Types of Lugsail
There are three sorts of lugsail: the standing lug, in which the yard remains on one side of the mast and the tack is set close to the mast, the balance lug (also called balanced lug), which resembles the standing lug, but sets a boom, which continues as far forward of the mast as the leading edge of the yard. The dipping lug lacks a boom and has the top yard dipped around the mast while changing course across the wind so that the sail draws away from the mast on each tack.
The advantages of the dipping sail arise from the fact that the set of the sail is not deformed by pressing against the mast. This allows a more efficient air flow and reduces wear of the canvas.
Another source of variation is in the extent to which the yard was designed to be peaked up. That is to say, how nearly vertical the yard was intended to be.
The accompanying picture of Fifies on the left, a fairly late design in the evolution of the rig, shows one extreme, where the white-sailed boat looks at first glance almost to have a Bermudian rig (although on closer examination, it is clearly a Fifie on the opposite tack). The boat off-shore is a little more obviously a lugger and the others have not got their sails fully set.
The fore lug (main sail) on a Fifie is a dipping lugsail. The extreme size of the dipping lugsail showing in the picture was only possible with the introduction of steam powered capstans to facilitate with dipping.
This short extract explains the procedure:
| “ | Imagine tacking in a fresh breeze with those tremendous forelugs flogging about. First they were lowered down to deck, then unhooked from the traveller, hooked on the burton, swung aft and then for'ard on the other side of the mast, unhooked and rehooked on the traveller, and hoisted again. During this time the mast stood foursquare on its reputation. being completely unstayed until the halyards were unhooked to the weather side and the burton set up. Smart handling was essential, and even with the fall of the haylard taken to the capstan, it was heavy work, but hoisting by hand was back-breaking, five to ten minutes' sweating to get the sail set and drawing properly for most of the old skippers were very particular about the cut and set of their sails." Page 266, Chapter 12 (Fifies and Zulus), Sailing Drifter by Edgar J. March.
March also sets out the Cornish method of tacking a lug (pp133 and 146). The Cornish did not drop the sail onto the deck but took the sail forward of the mast. The halyard was started, and as soon as the luff was slack the tack was unhooked. The yard was lowered until it stood vertical with its peak on the deck forward of the mast. The clew was unhooked from the sheet and the sail was handed around the front of the mast to be hooked into the sheet again. Meanwhile the halyard was swapped over and made ready to raise the sail. As the yard rose, the tack came back down with the yard swinging through the horizontal, until the tack could be hooked back on and the halyard set up tight. |
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Read more about this topic: Lugger
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