TECHNICAL KETCH TO SCHOONER

Roger Hughes explains why he swapped his masts to create an impressive brigantine square-rigger

- Roger Hughes

 People have asked why I decided to change a perfectly good ketch into a staysail schooner? It’s a reasonable question. The simple answer is that I always wanted a brigantine.

Traditionally, a brigantine is a schooner with the foremast square-rigged and all other sails fore and aft. The name comes from the brigands who pirated their trade along the Mediterranean Barbary Coast – which is what I might have to resort to after spending all my money on my 51ft yacht, Britannia.

A brigantine is the ideal small boat cruising rig. It offers the best of all worlds: capable of hauling tolerably close to the wind with its fore and aft sails; having fast reaching capabilities and unbelievable downwind stability using the squaresails. Also, like a ketch, the sails are divided into smaller manageable sizes. Squaresails have been used on boats for centuries, and when the wind is astern or a few points either side, it is a very efficient way to propel a craft of any size.

I have sailed on a few square riggers and learned the advantages and shortfalls of the rig. Anyone with Bermudan sails knows how tricky it can be to hold a steady course when running before the wind, especially when a big sea is rolling up astern. Even with whisker poles and preventers the helmsman still needs to keep a keen eye on the wind and his course to prevent the sails collapsing, then filling with a resounding crack, imposing great strain on the sail. With squaresails correctly braced there is absolutely none of this and the boat becomes very stable, yet the course can fluctuate widely. There is no concern about gybing or broaching, and the helmsman or autopilot will have little difficulty in keeping a steady downwind run. The squaresail is a fine downwind sail, and the boat will also roll a lot less.