This was an entirely open boat, carrying no ballast, and having a wooden centre-board. She was therefore very light for her size, and could be rowed with singular ease.
The lake was subject to sudden and violent squalls, and it was very convenient to be able to let go the peak halyards without leaving the tiller, and have them up again in a moment as soon as the squall had passed, without disturbing the passengers in the least. Had the sail been the uncompromising balance lug, the whole sail would have had to be lowered in a body on to the heads of the passengers.
A topping lift, always belayed so as to feel the weight of the boom, is indispensable in a cat boat, else the end of the boom would drop into the water when the peak was lowered.
Strong winds would spring up suddenly on this lake, so that the boat would be quite overpowered even under close-reefed sail, and it became impossible to tack home until the wind dropped. Neither was it possible to row back, for the very lightness of a cat boat renders her a troublesome boat to pull against the wind. She is blown over the surface of the water before the wind, despite all the efforts of the oarsman. Now, as the swamps which surround this lake also made it out of the question to land and walk home, one was liable to find one’s self weather-bound among the dismal cypress swamps at the further end of the lake for three days at a stretch while a “norther” was blowing. The author almost entirely did away with the chance of such an unpleasant adventure by putting what is known as a balance reef into the sail, a plan he strongly recommends to all those who would sail Una boats or small sloops on broad waters liable to sudden storms.
The Balance Reef ([Fig. 31]) extends diagonally across the sail from the throat to the clews. In taking in this reef, the jaws of the gaff are lowered till they touch the boom, and are there tied. The fall of the throat halyards will do for this purpose. When the reef has been taken down and the peak is hoisted again, it will be found that the gaff is nearly parallel to the mast, and a very snug little triangular sail is formed, under which the boat will tack or run—with boom well topped up—with safety; and the moment the peak halyard is let go, down the sail will fall into the bottom of the boat without making any fuss.
The boat we are speaking of was remarkably cranky, but she would behave well in a strong gale under her balance reef.
The balance reef is much employed by our fishermen and coasters, but scarcely ever on board yachts. I believe that many amateurs consider this, together with some other useful wrinkles, to be unyachty.
From what we have said, it will be seen that the Una rig offers many advantages over its rival, the balance lug, but it likewise has some serious disadvantages.
The Una boat is not easily capsized—the beam prevents that—but she soon becomes altogether overpowered by sea and wind. Like all flat-bottomed boats, she pounds heavily into a head sea and is very wet. The weight of the mast, being so far forward, makes her somewhat liable to run her nose under water and fill. She steers wildly too before a sea, and will broach to more readily than other boats, while the length of her boom renders an accidental jibe dangerous.
The Sloop.—Boats and small yachts are often sloop-rigged.