For some time now, I have considered which rig to buy. Here are my current thoughts and decisions on a rig for the new boat.
Masts
There are 3 tubes and one slotted design to choose from as far as I am aware. Sailsetc groovy and tube, Housemartin tube and Pierre Gonnet tube. I currently have Housemartin spars and sails and am very pleased with their performance. I bought an A, B and C rig kit last year and they were all competitive however I read that the PG masts are lighter with similar flexibility and having sailed yachts, know that weight aloft can make all the difference in a chop, so I am going to try some and compare weights and stiffness and see how they perform. After a chat with Potter Solutions, we decided that 15mm or less is the optimum pre-bend for the A rig. Any more and you can easily distort the spar by compressing the mast as you take out the prebend with the back stay, as well as introduce uncontrolled bend between the spreaders and hounds. I must admit I have always suffered from a little bit of luff starvation just below the hound and wondered if this was caused by the pre-bend.
Booms
I choose lightweight jib booms (Easton arrow shaft - 2515. 25/64ths inch diameter, 15 thousandths of an inch wall thickness) from Sailsetc having used one before and will use off cuts of the mast for main boom and reuse my current goosenecks and fittings. Again the thought here is to go for the lightest section on the bow requiring the lightest counterweight.
Fittings
I use a roller bearing gooseneck for the A rig and standard gooseneck for B and C. I use aero-foiled spreaders but they are hung on wire so easily adjustable. Shrouds run through a hole in the front of the mast with a bows stopper inside. I use a sailsetc cunningham ring on all spars as my Housemartin sails have both luff tension and cunningham eye. I have yet to find a way to lock the mast in place without the Mast ram jammed against the gooseneck.
Sails
As I mentioned above, I use Housemartin sails and have just bought a new A set for this year. Competition wise I see that BG and Sailboat RC (current world champions) with their moulded sail seem to be the sails of choice for championships but that could just be the sailors who use them. Thankfully I see members at Emsworth who have both sails so will be able to make a good comparison between all three. Of course there are several other sailmakers but these are the three World championship winning brands that have caught my eye from the available data at the moment, however I am new to the game and have probably missed lots.
What's the best package overall
Current observation suggests a SailboatRC package as they have won the last two worlds and dominated other events but Britpop with the BG rig have dominated in numbers and successes since 2011. Who will dominate at the Worlds in Croatia next year?
SailboatRC are pioneered moulded sails and now have a tried and tested design and who knows what else they have on the cards. I look forward to see how other sail designers and builders respond.
For me the goal is to see how far up the tree I can get with a home Alternative build and a top rig. On flat water, in light to moderate breezes, I can compete well but the package is completely untested on open water. We shall see.
I would love to hear your comments. Maybe a discussion to have on the forum or even Facebooks IOM sailing page.