Patterns for Dinghy Sails

[ralay]

We have a Portland Pudgy with a sailing rig sans sail.  I'd like to make a new one out of Dacron or Tyvek, but I don't have the original or any pattern for the sail.  To make it a little more tricky, the Pudgy doesn't have a triangular sail, rather the top of the mast is bent back like a little gaff. 

http://www.portlandpudgy.com/sailing%20dinghy%20faqs.htm

Does anyone know of any guidelines for making a small sails based only on the mast height, boom length, etc.?  Could we use a plan for a triangular sail and just cut off the top portion to make the trapezoidal square?  Or does anyone know of a popular class of dinghy with a sail like that that might have more easily found plans? 

I know we should be working on our big boat, but we stopped to watch some kids racing dinghies last week and I got a heavy hankering to mess about in our little boat.

[rorik]

If you take the picture:
http://www.portlandpudgy.com/blue%20sail%20boat%20plain.jpg

and use a sail plan calculator like Sail Cut CAD.......

http://sourceforge.net/projects/sailcut/


You might also see if any of Sailrites dinghy kits have the same dimensions as your spars.

[CapnK]

For a small boat like that, you don't really need anything complicated - basically a flat-cut sail made to fit and reinforced where needed will work just fine. I know that a lot of really-small boaters are making their sails out of Tyvek housewrap and clear packing tape, which would be veryquick and cheap to do, and certainly work for testing at the least while you found the best pattern for the rig.

Sounds like some fun experimentation! :)

[CharlieJ]

Yep, I do- at Sail Oklahoma, was given a booklet, detailing exactly how to measure and calculate draft on sails, and set them up for cutting and stitching. Have it here at the house.


I'll bring it to the boat next you are here- let me know..,

And it's gonna be too chilly to "mess around" on the little boat- much warmer aboard Mona :D ;) :D ;) :D ;)

[Captain Smollett]

Is that top spar adjustable at all, or fixed to the mast?

That ALMOST looks like an Opti sail, and you may well get one to work.  I had an old one I could have sent you, but alas...I already gave it away here locally.

New Opti sails can be had for less than $100:

http://www.intensitysails.com/saforop.html

I have it on good authority, too, that even those club sails at the lower price points can be competitive.  Intensity sails gets good recommendations.

Alternatively, though more expensive, one could shift the entire rig to something with more 'available' parts, like Opti or something similar.

I'm not putting down the idea of making a sail (actually, I love and endorse that idea), but if you were not inclined to make one, the Intensity Sails products are high quality for what I think is a reasonable price.  We have an Intensity club sail on our Opti.

Edit: Second recommendation for SailCut.  Also, I have a book that shows how to do it all by hand too, probably similar to the one CJ has.

[ralay]

@ Captain Smollet:
No, the top spar doesn't move.  The thinner, bent, top piece fits into a hole in the top of the mast and the sail has a sleeve that slides down over the whole spar rather than having a track or being laced on.  We would have to add some material to the plans for other sails to allow us to add on the sleeve.

The kids sailing dinghies I mentioned in the original post were actually sailing Optimists.  We stopped to watch originally because we saw the similar sail shape from a ways away. 

@Charlie: We're up working this week.  We'll be back next Monday.  The Pudgy is a tank; I don't think we'd be going very fast or getting very wet in it.  Also, if James is going to keep 4 wetsuits on the boat, doesn't that mean we can each wear 2?

@rorik: Downloaded Sailcut and playing with it now.

[marujo_sortudo]

"The Sailmaker's Apprentice" by Emiliano Marino is a great resource if you don't have it already.  Also, I'd call the Pudgy folks if you haven't already and see if they'd be willing to share some specs with you.  Mainers, in general, are incredibly into helping other folks become self-sufficient.