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A Gaff Rigged V-32 !?!
by Kent Wells
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There are no other V-32 in this
immediate area (Maryland
near DC), and the club to which I belong sails the Victoria
(among others). The V-32 generally can't compete against a Victoria except
in stronger winds--so just to sail more often, I converted my V-32 to a gaff-rigged cutter. The boat can be changed back to
normal rigging except the bowsprit is permanent.
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I am still in the process of
tweaking and trying to adjust and tighten up the rig to improve upwind sailing. Mast and all spars along with gaff jaws (where
the booms attach to the mast) all pretty much hand cut. I am not a builder by any stretch of the imagination, so this was
not a complicated project despite the time it took me. Lots of cut, shape, try to fit, throw away and start over again.
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The bowsprit does not penetrate the deck, but is a shaved dowel,
screwed and epoxied to the deck. The area under the deck (as with the areas around the shrouds' attachment points) is reinforced.
The sails are Carr sails; the sail number is a personal number. I do sail with the Great Schooner Model Society, although
it just can't compete with schooners, either, but it's fairly unique.
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