Lunacy . A triple-headsail sloop you might call it. The headstay and the inner forestay are permanently rigged. The screecher, as I call it, flies on its own luff forward of the headstay and is controlled with a removable continuous-line furler. The bowsprit and the plate under it were added to carry the big load the sail generates. When the screecher is flying the headstay goes slack and the screecher’s torque rope is what’s holding up the front of the mast

An IMOCA Open 60 flying a staysail on a continuous-line furler

A continuous-line furler up close and personal, removed from the rig with sail furled

Yet another option is to make the staysail in a cutter rig a removable torque-rope sail. I have seen these on shorthanded racing boats, but never on a cruising boat. I wonder sometimes if I should try it on my boat. If anyone has tried it on their boat, I do wish they would get in touch!

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NORTHBOUND LUNACY: Atlantic City, NJ, to Portland, ME

My last two boats–a Bristol 39 and a Warwick 47–have been sloops with inner forestays. The present Warwick has a r/f forstaysail so it’/s more or less permanent. This is a great heavy weather and offshore rig–perfect for the ocean and he Caribbean, the Med not so much. The forestayail is pretty small so it takes a considerable blow to make it the right choice.

Go easy on the torque rope idea unless a) the mast is beefed up for it b) the winches, lead blocks and the deck under the winch base on which the halyard lays are beefed up. You need to plan on having a halyard lock for the top of the torque rope AND a robust purchase to load the bottom end. THIS is how the race boats are set up Coop

Bluewater Cruising: Cutter Rig versus Solent Rig - Part 1

Attainable Adventure Cruising

The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Cruising Rigs—Sloop, Cutter, or Solent?

I was working on Part 3 of our review of the Outbound 46 , but when I got to thinking about the rig, I realized that the tradeoffs of the solent rig against sloops and true cutters—there are always tradeoffs—should actually be a chapter of this Online Book, so here we go:

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More Articles From Online Book: Sail Handling and Rigging Made Easy:

Six Reasons To Leave The Cockpit Often
Don’t Forget About The Sails
Your Mainsail Is Your Friend
Hoisting the Mainsail Made Easy—Simplicity in Action
Reefs: How Many and How Deep
Reefing Made Easy
Reefing From The Cockpit 2.0—Thinking Things Through
Reefing Questions and Answers
A Dangerous Myth about Reefing
Mainsail Handling Made Easy with Lazyjacks
Topping Lift Tips and a Hack
12 Reasons The Cutter Is A Great Offshore Voyaging Rig
Cutter Rig—Should You Buy or Convert?
Cutter Rig—Optimizing and/or Converting
Sailboat Deck Layouts
The Case For Roller-Furling Headsails
UV Protection For Roller Furling Sails
In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing—Convenience and Reliability
In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing —Performance, Cost and Safety
The Case For Hank On Headsails
Making Life Easier—Roller Reefing/Furling
Making Life Easier—Storm Jib
Gennaker Furlers Come Of Age
Swept-Back Spreaders—We Just Don’t Get It!
Q&A: Staysail Stay: Roller Furling And Fixed Vs Hanks And Removable
Rigid Vangs
Rigging a Proper Preventer, Part 1
Rigging a Proper Preventer—Part 2
Amidships “Preventers”—A Bad Idea That Can Kill
Keeping The Boom Under Control—Boom Brakes
Downwind Sailing, Tips and Tricks
Downwind Sailing—Poling Out The Jib
Setting and Striking a Spinnaker Made Easy and Safe
Ten Tips To Fix Weather Helm
Running Rigging Recommendations—Part 1
Running Rigging Recommendations—Part 2
Two Dangerous Rigging Mistakes
Rig Tuning, Part 1—Preparation
Rig Tuning, Part 2—Understanding Rake and Bend
Rig Tuning, Part 3—6 Steps to a Great Tune
Rig Tuning, Part 4—Mast Blocking, Stay Tension, and Spreaders
Rig Tuning, Part 5—Sailing Tune
12 Great Rigging Hacks
9 Tips To Make Unstepping a Sailboat Mast Easier
Cruising Sailboat Spar Inspection
Cruising Sailboat Standing Rigging Inspection
Cruising Sailboat Running Rigging Inspection
Cruising Sailboat Rig Wiring and Lighting Inspection
Cruising Sailboat Roller Furler and Track Inspection
Download Cruising Sailboat Rig Checklist

No surprise, I generally agree with you conclusions. Cutters are certainly king offshore in many conditions. I have never sailed a solent rig offshore but I will admit to being intrigued by the possibility of 2 headsails poled out for the tradewinds even though I understand your reservations about being locked in with this rig. To me the question is always how do you fly storm canvas on a cutter rigged boat. Do you make the staysail and furling gear so heavy that it can do it, do you undersize the staysail and make it heavy so that it never needs reduction, do you make the staysail hank-on or do you plan to swap sails in a furler. I have sailed on boats set up for all and all have their issues but I think that if I were really planning to sail hard offshore, I would be tempted to go hank-on for the staysail up to 50’+. Doing a trade-winds run, I would put the staysail on a furler and then plan to swap for a storm sail well in advance of any weather.

Since you mention coastal, I think that fractional sloop rigs can be great coastal rigs. Even 40′ boats can run hank-on sails in many cases and they are small enough that they don’t force you to swap the jib often, you can do most adjustment in the main. If roller furled, it also has a wide wind range before you are too furled and shape goes to heck.

One of the most important points you make is about importance of jib shape and how closely tied it is to whether it is roller reefed or not. Our boat is a sloop with hank-on sails and my absolute favorite setup is when we go to our 100% blade jib (slightly high cut for a true blade). Amazingly, on the wind this sail keeps up with a 150% jib by about 10 knots true and by 12 it is faster. Reaching, those numbers go up but only by a small amount. The 150% was a basically new sail when we bought the boat and I just bought a new 135% this year as I felt that the 150% was just too big and narrowed the top end of its range too much and was too inefficient otherwise (we carry 3 jibs and an asym). My own feeling is that most of the boats around us would do better overall with a smaller jib. If I were going roller furling right now, I think that I would put a 120% on the furler for our New England weather and have a second bare stay for hank-on jibs for higher winds. Our boat stays more balanced than I would have expected as we change the jib size so I often go to our “storm” (really a gale jib) jib by the time it reaches 30 steady and can simply adjust the main from there.

I realize that my post reads like an ad for hank-on sails and the funny thing is that I don’t totally love them but having 1 smaller headsail be hank-on really give you a lot of flexibility. However, for a genoa on a 50’er, there is no way I would consider hank-on, it has to be the right application.

Agree. I go further: the working staysail is hanked on and the storm staysail is hanked on below it in its bag, which is lashed down.

That is how we roll, too, with our cutter rig. Plus a yankee on a furler forward on a short, stout bowsprit.

Yes, good point on using both headsails downwind on a solent boat, that said it’s worth remembering that one could do the same on a cutter and that the projected area would be about the same (unless the solent used an extending pole) given that the cutter will have a bigger foretriangle.

The big problem I see (aside from the being locked in) is that all of these twin headsail rigs require two poles to use effectively offshore, unless one guys out the boom, and so doing is just another lock in.

On using the roller furling staysail as a storm sail on a cutter, we have never found it that complex, but there are some things that make it work for us: https://www.morganscloud.com/2013/06/01/how-to-heave-to-in-a-sailboat/

That said, we do carry a storm jib, but have never had to use it. About the only time I could see that ever happening would be if we had to beat off a lee shore. Obviously the change could be a challenge, but given that both sails are quite small, even on our boat, and that we have retaining tabs sewn to both, quite doable. See this post for more on changing to the storm jib: https://www.morganscloud.com/2012/03/23/handling-roller-furling-sails/

That said, for the first three years we had the boat we had a hanked on staysail and while we now prefer roller furling, it’s not by a huge margin. Probably boat size is the governing parameter.

And yes, I totally agree on what a bad idea 150% genoas are. Our boat had one when we bought her (staysail stay was removable at that time) and I sold it without ever taking it out of the bag. The damned things are simply the result of poorly thought out rating systems.

As for hank on sails generally, I’m a fan, but again I think it’s boat size dependant, and probably age too!

And I love fractional rigs with big mains and blade jibs. In fact one of the lead contenders for my old age boat is rigged just that way, although it needs to be said that a sail area to displacement ratio of 24 is a lot of what makes that work—most cruising boats would be slugs rigged that way.

I agree that hanked on sails are an age and boat size dependent thing. I am still young enough and have the advantage of being a physically large guy so that I find it manageable. Our new 130% is around 450 ft^2 and the old 150 was obviously a bit bigger and only occasionally did I find it to be a pain in the neck (we do almost all sail handling solo). I also have the advantage of having sailed on some boats with much larger hank-on sails that really were tricky and could be carried in much stronger conditions so that when they finally did need to come down, they could be a handful even with several crewmembers, these boats made everything else feel a lot easier.

It is interesting that you have never had to use your storm jib. I have had several occasions to use a “storm jib” but in truth I would not consider any of them to actually be a true storm jib and rather just ones sized appropriately for a strong gale. That said, I have never actually needed to change a headsail on a cutter, all of the changes have been on sloops which is a rig not well suited to heavy weather anyways because of this issue. This may fall into the category of every 1 in 50 years you are incredibly thankful to have it but all the other times it is more convenient and safer to have a good staysail on a roller furler. I had missed the post that shows the loops you have, I can imagine that those are critical to managing the sail outside the foil.

I think that’s exactly it: 1 in 50 years that you will want the roller furling staysail off and the storm jib on. In fact that’s exactly my experience in that just about 40 years ago, on the way home to Bermuda in my old boat one fall, we got caught in an un-forecast bomb off Cape Hatteras and were thankful for a storm jib as we had to claw off. Also the reason I carry a storm trysail: https://www.morganscloud.com/2013/06/01/lee-shores/

But since then I have actually carried the part rolled staysail in as much wind, but with it aft and never felt the need to change. The point being that as long as one is not trying to claw off a lee shore a staysail works fine since you just roll in enough that the loads are low. Ditto heaving to: https://www.morganscloud.com/2013/06/01/how-to-heave-to-in-a-sailboat/

And yes, the loops are vital to our strategy. A trick I learned from Dodge Morgan.

Hi Eric, When I bought my cutter rigged 40-foot boat back when, I was initially disappointed that the staysail was on a roller furler. Fairly quickly, a couple of things started to become apparent. One, I had the staysail deployed anytime the wind was forward of abeam so I was just using it a lot more than expected. In that way having the staysail on a furler approached the reasons I have the jib on a furler. As my sail plan quickly evolved to a low-clewed staysail and a higher clewed jib topsail, the synchronicity with which they worked together, just made a furler even more sensible. Those boats that sail more like a sloop: jib out and roller reefed till doused when the staysail is then deployed, might more reasonably take to hanked-on sails. But on cutters where the staysail is frequently used I appreciate roller furling. The other thing was the versatility I experienced. My take is that cruising boats do passages where wind is generally steady and changes gradual, but that, in practice, a majority of time and mileage is coastal cruising. And so many of these day sails start out in mild breezes, only to crank up as the day progresses. Being able to throttle down with no visits to the fore-deck is just really nice, comfortable, and safe. Often, by the end of the day, we are sailing with just the staysail and a reef or two in the main, all without drama and work. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

That’s been pretty much exactly our experience too

As I mentioned in my reply to John, I find it interesting that he has never used the storm jib on Morgan’s Cloud. Hopefully my initial comment was clear that I would tend towards a roller furling staysail in normal sailing and my speculation on a hank-on one was for more adventurous places than coastal cruising or tradewind sailing. Of course, I believe that you and John both been to higher latitudes than I so it is interesting that you both lean towards roller furling. Interestingly, I really don’t mind the extra time associated with hank-on, we actually take the jib off most times that it comes down so that the foredeck is clear and it doesn’t influence our decision of which sail to use the next time.

All this is said by the owner of a sloop but who has sailed on several different cutters with different setups but I have never actually gotten to set one up myself for my preferences. If I bought one for my current sailing, I would think that it would be all furler based and it may be that it is overly conservative to go hank-on even for more adventurous places.

Hi Eric, I have had a fortunate life in many ways, but one is that I have never had to claw off a lee shore in high winds. I have gone to wind in gale conditions on numerous occasions: often towards the end of day along the Turkish coast when I wished to get to an anchorage (and, of course, when anchored the wind died giving us a beautiful evening). On these occasions, the staysail and main with three reefs have done the trick (and hand steering- fun for a couple hours- allowing me to feather in gusts). I believe I have only reefed the staysail when hove-to and that, in part, so the leach does not rub on the radome. I do not carry a storm jib and had the staysail made robustly of HydraNet Radial, a material I have been very pleased with for 7 years now. My best, Dick

Hi John, love the variety of topics you are covering – good stuff. To go offshore, Doyle Sails suggested changing from our 135% genoa to a 100% high modulus jib (solent), low cut as you suggest John. AND YES we can see OK underneath the solent upwind, if we duck down (harder in a big sea but not impossible) and we can more easily look around it, being a much smaller jib. From experience in running a low cut jib solent rig, a couple of other points… On the wind you want inside sheeting for pointing, but even with slightly eased sheets we find we NEED outboard sheeting. As you say the low cut blade shape is not as forgiving as a higher cut genoa off the wind. So we run inboard and outboard tracks and two sheets per side, the outer tracks being on the cap-rail. This gives us great luff and sail shape control at all times, but the downside is if we are careless, having two lazy sheets they can get in a knot, whilst tacking. We could just attach the outboard sheets when eased off, but offshore and shorthanded this doesn’t seem practical. Secondly, the benefit of having jib battens to hold good jib sail shape – Doyle advised we use vertical battens, which work great and roll perfectly aligned with the forestay, but these make it harder to quickly drop and flake the jib on the foredeck when required. But the relatively flat blade jib rolls much tighter than our old, fuller genoa, so we don’t often feel the need to remove it. For completeness, we run a high cut Doyle “Code 0” forward of the jib / forestay, on an extended and much strengthened bow roller-fairlead with solid support strut under. So I do call ours a solent rig as when out cruising, the Code 0 stays rolled up ready to use (except on long windward legs, at anchor more than overnight, or if a gale is expected). And we use the Code 0 a lot. Similar to Eric, the VMG performance cross-over between jib / genoa for us came at about 13-14 knots. But we can hold the Code-0 upwind to around 12 knots (12-14 if the wind is stable), so a small performance hit. Overall I think it is a good compromise for production boats designed with genoas, looking for a more manageable sail combination offshore. Rob

Sounds like a great rig, and very much in line with where my thinking has been going lately. That said, I would call it a sloop with a removable code zero, not a solent, which implies to me a fixed genoa furler that can’t be removed.

And yes, sheeting outboard improved things a lot when reaching with a blade, but a high cut sail will always be better yet and does not generally require a lot of messing with leads—it’s all about tradeoffs.

An additional advantage of cutter vs. sloop, certainly for offshore work, is mast stability. The additional stay, and running back stays, add stability and redundancy. The mast is much less likely to be lost if one support snaps for whatever reason.

True, in fact I agree so much that I think all offshore boats should be so equipped:

Also, all boats, once they get offshore in swell, benefit from the mast stabilization afforded by an inner headstay and runners, particularly when the main is heavily reefed, to the point that I believe they are required equipment.

John I recently sold my Xc45. It was a solent rig set up, and had a pretty tall, powerful mast for a boat that size. The furling staysail was set on a 2:1 halyard on the inner stay. On three occasions in my first 2 years of cruising, when we had over 35 knots of wind on the bow, the furled staysail would unfurl from the top. Once when trying to motor around Cape Lindesnes in Norway, once when trying to get out of Rorvik en route to the Faroes, and once in a marina in Spain. Apart from the marina episode, both other episodes required crew to get onto a pitching foredeck to secure the situation. I thought it to be an unsafe rig. The high angle of the stay sail given the mast height on the Xc45 made it impossible to get an adequately tight furl at the top. I would add this to your list of Solent rig negatives. Anthony

Hi Anthony,

I’m not sure it’s fair to hit the solent with that one since I think the problem you had with furling was more about having the staysail set flying on a two to one halyard so not able to get it tight enough for a good roll. We have never had any problems furling our staysail, or with it unrolling, but it’s set on fixed roller furler. My thinking is that sails that are set flying, even on a 2:1 halyard should not be left up once things get bumpy. Mind you Lindesnes is a nasty place that can test any furl!

Have an Outbound 46. Have a blade, 130 and a parasailor. Have expandable cf pole. The parasailor virtually never comes out of its bag. Find with no main and both head sails out can go nearly DDW. The Hydrovane tracts fine with this set up at all wind speeds . I can roll up or out either headsail as conditions require in a second or two. Can sail the boat by myself and not leave the cockpit. Allows me safety so even at night can sail the boat near its potential not being scared of a line squall coming through. I went oz. up and in vectron so after 7 years minimal creep and no sag. Windward Dyneema runner is used only to prevent mast pumping when it occurs. Rig is tuned for the solent with a little backstay on. Genny stay is tuned with a slight bit of sag when no backstay on. Underway you tune genny stay with hydraulic backstay. You put more backstay on when you roll the genny. Then let if off if you’re going downwind. I’ve had several cutters previously. Like many sail mom and pop which means you’re singling much of the time. Most people do a few passages each year but sail frequently once cruising grounds are reached. With a cutter found we got lazy. Handling 3 sheets plus mainsail shape controls means you put the coffee or drink down frequently. So for short hops may even power sail not wanting to deal with tacking 3 sails. Having the solent means you put the coffee on with the bride asleep. Leave under sail. Get your coffee. Have breakfast when she wakes up. Before passage rig our removable inner dyneema storm jib stay and sheets. Running backs line up to its stay. With third reef on the main ready to go and the stormjib deployable by one with no bother that’s great. Having that inner stay up means like with the genny you need to roll up the solent to tack but you very rarely tack on passage. Very much happier with the solent than the cutter rig for mom and pop sailing.

Great analysis, thanks. That said, I think the solent to cutter choice is more about where sailing and how than mom and pop. Back in the day we were doing huge offshore miles just the two of us and the cutter rig was great. Now days with more inshore sailing a sloop or solent has a lot to recommend it and I would say that might be age independent. For example, I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up with a sloop for my geriatric boat.

Sorry to hear that Anthony. On 69 Outbounds have never heard that happening. Must be particular to the boat or just insufficient angle of halyard to stay. Think that’s a generic problem with any roller furling headsail not related to the type of rig. John curious as to why you left out split rigs in your analysis? For the cruising sailor they still have desirable characteristics.

I didn’t get into split rigs for two reasons, first off I’m not a fan of ketches and second I wanted this to be manageable so I kept it fundamentally about the foretriangle. I find if I widen the subject too far for a given article it just turns to mush with too many variables and qualifications to be useful.

Hi John, I would hope, with your writing, that someone would start building a true cutter (mast almost amidships) once again. I do not know of any in production, but it is not really a loop I am in, nor have I noticed any one-offs lately. It is my take that the term “cutter”, as a boat description, has evolved into a romantic term that gets bandied about with little regard to an agreed upon definition: hence the recourse to the awkward “true cutter”. Many of the sailboats that call themselves cutters are more accurately described, to my mind, as double head-sail sloops (mast farther forward). This is not just a splitting of hairs as on boats my size (40 feet) with the mast almost amidships, I can successfully fly both headsails going to wind (jib topsail over a low clewed staysail) whereas a double headsail sloop (in a similar boat length) has trouble doing so. Its J is just too short (with the mast forward like it is) and the sails set too close to each other and turbulence results slowing down the boat. I have sailed next to double head-sail sloops who have called me on the radio to ask for suggestions as to why they slow down when they fly their staysail. My observation is that their J is just too small to allow for good clean air to work on both head-sails until the boat overall gets large. They go faster flying only one head-sail. I would suggest that the Tayana pictured in the article can fly two head-sails together as pictured because of its overall length (52 feet) which also lengthens the J and allows both head-sails to works with clean air. I would also call the Tayana pictured in the article a double head-sail sloop, or a cutter rigged sloop, but not a cutter: its mast is just too far forward. Random thoughts, my best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

As before, we will have to agree to disagree on that one since I don’t think that whether or not a boat is a cutter is governed by mast position.

More on that here: https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/09/17/12-reasons-the-cutter-is-a-great-offshore-voyaging-rig/

As to why boats slow down with the staysail, I think it’s a lot more about poor trim and setup (usually not having the tracks in the right place) than foretriangle size. The bottom line is that most cruisers, these days when few have raced, are pretty bad at sail trim and trimming a cutter well does take more skill than a sloop. The other problem is sailmakers who don’t understand cutters and saddle their clients with low cut genoas that will never work well with a staysail.

More on how to set up a cutter right: https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/10/04/cutter-rig-optimizing-andor-converting/

All that said, I totally agree that it’s sad that cutters are dying out given that it’s still the rig that rules offshore, particularly short handed.

So what is the ideal J and J2 relationship in percentage? And mast set more amidship- in what percentage? Say 40% of LOD?

Hi Taras, Interesting question and I suspect it changes with boat length. I do not know ideal, but years ago I worked out my mast position and (from memory) it was 47% back from the bow on a 40-foot LOD (Valiant 42). That said my boat has a substantial anchor platform that kicks the forestay out ~~2 feet which results in a larger J. I will try and check out those figures. This design has proved “ideal” for me and I have not wished the mast to be elsewhere. My J length allows enough room for both headsails to work together synergistically (higher clewed jib topsail and lower clewed staysail). It is my very casual observation that this may be about the lower boat length that allows both sails to fly together going upwind without generating turbulence resulting from the sails being too close together. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Sorry, just realized I misunderstood your question.

You will find the answer in our cutter optimization chapter:

https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/10/04/cutter-rig-optimizing-andor-converting/

In my experience, for maximum efficiency, the staysail stay should be parallel to the headstay and set about 30% of the foretriangle base (J) back from the headstay.

I also have an Outbound 46. I concur with Lee Corwin’s comments above. I don’t have a light air sail and have missed this on a few occasions only. Downwind I use poled out Genoa and Solent to leeward – all three sails flying. This works up to almost 160 degrees true wind angle. The result is a very stable boat with minimal roll. I have secondary winches installed to facilitate more sail configurations than the standard OB46 which has primaries only. I also have a high wind staysail on a removable furling stay, which is set up for long offshore passages. The Solent rig can be easily configured for all points of sailing in winds from 5-45 knots with minimal effort and no heroics with hanked on sails, which is simply not an option for me and my wife! I agree with your pros and cons of the Solent rig – there is always a compromise. Yawing at anchor in high winds is definitely a negative and I’m planning to get a FinDelta anchor riding sail. The risk of high wind unfurling the headsails is not an issue with the OB46.

That makes sense. Based on our own experience with a jib top and main downwind, which would be probably be about the same area, we can’t really sail well until the true wind hits 12-14 knots and a bit more in swell. At lower windspeed there’s nothing for it but the spinnaker and hotter angles.

You have a bit higher SA/D ratio than us, so I’m guessing you can make it work at 10-12 true, at least in smooth water, but after that it’s either a light air sail or the motor. I have to confess that as we age the latter often happens before the former.

I would also guess that when you say 45 knots you are referring to a storm jib set on an internal stay as I can’t see the solent and main standing to that, except for a gust or two, or maybe downwind.

John, your comments are spot on of course. When I said 5 to 45 knots, I was referring to the versatility of the rig and the ease of setup. 12-14 kn is the lower limit for downwind with both headsails flying. Upwind on flat water we get 5kn boatspeed in 5kn wind. Recently, a 50kn front was chasing me up the NSW coast. I put in 3 reefs and set the pole in readiness. We ran with just 3 reefs for a few hours until it eased to 35kn, then let out a small triangle of headsail. AP steered the whole way.

Thanks for confirmation on the downwind lower limit.

And it’s good to hear, once again, that the boat will track well with just the main in those conditions. I really do think that the fixation we see these days on sailing off the wind with just headsails is a lot because so many boats don’t track well and so people gravitate to taking the main down in an attempt to fix that. I still believe that’s not a good habit:

https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/11/17/your-mainsail-is-your-friend/

Hi John, One of the advances in safety most appreciated over the years on Alchemy was to get rid of the aluminum spinnaker pole and to buy a carbon fiber whisker pole (I do not own a symmetrical spinnaker). The alum pole was just a beast, sized to racing rules, and scared me when handling on the foredeck before it was adequately secured, especially offshore in swells. The cf pole weighs just over 14 lbs/6.5kg and is sized to stretch my jib topsail out fully. It seemed outrageously expensive at the time as it needed to be custom made, but this was 15-20 years ago and I know that cf tubing is much easier to come by these days. In any case, it was money well spent, as I felt much safer deploying the pole and we found that we used to pole far more often. I have found many cruising couples wary of a pole and nervous enough so they rarely use it, in large part because they find the aluminum pole a challenge. This is a shame, as with a cf pole, added to Colin’s fine article on downwind wing and wing sailing in years past on these pages, using a pole can become a doddle. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy Ps. Agree that extension poles are unwise buys (I have owned two, push button and line control).

I agree on carbon poles: don’t leave home without one!

I love the solent arrangement on our Outbound 44. Ours has high cut 125 Genoa and low cut 105 jib. For offshore work we always hank on the storm jib to our removable inner stay and much like Lee, have three reefs available on the main. The benefit of a dedicated storm jib, rather than the dual purpose staysail we had on our previous Crealock is I believe very significant. We also have a reacher on it’s own furler as well as an assymetrical – so we’ve got the bases covered! On our last trans-atlantic, we had great success (a 2 day run) with reacher ‘poled out’ on the boom to starboard (with main with 2 reefs), genoa poled out to port and storm jib held tight amidships (to reduce roll)! The combinations are endless! Cheers!

Saga 43 owner for the past 20 yrs here. We love our Solent rig and I’ve added an inner “storm” jib on a free furler that’s easy to hoist on a 2:1 halyard. The head of that sail aligns nicely with the head of a double reefed main which seems to reduce the need for runners. With the little jib sheeting to the self tacking track it’s also a perfect sail for harbor tours (lots of tacking) with inexperienced (nervous) guests aboard. John, you’re right on the money with the headstay tuning comment. I’ve set us up so the inner forestay is as tight as possible but that means the genoa stay has quite a bit of sag. Not a big issue off the wind but when closehauled under our 100% jib the genoa does bounce around too much. I’d say the main downside to the Solent rig is the large amount of windage far forward which exacerbates sailing back and forth at anchor. But the Saga is nicely set up with twin anchor rollers and dropping the secondary anchor, even on short scope, quiets the boat immediately. Keep the great articles coming, John!

That makes sense, and I agree a staysail is a great “harbour tour” sail.

Thanks for the great analysis. I have sailed on plenty of sloop rigged club boats and seen the limitations you describe firsthand. I’ve sailed most of my offshore miles on a cutter rigged J42 with a yankee foresail and a blade staysail. Your article helps me better understand why this rig is so versatile.

I am under contract for a new Boreal 47 which has a low cut genoa and a blade staysail. What are the pluses and minuses of rigging a Boreal 47 low cut genoa vs a yankee ? Why is running w both low cut sails not advised? I assume you would characterize the Boreal 47 a solent rig, correct?

Thanks, David

The boreal is a special case, being neither cutter, or really a solent since the staysail is further back, but I guess closer to the latter than the former.

I have long wondered how the boat would do as a full on cutter and have a feeling that it would be an improvement, at least for offshore work. That said, it would take quite a few changes including staysail tracks and moving the runner terminations points forward to make it work well, as well as a sailmaker who was fully committed to designing a really good staysail and yankee to work together.

The benefits would be many including getting rid of most of the overlap on the genoa while actually increasing area up wind and close reaching in light air, as well as all the other stuff I detail in the cutter articles: https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/09/17/12-reasons-the-cutter-is-a-great-offshore-voyaging-rig/

I did talk it over with the JFs when I visited the yard and neither were keen on it. Given that, if it were me, I would not push them into it. The point being that to do this right would take their enthusiastic participation.

As to the mainsail downwind, my thinking is here: https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/11/17/your-mainsail-is-your-friend/

It also looks like turning a Boréal into a true cutter to John’s requirements would require moving the foot of the inner forestay slightly to the aft. Not a minor change! So sad that (in general, not specifically on a Boreal) it looks impossible to get the advantages of a true cutter while keeping a self-tacking staysail!

Actually, I’m not a big fan of the self tacking staysail on the Boreal. My thinking is that a sail that size, particularly on a boat the size of the Boreal 44/47 is just not that hard to tack, so, if it were me, I would get rid of all the clutter of the self tacking track anyway.

Same happened with the Garcia Exploration 52.

Since #6 they have got rid of the self tacking staysail (which was too small) and installed a bigger jib instead. Jib + Code Zero is also a perfect combination for light winds.

https://i.imgur.com/UKw0uVx.jpg

Wow, this is my kind of sailing! (and the on-roof jackline looks great)

Thank you for the information! It looks like they have kept the genoa-intended track, but it’s probably less of an issue, since this is not a true cutter, and you don’t often sail upwind with the jib on flat water(?).

I have a removable inner solent stay, which we keep rigged offshore. Hanked on solent jib and storm jib. But for cruising among BC islands, the solent stay most of the time is back at the mast because my Morgan 382 needs the bigger jib in light inshore winds and there is no way to short tack with the solent stay in place. (Ted Brewer designed sail plans to make the boat a cutter, but very few have ever been so rigged.) We have inner and outer tracks. If and when we go offshore again, I may put the solent jib on a permanent furler for all the reasons you discuss. Anyway, your discussion of blades reminded me of my one disappointment with the rig on which perhaps you can comment. I told my sailmaker I wanted a blade for the solent jib. He told me could not make it work and would have to make it a higher cut, very much like the Outbound solent. He said that was because I was going to sheet it to the inner track, which begins just behind the aft lower shroud. To use a blade, I would have to move the sheeting point forward. He is a very good sailmaker and I trust his designs. Now, having lost a lot of solent sail area, I wish I had figured how to put in a forward sheeting point. Nonetheless, I generally like the arrangement for inshore sailing, where the genoa is primary our headsail, but having the solent available makes long days tacking upwind in anything above 15 knots a joy. I hate partially rolled in furling genoas.

Hi Terence,

Yes, your sailmaker is right, cutting the jib with a lower clew requires moving the sheet lead forward, so, in your case, it would have required extending the track.

On the genoa inshore, this is, as you have found, probably the best bet for your boat since she is comparatively short rigged and so, as you say, a blade just won’t be enough sail area, particularly in BC where I understand the winds are light much of the time.

Definitely worth exploring making her a cutter for offshore work though.

See our three chapters on the cutter rig for tips on that: https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/09/17/12-reasons-the-cutter-is-a-great-offshore-voyaging-rig/

A much appreciated article; I’ve spent a lot of time researching many views and ideas on the foresail enigma and I was delighted to read that I had stumbled to an identical conclusion to the one you had reached via decades of real world experience.

My Adams 40 was always set up as a true cutter, but it came with a sodding great 130% genoa on a furler that I’m not fond of at all and I’m definitely replacing with a high cut jib. The staysail is hanked on and there is a storm sail which looks good. The staysail track is nice and tight and it trims well.

But currently there is nothing forward of the main furler, nothing to mount a true downwind sail on. I’m planning on adding that (and extending the bow roller a bit) soon.

My question is this; for a specialised downwind sail the obvious choice is a cruising code zero. On the other hand I’m also attracted to the idea of a twin ‘blue water runner’. A couple of variations are around but the best described one is this : https://wavetrain.net/2018/02/12/elvstrom-blue-water-runner-modern-interpretation-of-downwind-twin-headsails/

Which would appeal to you more?

Definitely go with the code zero/asymmetric spinnaker type. You will already have a great rig for running off when the wind is up using the jib top and main so buying another running rig that would not be as efficient as an asymmetric spinnaker in light air would be a waste of money.

Also, I’m simply not a fan of those downwind rigs for a whole bunch of reasons—probably should write an article on that. But the short version is that they are really a hang over from the old days when boats needed twin jibs—or “twin spinnakers” as they were called then—to self steer in the trades. Today they have been obsoleted by advances in cruising running and reaching sails.

Today the only good reason for the twin jib set up, that I can think of, is on boats with radically swept back spreaders that can’t let the main out enough on a run.

If you read Charlie’s article between the lines you can pick up on many of the problems with the twin jib rig. Note that he points out that you will need twin poles, or at least some kluge using the boom to pole out one side.

More here on why sailing without the main up is not a good idea: https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/11/17/your-mainsail-is-your-friend/

I think I’ve come to rely on you for my ultimate sanity check.

Yikes, I hope I can live up to that!

Hi all, I am curious whether others share my instinctual (meaning I have a hard time completely justifying it logically) wish to have some main deployed when underway. I write this presently as there is this talk of running under just tandem headsails. I certainly have operated Alchemy under just a headsail. In fact, I enjoy those days when coastal cruising and on a day hop when we just roll out the jib or, better yet, deploy the asym in light air and leave the mainsail furled and covered. That said any longer sail, and any sail overnight or where there might be unsettled weather, I always want to have the mainsail up, at least part way. Even if I choose to not have the main working very hard, I might pull it up and set the third reef. As soon as I do this, I am much happier and feel like I am better prepared for surprises. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

I don’t call that instinctual, I call it good seamanship based on the many miles you have sailed. I only needed to wrestle to hoist the main in a hurry offshore in big breeze and waves a couple of times to get the message.

What really scares me is when I see boats offshore sailing along with just a jib and the sail cover still on, and the main halyard not even attached. On one day sail along the Nova Scotia coast in 25 knots with a good 2-3 meter sea running I saw three boats doing this. If they need the main in a hurry they are truly and utterly screwed as they wrestle to get the cover off standing on top of the cabin top with nothing but a swinging boom to hold onto, and obstructed by cockpit enclosures and way too many solar panels on a wildly pitching boat—that’s how tragedies happen.

Roll-furl vs hank-on is always an interesting q. If I’ve understood this discussion the cutter seems to offer a sweet spot configuration: Roller jib and hank-on staysail. The rolled up jib is smaller than a rolled genoa so presents less windage. And, it’s easier to go forward to handle a hank-on staysail because you don’t have to go so far forward.

True, but there are also benefits (and tradeoffs) to putting the staysail on a roller furler too. See Dick’s and my comments earlier in the thread.

Great article John, thank you. My Niagara 35 came to me with a detachable Solent ‘bob stay’ that got me making a lot of enquiries during our refit. As a long-time cat boat sailor, a foresail, let alone two of them, presents new challenges. We have only a little experience testing this rig since recommissioning late last year. We have a 90 and 140 jib for the roller furling headfoil. The 90 has proven to be enough in last summer’s brisk winds around CapeBreton. I have a hank-on tiny storm jib for the Solent stay and assumed that would be the stay’s main purpose. Since reading this article I am thinking perhaps to get (Or recut my 90) a hank on blade for the Solent stay and leave the 140 on the roller for light air. And to use both Wing on wing with no main, DDW. As a 2 handed geriatric crew we will not carry a poled spinnaker. BTW our removable bob stay has a quick release shackle to deck, with turnbuckle. I assume that enables tuning the rig when Solent Sail is in use. Thanks again. AAC has given me a lot of ideas and info during my refit, and it continues.

Hi Gregory,

I’m a bit confused by the terms in your comment. To me a “bob stay” is one running from the waterline to the end of a bow sprit. Also, how far back is the the inner stay? To be a solent it needs to be right forward and go close to the top of the mast. If it’s further back than that it’s an inner forestay and the sail set on it is a staysail not a solent. I’m not just being pedantic here, since which it is has a lot of effect on how to use it and the right sails to have.

Also, I would not recommend running off with two headsails. Much better and easier on your boat with straight spreaders to use the main on one side and poled out jib on the other. https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/11/17/your-mainsail-is-your-friend/

Ha!! I’m certain that I’m the guy Andy is talking about at the beginning of the clip. He and I were hanging out last summer, I believe aboard Ice Bear in Lunenburg, when we had the discussion about whisker poles. Well, I took his advice and found an appropriately sized $100 aluminum pole.

I’ve finally filled a big gap in my downwind sailing arsenal, and it’s been fantastic to have aboard! That said, you guys are right about there being a learning curve, and I’m glad it’s an inexpensive pole I’m bashing about, rather than one that was really not in the budget to begin with. When the time comes to upgrade to carbon, I’ll be more confident I’m bringing the right pole aboard.

Busted! Seriously, good call.

Am ever so slightly surprised that ketch rigged boats weren’t considered in an article comparing rig benefits for cruising boats. Am I missing something?

See this comment: https://www.morganscloud.com/2020/05/28/cruising-rigs-sloop-cutter-or-solent/comment-page-1/#comment-293318

Hi Peter, I never had a ketch, but I had a yawl for 15+ years and have now had a true cutter for 20 years. I consider split-rigs as existing, in large part, as a reflection of the gear that was in use in days past. The split-rig argument for a simpler, more user friendly, array of sails reflects old gear. Modern equipment makes handling sail area on spars a doddle compared to 40 years ago. I would never return to my old yawl for offshore sailing as on the cutter, with modern equipment, the ability to carry large sails and then to reduce sail to meet conditions is so very easy. In addition to the ease that modern equipment allows for larger sail handling, there is, with two masts, the rigging/spar inspection, maintenance and expense which approaches almost double a single mast rig. There is enough that can go wrong without doubling the chances. Also, I had all that “stuff” aft that always seem to be in the way, especially at anchor. My friends with ketches felt similarly even as they loved their boats. I also loved our yawl in most ways and for coastal cruising it checked most of the boxes for me and my family. I don’t miss it, however, except those moments when I think fondly of that beautiful old yawl sitting at anchor with me gazing at it as I row away in our dinghy. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

I did a bunch of offshore miles in a ketch (three races to Bermuda and a bunch of other stuff) and I’m 100% with you.

On that boat we crew used to say “best use of this second mast is to hang a bunch of bananas on…and everyone knows that bananas on a boat are bad luck.”

As you say, ketches made sense before reliable roller furling jibs, and powerful multi speed self tailing winches, but today they are largely obsolete.

Fun fact: Yawls only came to be because the old CCA rule did not measure the area of mizzen staysails so it was a rule cheat feature. The other thing the CAA rule saddled us with was overlapping genoas, again because the overlap was not counted. I can remember seeing boats with 170% genoas!

Hi John, Interesting fun fact: thanks for sharing. Never heard that bananas on board were bad luck. One season I sailed my yawl with no mizzen (my mizzen was bigger than most yawls and was 12% of the sail plan if I remember correctly: still a smaller sail compared to ketches). I do not remember missing it in most sailing (sailing characteristics seemed largely unchanged) except for the occasional fun of flying the mizzen staysail and throttling down to jib and jigger. I do miss the looks and I do miss how steady she was at anchor with the mizzen out. I finally determined that the mizzen mast was a great place for the radar and for mounting a soft pleasant down-light for cockpit illumination. My best, Dick

I disliked my mizzen mast so much that I left it behind in a boatyard in Guernsey. Could it still be there ? This was my second ketch in a row. It was a time, 1984, that most second hand steel boats in Europe were ketch rigged. And I really wanted a steel boat to go south in.

The space between the mast and the bow was big enough to support an existing cutter rig so I reasoned that I could dispense with the clutter aft. I bought a longer boom and had a bigger main made. We seemed to cover just as many miles every 24 hours for a lot less effort. And when we shredded the new main and reverted to the old sail the daily mileage still remained the same for the last 10,000 miles.

They used to say there are three things you don’t want on a yacht: an umbrella, a stepladder and a naval officer. I would rather have an umbrella than a mizzen mast.

Hi Mark, Good thought about switching the words. And interesting story of your not missing your mizzen on a ketch where the sail area is more significant than a yawl. And creative thinking on extending the boom. Too many of us (I believe) are hesitant to make changes and are willing to accept that the boat as it came to us was the way it should be. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

That’s a good point, although on the flip side I have seen some truly horrible and ill advised owner modifications!

That makes sense. What about a wheelbarrow?

Thanks for pointing out the advantages of lowering cut of the Solent sail on the Outbound 46 you pictured. That’s the actual boat I’m in the process of buying and she has the same sail on her now, though not in anywhere near as good shape.

That’s fun. Also looked like that boat is pretty well tricked out by an owner who appreciates her performance.

When I left the Pacific NW in 2011 heading for NZ my cutter rig had a hank on staysail and consequently only got used occasionally when conditions got rough. In 2013 I changed to roller furling on the staysail and now I use the staysail a lot. Because of the relatively small size of the staysail the loads on the furling line are small which means it furls very easily so I can quickly add or subtract it from the sail plan. It is also a great sail for coastal work where the destination is directly upwind and you are trying to get there before dark; you can make good speed and progress, at low heel angles by motor sailing far enough off the wind (30 degrees on this boat) to keep a closely sheeted staysail full. This is 2-3 knots faster than motoring directly into the wind. If anyone has a cutter rig and still has a hank on staysail you will use and enjoy the sail much more if you change to roller furling. It was one of the few boat jobs I have done that came under budget – I did most of the work myself and the cost of the Furler was less than I expected since a smaller Furler is perfectly adequate (based on the square footage of the sail even allowing for using the sail in high wind speeds)

That is pretty much exactly our experience.

Hi John, just a quick note; a faster boat is, usually, also a more comfortable boat…..

Hi Jorn, Please explain further your thinking that a faster boat is generally a more comfortable boat. I can think of many boats that are fast, but that I would not want to be offshore on them. Fast too often means light weight, quick motion and increased work to run offshore: there are exceptions surely, but too often I believe that is what occurs when speed is an excessively important criterion. I generally think moderation and balance in all design provides the best combination for crossing oceans. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

I may be putting the wrong words into Jorn’s mouth but he may have meant to imply ” a comfortable boat is a fast boat ”

As beam narrows would the efficacy of a cutter be in question?

I presume narrow beam reduces possible sheeting angles – would this be a problem?

Not unless it was extreme. For example the Morgan’s Cloud is comparatively narrow for her length 56/15 but the jib top sheet leads are still a good foot inboard.

And back in the day, particularly in the UK under the old RORC rule, these we a lot of very narrow cutters that sailed well.

Morgan’s Cloud’s beam/length ratio is 0.27.

I was wondering how cutters might work on the sort of hull’s that Steve Dashew has promoted with B/L ratio’s around 0.22 – 0.23.

And, yes of course there was Illingworth’s Myth of Malham which had a B/L ratio of 0.25 and was a very successful racer. Illingworth obviously was a big fan of offshore racing cutters.

I would think a cutter could be done on one of Steve’s boats, but a bigger question would be if it would be the best approach. That brings in all the issues of mast position and whether or not to make the boat a ketch, which Steve did with his later and larger sailboats. Huge number of variables there. Given that Steve went with very large roach main and mizen and a small fractional foretriangle I don’t think a cutter makes sense.

It’s also worth knowing that Steve’s boats are not rigged to perform particularly well in light air. Rather, his design strategy was to motor in those conditions. He also relied heavily on asymmetric sails to add area reaching. And his later boats were so fast with big breeze that they never sailed on a run, which again changes things.

https://setsail.com/beowulf-the-ultimate-short-handed-cruiser-updated-march-2014/

Yes, he doesn’t like moving much under 10 knots under any conditions. 🙂

And his yachts were generally underpowered. Apart from Beowolf and Sundeer 64 most of his boats had S/D ratios under 18.

John and Phyllis, New to AAC. Approaching 86. As soon as this blasted virus problem is solved with a proven vaccine, I’m considering scaling down land living, getting a boat that I anticipate will be mostly solo sailing and devoting at least a year getting to know her in as many different situations as possible. Was wondering what you would suggest — you answered w/out a question with your comment: “. . . I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up with a sloop for my geriatric boat.” I laughed outloud! With a limited budget, now to determine best size for solo “geriatric” sailing. Being realistic and considering age, doubtful to be world wide, however, . . . who knows what the seas hold? Perhaps you have written on this and I’ll be looking. Am really enjoying your writings as well as reader comments. Thanks.

We have an entire online book with our thinking on buying a boat: https://www.morganscloud.com/category/boat-design-selection/book-how-to-buy-a-cruising-boat/

It does need a bit of cleaning up—next winter’s project—but you will still find a huge amount to help you decide which boat is right for you.

You may also find the Adventure 40 series of interest: https://www.morganscloud.com/category/boat-design-selection/adventure-40/

English - United Kingdom

Bluewater Cruising - Cutter Rig vs. Solent Rig (Part 1)

Published date: october 9 2018.

Two popular options for off-shore cruising are the cutter rig and the solent rig, both sporting their own pros and cons.

The cutter rig utilises two headsails that sit relatively far apart from each other: a high-cut yankee connected to the main forestay (high clew to avoid the foot catching in waves when reaching), and a staysail connected to the inner forestay (the lower-clewed staysail catches the wind the high-cut yankee does not). Both sails can be used and tacked at the same time.

The solent stay, on the other hand, sits directly behind the main forestay. It allows the use of two different sized genoas but only one is used at any one time, and the forward genoa needs to be furled during a tack.

Unsure which to choose? In this two-part series, we will provide some views on both setups to aid your choice of rig.

First, we will look at the cutter rig.

One advantage is that, compared to a single large genoa, the two smaller headsails of the cutter rig produce a lower centre of gravity and therefore heeling angle. This means that the boat sails more upright and reduces the risk of capsizing, facilitating easier handling in varying weather conditions.

Image Credit: Butch Ulmer, UK Sailmakers

A second advantage of the cutter rig is that, if winds are high and you want to reduce power, the yankee can be furled away completely, leaving just the staysail which can be used with a deeply reefed main. This can facilitate a satisfactory heave-to, which is otherwise unlikely with a boat that has a partially rolled genoa on the main forestay.

Traditionally the cutter rig - which thrives in reaching conditions - has had limitations on other points of sail. For example, close hauled the staysail can be stalled by the forward jib, and visa versa running downwind. However, this is where modern performance sailing techniques can help to revitalise this classic rig setup.

With the addition of a code zero and an asymmetric to a cutter rig you get very close, in our opinion, to the perfect cruising setup. In light airs, beating and reaching, where the traditional cutter rig may lack power, the code zero will provide the perfect boost. As windspeed increases, furl the code zero and you are in the optimum zone for the yankee and staysail. With more wind, furl the yankee and run with the staysail and reefed main. As you crack off the wind, the code zero provides all the power you would need, up to moderate wind speeds, and then downwind you unfurl the asymmetric.

Upffront would advocate that sailing your downwind angles with an asymmetric is faster, more efficient and more comfortable than dead-downwind sailing. However, if you really want to keep those twin poles, and go downwind in a straight line, then poling out the code zero with the yankee is also an option!

As you may be able to tell, Upffront is a fan of a modern cutter rig, however there are some downsides to consider. If your boat is not already setup for a staysail, the retrofit is more complicated than for a solent rig. Adding an inner forestay requires an attachment point for the new stay as well as a halyard sheave on the front of the rig but also, importantly, additional backstays to support the new, inner forestay load.

At the end of the day, the right choice for you and your boat will come down to a number of different, competing priorities: your existing rig and sail wardrobe setup, sailing style and of course budget!

Read Part two here where we look at the Solent Rig in more detail

If you have any questions about code zero and asymmetric furlers, please feel free to email us at [email protected] , or click the link below to see our full range:

Kerri Robson

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Adding a solent stay.

Whether you view it from the top down or the bottom up, a Solent rig needs to be carefully thought out, well-engineered, and strategically located. Some sailors add a short bow sprit or U-shaped, tubular extension that includes a bobstay and supports the attachment of a new headstay. The old headstay chainplate becomes the new tack point for the Solent stay. Another approach is to retain the existing headstay and simply attach a new tang just a bit below the headstay sheave box. Then add a deck fitting to attach the Solent stay and tack the sail(s). The deck must be reinforced with a transverse member, or a tie rod must be mechanically fastened to the stem so that the tension loads don’t damage the deck.

Either approach can be a win-win solution, but as with all sailboat modifications, the devil is in the details. On the up side, both options offer a double-headsail rig that doesn’t require the addition of running backstays. But when the sprit option is chosen, rig support can be jeopardized due to the placement of the headstay outboard of the stem of the vessel. On a traditional cutter, the same thing occurs, but the original stem-mounted headstay simply becomes the forestay, and the loads are shared. With a removable Solent stay disconnected, this belt-and-suspenders security is lost.

Make sure that the loadbearing capacity of the sprit and its attachment points have been carefully calculated. This structure must account for more than tension in the headstay(s). It includes designing the structure to counteract forces such as those exerted by one or two anchors pounding into short, steep seas on a squally afternoon sail home. Little things can play a major role down the road, like properly sizing bobstay terminals and fittings to account for degradation caused by intermittent or continuous immersion in seawater. Many modern designers prefer to add a little more ballast and a little more height to the mast rather than put the headstay outboard on a 21stcentury bowsprit. However, plumbbowed boats have complicated anchor handling, making short sprits almost a necessity.

In the case of boats with high sail area-displacement ratios, you may want to put a light-air genoa or a drifter/reacher on the headstay and set up another roller-furler with a non-overlapping sail on the Solent stay. The trick is knowing when to switch gears from the lightweight sail on the headstay and unwind or hank on the small jib that sets on the Solent stay. In either case, when the stay becomes a permanent fixture, the rig is better supported, but each tack or jibe of the larger headsail requires rolling it and unrolling it.

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Cutter Rig or Solent Rig?

Is the Cutter Rig More Useful than the Solent Rig for Offshore Cruising?

For years the cutter rig has been extremely popular with offshore sailors, providing greater flexibility and easier sail handling than the sloop rig in varying wind and sea conditions.

But look around any anchorage where offshore cruisers congregate and you'll notice that the solent rig is mounting a serious challenge to the cutter rig.

But why is that, and what's the difference between these two rigs?

The best way of showing the physical difference is with a couple of pics...

But of course there's rather more to it than that, each of the two rigs having significant benefits and disadvantages when compared to the other. Let's take a look at them...

The Cutter Rig

Unlike the solent rig, both sails are intended to be flown at the same time. Usually the jib will be a high-cut yankee and the smaller staysail will have a lower clew catching the wind that would otherwise escape below the yankee.

With both headsails set, the boat can be tacked without the need to furl the jib.
In high winds, the yankee can be furled completely leaving the staysail set with a deeply reefed main. Many fin-keel cutters reefed down like this will heave-to satisfactorily, whereas they're much less likely to with a partially rolled jib on the forestay.
The lower combined centre of effort of two smaller sails when compared to that of a larger single sail produces a lower heeling moment. Translation - a cutter sails more upright!

Disadvantages

Hard on the wind, the jib stalls the staysail, leaving you with two options. Either drop the staysail or bear off the wind a little.
Downwind, the staysail will blanket the jib and has to be dropped, leaving a relatively small jib to power the boat.
Running backstays must be set up to resist the forward pull on the mast by the inner forestay. Alternatively, aft intermediate stays could be incorporated in the standing rigging.

You can read more about the cutters here...

The Solent Rig

The Solent Rig is quite different from the Cutter Rig in as much as it's effectively a sloop with two different sized headsails on separate in-line stays - usually set on furlers.

You fly one sail or the other - not both at the same time as with the cutter rig.

You have a choice of headsails. Typically, the forward sail could be a 140% genoa for use as an offwind/reaching sail and the aft one a 100% working jib for windward work.
Having said earlier that you fly one sail or the other, I'll immediately contradict myself by saying that you can sail dead downwind 'wing-and-wing' with one sail poled out to port and the other poled out to starboard. You certainly can't do that effectively with a cutter.
With both stays attached close to the top of the mast, there's no need for running backstays, swept-back spreaders or aft intermediates as there is with the cutter.
You can't tack the forward sail through the gap between it and the one behind it - you have to furl it away completely before hauling it out again when you've gone through the wind.
Hard on the wind, the furled sail disrupts the airflow over the working sail, reducing performance.
With the forestay tension shared between two stays, the luff of the sail may fall away more than you'd want it to, also reducing windward performance.

Can You Retrofit a Solent Rig?

Yes, it can be done - as on 'Badgers Sett' below - and this article shows how...

Or Maybe a Cutter Rig and a Solent Rig?

Provided the mast is far enough aft and the fore-triangle can accommodate it, why not a solent rig with a staysail - a solent-rigged cutter perhaps?

You'd have a lot of lines in the cockpit, but could this be the best of both worlds?

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Sailing on the Solent: Start with First Class Sailing

The Solent is a beautiful stretch of water that lies between the south coast of England and the Isle of Wight. With its stunning coastline, picturesque harbours, and breath-taking views, the Solent is a sailing paradise.

Sailing on the Solent either as an experienced sailor, or as a beginner taking lessons, offers an incredible and different experience to anywhere else you will sail. Southampton Water is one of the very few places in the world where you can experience four tides in one day. These conditions and changeable winds make it an excellent training ground for sailors of all levels.

This is why the Solent is a home to many sailing schools and clubs including ourselves at First Class Sailing. We offer a range of RYA courses and training programmes to help sailors develop their skills, no matter what their ability.

The Solent’s coastline is another reason why it’s such a popular place for sailing. It has stunning harbours and pretty creeks that are perfect for exploration. No matter how many times you have been sailing on the Solent, you will still be able to uncover hidden gems of the coastline.

You can also stop over on the Isle of Wight, home to charming towns, beautiful beaches, and the annual Cowes Week regatta, one of the largest sailing regattas in the world. It attracts sailors from around the world and offers an opportunity to experience the thrill of racing in the Solent.

Learning to sail on the Solent with First Class Sailing will be an unforgettable nautical adventure that offers you an opportunity to experience stunning scenery, occasionally challenging conditions, and a celebration of sailing traditions.

Browse our lessons today and sign-up to discover the beauty of the Solent’s coastline and create memories and skills that will last a lifetime.

FAQs on Solent sailing

We’ve been teaching people how to sail on the Solent for over twenty years. In that time our instructors have been asked every conceivable question about this piece of water that you can imagine.

Here are just a few of the most common questions, with our answers.

Is the Solent good for sailing?

The Solent is an amazing place for sailing and is renowned as being one of the most desirable sailing locations in the world. It offers a narrow strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland England, and boasts stunning natural scenery, safe anchorages, and ideal sailing conditions.

Why is the Solent so good for Sailing?

The Solent has an extraordinary natural beauty, sheltered anchorages, and tends to have excellent sailing conditions.

Leaving from Southampton Water, sailors from beginners to advanced, can easily navigate towards the east or west and explore the stunning natural beauty on offer, stopping in locations such as Hamble, Cowes, Beaulieu, Lymington, and Portsmouth.

It offers a diverse range of sailing experiences, including relaxing cruising or high-intensity racing. The area is also famous for its notable historical landmarks, making it a preferred destination for yacht chartering and leisurely sailing activities.

We also find that no two days sailing on the Solent are ever the same, which it what makes it such a good place to sail. The weather will change from day to day, you will always be surprised to see something new, and stop in a different port.

Does the Solent get rough?

The great thing about the Solent is that the Isle of Wight affords a degree of shelter to the Solent so that compared to the open sea it doesn’t get nearly as rough. Furthermore because the Solent is no more than 3 miles wide there is no chance for a big fetch to pick up and waves are always relatively small in height, but they can be steep or sharp.

What is the best time of year to sail in the Solent?

The time of year to go sailing on the Solent is open to debate, as it’s a very personal thing. For example, some people will love sailing in the Summer when it’s warm and balmy.

However, others might prefer sailing the Solent during Autumn or Winter months. In fact, many of our instructors prefer it for the following reasons:

Solent sunsets are spectacular during the Autumn. There’s just the right amount of moisture in the air to create incredible pink, purple, and orange masterpieces.
Summer may seem like a great time to sail because of the warmer weather, but the Solent can look like London rush-hour traffic with yachts all over the place at that time of year.
Add to that the incessant squawking of the VHF radio and the serenity truly dissipates. Not so in the autumn or Winter, however.

How far is it to sail around the Isle of Wight?

It is between 50 and 60 miles to sail around the Isle of Wight if you start in Cowes and sail out into the Solent. For example, the famous Round the Island Race is a 50 mile route, with competitors taking between three and ten hours to complete the journey.

Is the Solent a busy shipping lane?

The Solent is busy shipping lane for passenger, freight, and military vessels. It is also an important recreational area for water sports, including sailing and yachting.

According to the Solent Forum website:

“The Solent is one of the busiest waterways in the world and every year, passing by Calshot in and out of Southampton Water are 79,000 shipping movements, 1.2 million container movements, 170 cruise ship arrivals, and 22 million tonnes of crude oil shipped to Fawley refinery.”

Is the Solent the busiest waterway in the World?

The Solent is one of the busiest waterways in the World, but it’s not actually the busiest in the world, or even the UK.

The busiest waterway in the world is the Dover Strait shipping lane. Each day an estimated five to six hundred vessels pass through the narrow waterway between England and France. In 1999, it was calculated that 1.4 billion tonnes of freight passed through, equating to around 62,500 ships.

How deep is the Solent?

Seismic sounding tools have shown the Solent to have a depth of 46 metres at its deepest point.

Why is the Solent called the Solent?According to the Solent Forum website again, the Solent could be called the Solent after a bird.

“It may be a bird placename reflecting the congregations of the Northern Gannet or Solan Goose around the coast. The first recorded use of the name Soluente appears on a goatskin document in the early 8th century AD, scribed by a Northumbrian monk. The next reference is in the use of the name Solentan in a Saxon document. The word Solent is not recorded in the Domesday Book.”

Find out how you can start sailing on the Solent

If you want to start sailing lessons on the Solent, then click here for 14 excellent reasons why you should pick First Class Sailing as your source of nautical knowledge.

Our head office is at Shamrock Quay in Southampton, and from here we run the full range of RYA Courses on the Solent on a range of yachts.

Posted by: First Class Sailing

Kraken 50 yacht test: This bluewater beast was built to cruise

November 21, 2019

One man’s idea of what a no-compromise offshore cruiser should be, the Kraken 50 does things differently. David Harding reports

Product Overview

Manufacturer:, price as reviewed:.

Some of the most inspirational ranges of production yacht have come into being because a man started by building the boat he wanted for himself; one he could find nowhere else.

Plenty of one-offs have been created this way, but the chances are that, if the market can’t supply what one person wants, other people are in the same boat – or would like to be if it existed. That’s especially true of one that’s designed for serious offshore cruising and takes absolutely no notice of modern fashions.

Dick Beaumont is the man behind Kraken Yachts. He came up with his own 66-footer having sailed tens of thousands of offshore miles in other boats. He had the Kraken 66 built in China, found during his extensive travels that a good number of people liked the concept and, as a lifelong businessman, decided to go into production.

Kraken-50-yacht-test-aft-running-shot-credit-david-harding

On a fetch under the large lightweight genoa, the Kraken clocked an easy 8.5 knots

Then came the Kraken 50. If you want to know what makes it different from anything else and why the builder believes most boats designed as offshore cruisers have got it wrong, read on.

Cruising independence

To understand the Kraken philosophy, you have to put yourself in the position of someone who’s planning to sail a long way from what we might loosely call ‘civilisation’. You want a boat capable of weathering storms, of sailing on after hitting a submerged object in the middle of the ocean and of making sure the occasional encounter with a rock or a reef is nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

This ‘surviving hitting things’ approach is central to how Kraken builds boats, and explains why Beaumont believes the keel should be an integral part of the hull structure. That means no bolts: a return, if you like, to the keels we used to see on ‘proper’ crusing yachts but without the slack bilges and wineglass sections.

Article continues below…

kraken-66-boat-test-running-shot-credit-trystan-grace

Kraken 66 test: Could this be the ultimate ocean cruising yacht?

What would you want in an ultimate ocean cruising yacht? Here’s Kraken’s answer

garcia-52-exploration-yacht-test-running-shot-credit-bertel-kolthof

Garcia Exploration 52 test: The sailing equivalent of a 4×4 off-roader

If you were to take your partner or family to some of the world’s most remote waters, exploring the oceans…

Modern design and technology has allowed Kraken to develop an underwater shape more akin to that of a modern yacht with a bolt-on fin, incorporating a tighter hull-to-keel radius, a slimmer keel section and, significantly, a bulb at the bottom carrying most of the ballast.

Kraken’s bulb is incorporated within the integral keel. This took some working out, but the result is a keel that becomes part of the hull structure without most of the compromises associated with traditional encapsulated keels.

It’s also longer than most modern fins, to distribute the loads over a larger area and to enhance directional stability. Beaumont calls it the Zero keel, reflecting the number of bolts and its chance of parting company with the hull.

Kraken-50-yacht-test-bow-running-shot-credit-david-harding

For a heavy-duty, go-anywhere offshore cruiser, the Kraken is surprisingly sleek and speedy

In a similar vein, the rudder is mounted on a full-length skeg, the two together forming a NACA airfoil section. On production models it will be fitted with a third bearing at the top of the stock, allowing the through-hull bearing to be changed with the boat afloat.

Like integral keels, skegs – especially full-length – have fallen from fashion, but Beaumont believes they’re of fundamental importance. A rudderless boat with a big hole where the stock used to be rarely has a great future.

When, like Beaumont, you have grounded thousands of miles from a hoist that can lift a 66-footer, and have come to an abrupt halt from 9 knots after a whale bounced down the side of the keel and crashed into the skeg, you tend to develop firm views about what you want.

The rigours of cruising

Because of the slim keel section and low centre of gravity, the Kraken can carry a good spread of sail: the sail area/displacement ratio is nearly 20. Passagemaking is more relaxing in gentle breezes and, as well as being able to weather storms, it’s good if you can sail fast enough to get out of their way rather than bobbing around in the middle of the ocean waiting for them.

Krakens sport Solent rigs. The inner forestay, taken to the anchor well bulkhead, supports the rig and carries the staysail for windward work. On the outer forestay you can fly a genoa when you have cracked off a few degrees.

The rig itself is keel-stepped, of high-fractional configuration with three sets of swept spreaders and a bifurcated backstay. A centre cockpit pushes the boom up, so stowing a conventional mainsail is a bit of a stretch. The stack would be lower with a Harken Switch T-Track or you can have in-mast reefing.

The hull continues the belt-and-braces theme. The anchor well bulkhead is watertight, as is the bulkhead abaft the large locker in the bow. Beneath the anchor well is a foam-filled crash box. Into this run two of the hull’s six full-length stringers which, together with multiple frames that join the stringers or extend from gunwale to gunwale, form a comprehensive stiffening matrix.

Kevlar is incorporated in the stem and the leading edge of the keel. A foam core is used in the topsides above the waterline. Below this it’s a solid laminate.

As for the hull shape, the bow is unfashionably raked rather than plumb, for buoyancy in a seaway, a drier ride, less chance of serious damage in a collision and to keep the anchor away from the stem.

The rig is supported by three sets of swept spreaders, a bifurcated backstay and an inner and outer forestay

At the other end of the hull is a transom of modest proportions by modern standards and with no dinghy garage. That’s another ‘not-on-a-Kraken’ feature. You’re offered davits instead.

I tested the Kraken in Hong Kong shortly after it had been sailed from the yard in China. Kraken’s office was in Hong Kong at the time but has now moved to Turkey, where an additional production facility has been set up to serve the European market.

We had gentle breezes on two of our sailing days and 20+ knots with a sizeable sea on the third. The Kraken 50 proved to be quick and easily driven in light airs, clocking up to 8 knots under the full-cut genoa as soon as the sheets were eased.

Upwind speeds with the Solent jib were more modest – up to around 5.2 knots – as it’s not a big sail and the sheeting angle was wider than it will be on production boats.

To keep powered up in less than 10 knots or so, especially if there’s any sea running, you might choose to fly a flatter-cut genoa and accept that you have to sail a few degrees lower than with the jib. Such are your choices with a Solent rig.

In heavier airs the boat was dry and comfortable, powering through the seas under jib and full main with up to 25 knots over the deck. Grip from the large rudder was good, even when we tried bearing away with the sheets pinned in.

An unbalanced rudder blade inevitably makes its presence felt through the wheel, though weather helm was modest with the large mainsail suitably de-powered. The gearing in the steering – over two turns from lock to lock – also helps keep the wheel comfortable.

The ergonomics generally work well. It’s not an enormous cockpit and the fixed table takes up a fair chunk of it, but security is good. The decks are secure too: you have foot-bracing bulwarks and 70cm (27½in) stanchions with triple guardwires.

Kraken-50-yacht-test-fuel-polishers-credit-david-harding

Fuel polishers are an extra guard against fuel contamination

System security

Beaumont maintains that the majority of engine problems stem from dirty fuel, so clean fuel is a priority. Two wing tanks are filled via deck fillers whose necks sit proud in a drained, covered recess to minimise chances of water ingress.

From the wing tanks the fuel passes through polishers on the way to the central tank from which the engine draws. Then there’s a further fuel polisher between the central tank and engine, in addition to the engine’s own filters.

No chances are taken with the 24V electrical system either, provision being made for manual bypass should any faults develop in the fully digital system.

Kraken-50-yacht-test-interior-credit-david-harding

Interior joinery is a choice of cherry (as here), teak or light oak. The finish is tidy throughout

Below decks

As you’d expect on a boat of this nature, variations are possible, together with a degree of customisation. The galley and the walk-in engine room are constants. Otherwise you have mix-and-match options and a choice of timbers.

On our test boat, finished in cherry, the space between the saloon and the bow locker was dedicated to a large and comfortable guest cabin with en-suite heads and shower, ample stowage and a desk with a fold-down seat. An alternative is a smaller double cabin in the bow and a bunk cabin to starboard, sharing the heads to port.

Kraken-50-yacht-test-sail-plan-credit-david-harding

Styling and finish are good and will quite possibly be improved by the yard in Tuzla. Attention to detail is evident throughout; just one example being the inch-thick, honeycomb-cored sole boards with lugs and catches for positive engagement and no rattling.

Drawers are all wood. All tanks can be reached, cleaned out and, if necessary, removed. Cabling is routed through conduits. Seacocks can all be reached – and so on. There’s much to like and little to criticise in terms of both comfort and practicality below decks.

Not everyone will agree with the Kraken approach. If the combination of an integral keel, full-length skeg, raked stem, Solent rig and all the Kraken’s other features seems wasteful, inefficient or simply unnecessary to you, there are plenty more bluewater cruisers to choose from. Would a boat like this match a lighter, sloop-rigged conventional fin-keeler for pace? Perhaps not, at least upwind in light conditions. Offwind and in heavier airs she would give a good account of herself and, when conditions kick up, would probably be kinder to the crew. Krakens won’t sell by the hundred. Production will be limited and so will the number of people wanting a boat of this type. You get a lot for your money, however: the Kraken 50 costs a good deal less than some of the European alternatives. Together with the concept, the design and the construction detail, that might tip the balance.

joecoopersailing.com

Sailing coaching, consulting and instruction, crew training, sailing systems & techniques for solving sailing's challenges. call coop at 401-965-6006, short–handed sailing: the solent stay.

In an earlier post I proposed a second stay, called a Solent Stay as a way to be able to deploy the correct sail for the conditions, without struggling with lowering the regular roller furling headsail. In this post I elaborate on the details of the stay and its component parts. It is worthwhile noting that some of the French boats, Beneteau and Jeanneau in particular offer much of the required hardware for a Solent set up on the spar and deck with the basic spar package.

The components of a Solent stay are:

Attachment of stay to the mast
Attachment of the stay to the deck
A mechanism for tensioning the stay
A halyard sheave
Halyard exit in the mast, leading to a winch
Possibly a turning block and related pad eye
Possibly another rope clutch. This depends on how your boat has the rest of the lines laid out.
Sheeting positions for the sails.

I will look at each item in detail below.

The Stay Until recently standing rigging on boats was either wire or rod. The development of synthetic standing rigging (coming largely from the Open solo classes) has become normalized to the point where I have consulted on half a dozen installations of synthetic stays for boats. The preferred material for a Solent stay is Spectra fiber, ideally the latest version, (and there are several and it is always being upgraded). The latest is a product called Dynex Dux which is a heat set Dyneema, (European name for Spectra) for this Solent stay application Dynex Dux is excellent because of its mechanical properties, being: • High strength • Light weight • High resistance to UV • High resistance to Chafe • Ability to coil up and so stow in a small space • Ease of splicing • Relatively low cost &high value for a complete stay

It is a bit stiff and one rigger I know refers to it as Fiber Wire, but that is about the only down side I have seen.

Also the high resistance to chafe means, to me, that one can use conventional bronze hanks rather than the more expensive soft hanks. I do not think there is a need for “soft hanks” in this arrangement for most sailors. The value: Cost versus utility, is low in my opinion.

Bronze hanks over a Dynux Dux composite stay on a Baltic 38

Spectra cordage stays permits use of regular bronze hanks

Attachment of stay to the mast and halyard options. Generally speaking the upper end of the Solent stay will attach to the spar within 12 inches of the bottom of the Genoa halyard sheave box. Much of this detail depends on the particulars of the mast in question. Issues to contemplate are: Age of the mast: This is not so much for mechanical issues but more due to obsolete hardware and design details on the spar. The simplest and easiest way to attach a stay to a spar is with a Gibb T fitting. Depending on the spar details you may need to install a sheave box under the stay attachment OR I have done a couple of boats where the halyard runs above the stay connection to the spar, via a dead dye and into the sheave box for the Genoa, using the spare Genoa halyard sheave. This works when there are two sheaves in the box. Charleston Spars has some boxes where the second sheave is below the Genoa sheave and this works too. If your spar does not have this kind of arrangement, you will have to cut into the spar and install a sheave box. Because the stay attaches to the top of the spar, running backstays are not required. This detail highlights a particular advantage of this stay layout over a traditional “cutter” stay.

The above image, taken from the deck, shows the head of the solent Jib and stay. Just under where the stay attaches to the spar,can be seen a Harken halyard deflector, leading the halyard around the stay and into a second Genoa sheave box.

Attachment of the stay to the deck and tensioning of the stay.

Historically second stays inside the fore-triangle have been tensioned with either a Highfield lever or more recently some kind of screw adjustment device. While this is an OK solution, this hardware is heavy and expensive, compared to a tackle as a way to tension the Solent (or any other inside stay for that matter).

A superior technique for tensioning a Solent stay is to install a multi part, I usually use 4:1, tackle with the tail leading aft where it can be readily led to a winch. This method has several advantages over a mechanical adjuster.

Solent stay adjustment tackle

The above image shows the detail on the Baltic 38 used for tensioning the Solent.

Solent stay details on J-105

This image shows part of the same idea on a J-105 that I sail on in many double-handed races.

Solent stay tensioning system

The above picture is a version of tensioning. This taken from a 40 foot competitor in the O.S.T.A.R 2011

Solent stay tensioning arrangement on a 40 foot Pogo Class 40

This image is of a Solent stay tensioning arrangement on a single handed Class 40. The sail can be hanked onto the stay while the stay is restrained aft against the mast, thus the Solent sail can be close to all rigged and ready to go, before it is needed. The tackle helps pull the sail forward, so if there are two people on watch, the aft crew member can tail the fall of the tackle and the crew on the bow can help it stay clear of obstacles like mooring cleats, hatches, vents etc on the deck. The biggest advantage to my mind though is that the stay can be re-tensioned after a few hours of sailing. Typically when sailing in hard air, the inside stays (well all stays do actually) tends to stretch out a bit and so the sail lays off to leeward, affecting the boats performance. With the tackle led to a winch, the stay can be re-tensioned any time. Further, say the Solent is lowered yet still deployed forward, in anticipation of re- use shortly, but one finds a great need to tack in a hurry, (remember the stay sets right up against the back of the furler so there is no room to tack the Genoa thru that space, unless you roll up the Genoa), it is a simple and fast drill to open the clutch and pull the solent aft Versus trying to cast off a Screw thread turn buckle type adjuster or carry a sail and Highfield lever back aft, out of the way. I prefer to have the load if the deck part of the tension mechanism spread across the deck as seen here:

Tensioning tackle for Solent Stay on Baltic 38

This installation uses a double pad eye on center line, the aft part of which is used for the tack on the sail and a single, to port. The dead end is on the forward part of the double pad eye. The dead end has a snap shackle so as to minimize the amount of line one needs to pull around.

Depending on the construction detail of your boat, it may or may not be necessary to reinforce the deck in the way of the pad eyes. Again each boat will be unique in this detail.

Halyard, sheets and related & operating rigging issues One of course needs a halyard on which to hoist this sail. This typically means either: If you have had to cut a sheave box, then you will almost certainly have to cut an exit slit in the mast also. Make sure you look around the spar before you start making holes. You do not what to place the holes to close to each other. OR If you have a second Genoa halyard sheave there is a good chance you will have a matching slot for the halyard, it may even be moused. Depending on how the boat’s winches are laid out, you will need to install a turning block at the base of the mast and possibly another clutch. Other thoughts on this arrangement Depending on what you are planning for the boat, it is perfectly acceptable for me to have the halyard winch for this sail on the mast. The idea that all lines need to be in the cockpit does not make sense to me in reality. For instance it is preferable I think to have the halyard for the Spinnaker to be at the mast. That way as you pull the sock down over the sail, you are able to keep control of it as you lower the halyard. It is worth noting that many of the latest crop of single handed offshore race boats has reverted to having some of the halyards, like the kite and the halyard for the roller reaching sails operable at the mast. Also having halyards at the mast minimizes the need for more hardware in the deck to lead the halyards aft.

You should also be aware of how a sails sheeting position is determined and make sure you have the requisite hardware n place and that the sails are built in accordance with where the hardware is. It is possible for a competent sailmaker to make perfectly viable remarks about sheeting positions with a view to better performance of the sail in questions, so be open to adding proper hardware to allow the sail to set properly.

I will be writing on the entire topic of sail sheeting geometry shortly

Next: what types of sails you can deploy on your new stay.

And here is a link to the story on Solent Stays I wrote for SAIL magazine in the Jan 2013 edition

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07-08-2019, 00:15
	or solent rig to my for versatile of sail plan. I would be interested in hearing from owners who have added one or the other, and what were the costs and hassles involved.

07-08-2019, 00:19

Boat: 50ft Custom Fast Catamaran

or solent rig to my for versatile of sail plan.

I would be interested in hearing from owners who have added one or the other, and what were the costs and hassles involved.

07-08-2019, 00:22

. Just a matter of stringing up the extra stay.

Do you plan as well or hank on? Do you have a way to run the ?

07-08-2019, 02:06
Boat: Jon Sayer 1-off 46 ft fract rig sloop strip plank in W Red Cedar	, with the cutter there usually. is. with the Solent, tacking the foresail usually requires rolling it up. With a cutter it will usually slide through, especially if the staysail is set With a true cutter, the is a bit further aft and the main a bit smaller. When you simply add an inner forestay to a sloop, the foretriangle gets a little crowded IMO, and the advantages of the dual foresails is dimmed a bit. All in all, I've been happy with our Solent rig, but it was designed as such from the start, and she is fractional which kinda changes the odds a bit. We've done a lot of miles with it and find it satisfactory. Jim

07-08-2019, 03:30
Boat: Morgan 44 CC	and I would go quite a distance to avoid those - they always get in the way. As far as versatility goes, the Solent rig, if both headstays are on furlers, allows a 135% on the main headstay with a perhaps 100% heavy duty on the secondary stay. This gives space for a (third) baby stay to use for a hank-on . With this setup one can manage just about any . A cutter rig leaves a shortage of space for another stay for a hank-on (a mandatory requirement for Cat 1 in NZ) unless the second (inner) is hank-on which in my experience is quite rare. That said, having to roll in the front jib every time I tack is a total downer. I guess it’s acceptable to normally sail using the 2nd jib and use the front for long distance sailing where tacking is less frequent. Having a badly disturbed air flow onto the second jib is just a smidgeon less frustrating. Hence I still have a sloop (with a baby stay for the storm jib).

07-08-2019, 06:45
Boat: Island Packet 38	sail driven . But Im no real experienced sailor, just have been reading a little. Curious though, is my similar to a solent rig? Except that its in front of the Genoa and not behind it.

07-08-2019, 06:59

Boat: Island Packet 38

07-08-2019, 07:38
Boat: Seafarer36c	. The Solent goes to a stemhead fitting. Pretty easy compared to adding fittings and back stays etc for a cutter rig. We have a fat 125% Genoa for the sail and a 100% jib on the Solent. I use a 3/8" fuzzy line for the Genoa so it rolls up easier.

07-08-2019, 09:19
	will do after the conversion that she won't do now? It seems to me that Jim Cate, in his post above, damns with scant praise the solent rig on his rather sophisticated boat which was designed, AFAIK, with a Solent rig. And Jim has a lot of miles behind 'im :-) It seems to me that you should conduct a SERIOUS cost/benefit analysis in regard to your proposal. Gut feel sez that any post-conversion benefits in terms of the boat's behaviour under stress of (if that's what you are after) can be costlessly and effortlessly achieved via application of seamanship. And if the weather isn't stressful, then there is, of course, no case to be made for either a cutter or a Solent rig. You asked in another thread about techniques for coming alongside. I got started on a reply that turned out to be a very detailed elucidation of just what it is I do to get into and out of my VERY tight slip. Since these sorts of things become "second nature", applying strict analytical thought to the procedure has been interesting for me. If you are still interested, I'll see if I can complete it during the day. All the best TrentePieds

07-08-2019, 10:15
	aft! But, you can have a double head rig, either permanent or to a removeable inner forestay on a hyfield lever.

07-08-2019, 10:32

07-08-2019, 11:15
Boat: Sail & Power for over 35 years, experience cruising the Eastern Caribbean, Western Med, and more	like Comanche, Rambler 88, Scallywag, etc, and even the - multiple foresails are back in fashion. Not to mention the big multihulls (eg: Ultime class), although they tend to use the foresails separately, rather than in combination. But I'm not sure any of these would be described as either Cutter or Solent rigs

07-08-2019, 11:32
Boat: J/42	wind-range. Between that of the reefed genoa and the storm jib ranges. (I.e. those times when I roll-in the genoa to just a little flag and head for the barn.) If the were blowing 40 knots, then increased to the "storm jib" range, I cannot see myself going out there and changing sails! I did see somewhere that some sloops like mine did have such in the 70's (hoisted to the pole-lift bracket, without runners) but IDK if they were using them for the same thing. More likely, perhaps, some obsolete theory on getting an extra quarter-knot during a .

07-08-2019, 11:42

back relative to the total sail plan).

07-08-2019, 11:46
Boat: Jeanneau SO DS 49	. Rolling up the 135 and setting the 100 is easy and will point well. But 95% of the time they are just in the way and tacking is a lot of work. If it’s removable where do you store it? I think perhaps just a removable stay and hank on sail may be the best compromise

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IMAGES

Is the Cutter Rig Superior to the Solent Rig for Offshore Cruising?
Is the Cutter Rig Superior to the Solent Rig for Offshore Cruising?
Schlagwort: Solent Rig
Cruising Rigs—Sloop, Cutter, or Solent?
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HOW WE RIG OUR BOAT: A step by step guide. Ep 22

COMMENTS

Solent (sailing rig)
Solent (sailing rig) A solent [1] refers to a sail and rigging system on sailboats, typically sloops. Sailors, particularly British sailors, often refer to a 100% jib as a Solent, because its smaller size is preferable when sailing in the strong winds found in the Solent between the Isle of Wight and Britain.
Revisited The solent Rig
The Solent RIG. The principal difference between a cutter staysail and a Solent jib is that, unless a hurricane is blowing, the staysail is not big enough to power a yacht upwind alone, but a Solent jib is a full size working jib. The sail area of the Kraken 50 Solent jib is 52.6 m2. If we cutter-rigged the K50, the staysail would be 25.5 m2.
Bluewater Cruising: Cutter Rig versus Solent Rig
In a previous blog, Upffront evaluated the pros and cons of a cutter rig as a popular bluewater cruising set up. Now, it's the turn of the solent rig. Like the cutter rig, the solent rig also utilises two headsails; the two different sized genoas sit close together, the second just behind the main forestay, unlike those on the cutter which sit ...
Which is the perfect rig for blue water cruising?
The Solent rig, also known as the 'Slutter rig', is arguably the perfect rig for short -handed, blue water cruising ( shown to right ). The rig can provide so many different combinations of sail form that the ideal profile is always available to suit wind strength and direction. Based on a sloop rig it has the advantage over ketch, yawl ...
Cutter Rigged Sailboats [GUIDE] Advantages, Sailing, Options & Features
A solent rig is traditionally called a slutter-a little bit sloop and a little bit cutter. This configuration features two large headsails mounted close together. The solent rig is good if you do a lot of downwind sailing. You can pole out both headsails and go wing-on-wing, with one headsail on the starboard side and one on the port side.
The Solent Has Its Own Stay!
The Solent stay is an inner fore-stay that provides an alternative to the Sta-sail stay . Its benefits, similar to that of the Sta-sail Stay, are to provide an inner stay that can fly a smaller/ heavier headsail without having to unfurl, douse and change out the boats everyday headsail. The Solent stay is unique to the Sta-sail in that the stay ...
Rigs: Solent
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Sailing with a Solent Rig: Who needs a chute?
In this Episode, Is a Solent Rig for everyone? Nope. But for us, it's a great configuration. Here's a video of us doing various sail changes through many poi...
Solent Rig
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CRUISING SAILBOAT RIGS: Sloops, Cutters, and Solent Rigs
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Bluewater Cruising: Cutter Rig versus Solent Rig
Here at Upffront, we are aware that many people are searching for the perfect bluewater cruising set up. Two popular options for off-shore cruising are the cutter rig and the solent rig, both sporting their own pros and cons.
Cruising Rigs—Sloop, Cutter, or Solent?
To define our terms, a solent rig is one with two headsails but, unlike a cutter, they are never used at the same time and the stays are much closer together. The inner headsail (solent) is cut for going upwind and is usually about the same size as the foretriangle with little or no overlap. And the outer sail is a genoa used for reaching ...
The DIY Solent Stay or Inner Forestay
A Solent stay is a stay that sets between the mast and the forestay. It connects to the mast at a point that is only slightly below the existing backstay, and meets on the deck only slightly abaft of the existing forestay. Under such an arrangement, the mast requires no additional support. The existing backstay provides adequate tension to ...
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Here at Upffront, we are aware that many people are searching for the perfect bluewater cruising set up. Two popular options for off-shore cruising are the cutter rig and the solent rig, both sporting their own pros and cons.
Adding a Solent Stay
Whether you view it from the top down or the bottom up, a Solent rig needs to be carefully thought out, well-engineered, and strategically located. In addition to this overview of the project, our previous report the DIY Solent Stay or Inner Forestay offers more details and resources. Some sailors add a short bow sprit or U-shaped, tubular extension that includes a bobstay and supports the ...
Adding a Solent Stay
The trick is knowing when to switch gears from the lightweight sail on the headstay and unwind or hank on the small jib that sets on the Solent stay. In either case, when the stay becomes a permanent fixture, the rig is better supported, but each tack or jibe of the larger headsail requires rolling it and unrolling it.
Boat Review: Island Packet 349
The Solent rig features a self-tacking headsail trimmed with a Hoyt jib boom flying on an inner stay up in the bow and a Code Zero tacked to the anchor roller/sprit. The cutter rig dispenses with the Code Zero in favor of a genoa flying from the same stay as the Solent rig's self-tacker, with a staysail set inside it, also on a Hoyt jib boom, as per the Estero. The thinking here is that in ...
Is the Cutter Rig Superior to the Solent Rig for Offshore Cruising?
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A Solent stay is not a cutter's inner forestay, which is farther aft and typically requires additional support in the form of running backstays or extra swept-back shrouds. This is one of the biggest attractions of a Solent rig: no extra standing rigging required.
Sailing on the Solent: Quick Guide / or Choose Lessons
The Solent is a beautiful stretch of water that lies between the south coast of England and the Isle of Wight. With its stunning coastline, picturesque harbours, and breath-taking views, the Solent is a sailing paradise. Sailing on the Solent either as an experienced sailor, or as a beginner taking lessons, offers an incredible and different ...
Kraken 50 yacht test: This bluewater beast was built to cruise
Krakens sport Solent rigs. The inner forestay, taken to the anchor well bulkhead, supports the rig and carries the staysail for windward work.
Short-handed sailing: The Solent Stay
Short-handed sailing: The Solent Stay. Posted on June 26, 2012. In an earlier post I proposed a second stay, called a Solent Stay as a way to be able to deploy the correct sail for the conditions, without struggling with lowering the regular roller furling headsail. In this post I elaborate on the details of the stay and its component parts.
Cutter vs Solent Rig
Hey guys, I am interested in adding a cutter or solent rig to my sloop for versatile of sail plan. I would be interested in hearing from owners who have added one or the other, and what were the costs