In the 10ft., 12ft., and 14ft. boat, the " Una " plan of main sheet may be suitable. An end of the sheet is fast to one quarter ; the other passes through a block on the boom, and through another block on the opposite quarter. For sailing on a wind it may be found that with the blocks on the gunwales the boom cannot be hauled in flat enough ; so unless the blocks are on the transom at the extreme stern the blocks should be fitted inside the gunwale. Another plan is to have the standing part of the sheet fast to the extreme end of the boom ; other end through a double block with traveller on a horse; then through a single block on boom back through the double block, and belay by hitching the hauling part round the parts of the sheet above the double block.
Some of the Surbiton boats have the mainsheet thus fitted : A single block on main boom and one on a horse, also one on the deck a little ahead of the horse. The sheet is fast to the block on the boom, then leads through the block on the horse, back through the block on the boom, through the block on deck, and belay.
Another form of the lug known as the "standing lug" or settee sail has been referred to, and is shown in Plate V., adapted from the lugs used in the boats belonging to the New Brighton Sailing Club. (A detailed description of the New Brighton rig will be given further on.) It will be seen that the tack of the sail is close to the mast, and very little canvas is consequently forward of the mast. The dimensions and areas of the sails adapted for the 17ft. boat are as follows :— Area of reduced mainsail for single-hand sailing, 85 sq. ft. (4ft. bin. to be taken off yard).
The dimensions of these sails will do equally well for the balance lug of the Surbiton type, as practically the only alteration to make would be in lacing the sail to the boom, and having the tack tackle fast to the boom instead of to the sail. The great round to the head will be an advantage, as it makes the sail square; and if the yard be a trifle longer, it is not carried quite so high.
The sail area shown in the drawing is a large one, but with three or four hands sitting to windward the boat would carry it well enough in moderate breezes and smooth water. For ordinary single-handed sailing it would be prudent to have a smaller mainsail, reduced as shown by the ticked line a ; the sling would then come at c. The foresail should also be 2ft. shorter in hoist, and 6in. less on the foot ; the mizen would be shortened 2ft. on the head.
The boat could be sailed with mainsail alone without shifting the mast, but she would probably be handier if the mast in such a case were shifted 1 ft. farther forward. For turning her into the sloop rig, the mizen would be unshipped, the mainmast shifted aft. farther aft, and the foresail tacked
to the stem instead of to the boomkin.
For a tyro who knows little or nothing of sailing, the 10ft. centre-board dinghy, rigged with a single balance lug, is a suitable craft for schooling, and, if he is fortunate enough to be located near a place where there is some shallow water, he may find out all about sailing without the assistance of a coach.
For centre board boats of the Una type various rigs are used, and on the Seine the French have brought into use an adaptation of the "sliding gunter rig." The drawing on Plate VI. illustrates this rig.
The rig, it will be seen, although of the sloop character, differs from the sloop in detail. The mainsail is a kind of sliding gunter, and the arrangements for hoisting and setting it are as follows. The mast is stepped on deck and pivoted in a tabernacle, by which it can be readily lowered for passing underneath bridges, warps, &c. a shows the heel of the yard (see Plate NI. and A Fig. 69). On this yard is a wire rope span from c to a (see large sketch), which passes through a block at k. The details of the arrangement will be more clearly understood by studying the smaller diagrams (Fig. 69). In A, a is an iron hoop traveller on the mast. Into the arms of this traveller the heel of the yard is inserted, and is so hinged as to form what is known as a universal joint. The hoisting halyard n is made fast to an eye in this traveller and passes through a cheek block on the mast at a.
Sometimes a block is on the traveller, then (see F) one end of the halyard is put through the cleat on the mast as shown at y, and then has a knot tied in it to prevent it unreeving. The other end is passed through the block on the traveller, and then through the cheek block at z. If the sail is a very large one a whip purchase is also used. A block is seized to the halyard n, and through this block a rope is passed, one end of it being fast on deck.
In Fig. A, c represents an eye splice in the lower end of the wire rope span kept from slipping by a thumb cleat. This span passes through an iron block j. To this iron block a small wood block k is seized, and through the latter the hal yard m is rove. The halyard m, in the first place, is rove through a cleat on the mast (see Fig. B) f; then through the block k, and over the sheave in the cheek block h (Fig. B). The halyard at f is stopped by a wall knot. In the diagram A, in is the hauling part or fall of the halyard. In the smaller sized vessels the block k is not used. One end of the halyard is seized to the iron or brass block j, and then passes over the sheave at k.