Gillaroo

Home
Plans and crew
The Build
2003

Design
Model
Workshop & Table
Infusion
2004
Assembling hulls
2005
Hull Bulkheads
Bridgedeck Floor
Superstructure
2006
Completing Shell
Interior
2007
Painting
Interior
Exterior
2008
Completion
Rig
Summary
Time and Materials
Links and Suppliers

The Launch
2008
First time
Relaunch

Cruising
2008

Ireland
N.Spain
Portugal & Tarifa
Canaries

Cruising
2009

St Vincent & Grenadines
Trinidad & Tobago
Dutch Antilles
San Blas Islands (Panama)
San Blas canoes
Panama
Panama Canal
Panama - Perlas Islands
Galapagos
Galapagos
Marquesas
Marquesas
Tuomotos
Societies
Societies
Cooks
Cooks
Niue
Tonga
Tonga
New Zealand


Rig

At time of launch our rig comprised:
Mainsail 726 sq ft 67m2
Jib 280 sq ft 26m2
Screecher 702 sq ft 65m2
Storm Jib 150 sq ft 14m2
This gives 93m2 for main and jib, well above the 78m2 suggested by Derek.

Writing in October we have had some minor difficulties with the sails and one more major one.

The main sets well, we have three reefs and with the first reef in it balances with the jib. Our sheeting system is similar to that on Catana boats, two sheets coming to separate winches in the cockpit (no track and traveller). It allows for very flexible control of the boom tension and has been working well. We have had a few mishaps with losing battens (poor batten end design ?), wrong lashings on our intermediate mast travellers and a snapped reefing line but nothing too serious.
Our jib is self tacking with the track on the fore deck. Have had some difficulty getting it to set and we now have it too high on the forestay which stops it from self tacking when sheeted in hard.
The first time we flew the screecher it popped the bowsprit up - our bob stays are at too much of an angle to provide enough down force. So we had a dolphin striker constructed and riveted it to the beam. Next time out the bolt rope pulled out of the top of the sail (sail maker had used the wrong thimble) and we had to wait till arriving in Cork to get it fixed as the cloth was too heavy for the local sail maker. We have sailed it downwind for several days since then but it is really a reaching sail and we have yet to have the right conditions to use it properly. I am not quite persuaded that it justifies all that extra weight forward for a cruising cat.
Our intention is to add an asymmetric spinnaker.