Fig. 151.—The balance lug.
First, the great sail is very heavy and difficult to hoist and reef. Second, in going before the wind there is constant danger of jibing, with serious results. Third, the catboat has a very bad habit of rolling when sailing before the wind, and each time the boat rolls from side to side she is liable to dip the end of her heavy boom in the water and "trip herself up." When a boat trips up she does not necessarily go down, but she is likely to upset, placing the young sailors in an unenviable, if not a dangerous, position. Fourth, when the craft begins to swagger before the wind she is liable to "goose-neck"; that is, throw her boom up against the mast, which is another accident fraught with the possibilities of serious mischief.
| Fig. 152.—Standing lug. | Fig. 153.—Leg-of-mutton sail. Jib and main sail rig. |
The catboat has no bowsprit, no jib, and no topsail ([Fig. 148]), but that most graceful of all single-stickers,
The Sloop
possesses several jibs, a bowsprit, and topsail. Besides these, when she is in racing trim, a number of additional sails are used. All our great racers are sloops, and this rig is the most convenient for small yachts and cutters.
Racing Sloops
A racing sloop ([Fig. 161]) carries a mainsail, A, a fore staysail, B, a jib, C, a gaff topsail, D, a club topsail, E, a baby jib topsail, F, a No. 2 jib topsail, G, a No. 1 jib topsail, H, a balloon jib topsail, J ([Fig. 157]), and a spinnaker, K ([Fig. 157]).