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Date Posted: - Thursday - 10/18/07 - 12:53am
Author: Steve M-32 Pyxis
Subject: Mule sail
In reply to: Randall 's message, "Mule" on - Wednesday - 10/17/07 - 9:56pm

This is the first I've seen of a mule sail. I'm curious how you would rig and use it. Good sail to weather? The references I looked at tonight were talking about a small furling system but I'm not sure I want to go there. Could you give what more info you have on teh sail or drop me an e-mail? Thanks.

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Replies:

[> [> All I know -- Randall, - Thursday - 10/18/07 - 8:39pm


Ya, that picture was great, wasn’t it?

Mule sail: here comes everything I know, which aint’ much.

Three cornered sail for ketches similar in design and function to the four cornered fisherman sail used on schooners, and at least in terms of romance (to me), to the gaff’s topsail.

The head of the sail is raised to the aft of the main masthead, the foot tacks to a bracket at the lower, leading edge of the mizzen (above the intersection of the backstay), and the clew is sheeted toward the top of the mizzen. Emphasis here is that the corner of the sail that points at the head of the mizzen is the under-sail adjustment point—thus the reference to clew / sheet.

Typically the luff HANKS onto the backstay, a thing not possible with our split backstay, but I’ve hoisted my storm jib a few times as mule and as experiment, and I don’t think hanks are at all necessary.

Yes, a light or lighter wind sail that will only draw well with wind on the beam and forward. It’s not very big, so it won’t provide whopping power, but it’s up high where there’s more wind, so is likely to deliver far more push than a staysail of similar size.

I’m attracted to it because it will be dead easy to raise and lower, as opposed to the much more powerful but finicky mizzen staysail. I love the idea of the mizzen staysail, but deploying it is like wrestling a ball of yarn away from a cat, and just when it’s balanced perfectly, it’s time to tack.

I intent to install the hardware for one this winter, which will be a tang and block at the after end of the masthead rig above the backstay but below the triadic (probably under the triadic swage and pin point), a similar tang and block at the leading edge of the mizzen masthead, and a bracket further down. All pretty straightforward, I think.

The mule has the reputation of being only for looks, but my small experiments suggest it has plenty of kick where it’s needed—and it does look great, an added bonus!


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[> [> [> Mule hardware -- Steve M-32 Pyxis, - Friday - 10/19/07 - 9:54am

Do you need to weld on another attachment point on the main masthead? Or can you simply put another tang on the same pin with the triatic? Will you use the mizzen staysail halyard as the sheet for this one?


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[> [> [> [> hardware and stuff -- Randall, - Friday - 10/19/07 - 1:17pm

I've not done this yet, so this first answer is tentative, but

***re attaching tang to the triadic pin, I don’t think so. I had a look at some photos I have of the masthead rig, and my original thoughts were wrong. The triadic stay connection is a fork end, so I don’t think attaching a tang there would as smart as attaching to the TOP of the backstay bracket in essentially the same way the topnlift is attached. See photos.


***re mizzen, yes, the mizzen staysail halyard is the sheet for the mule or rather, the mule sheet is the mizzen staysail halyard--take your pick. :)

I don’t think a weld on the bracket is necessary.

---

Not sure these images are posting, but here goes:

Masthead bracket, looking at triadic (upper) and backstay (lower) connection points:

http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mastheadbracketfn4.jpg



Masthead bracket with hardware:
http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mastheadassemblywithharuw4.jpg

Storm Jib rigged as Mule:
http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stormjibasmulelo8.jpg




[url=http://imageshack.us][img=http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1551/mastheadbrackethn6.jpg][/url]


[url=http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mastheadassemblywithharak9.jpg][img=http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/6020/mastheadassemblywithharak9.th.jpg][/url]

[url=http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stormjibasmulehf9.jpg][img=http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/1883/stormjibasmulehf9.th.jpg][/url]


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[> [> Furlers -- Randall, - Thursday - 10/18/07 - 8:46pm

...and I've seen a mule rigged on a furler, but am not considering that or anything like Terry's "semi-permanent" rig. In my view, it adds too much windage up top (something we already have in spades) when it’s not in use, which will be most of the time.


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[> [> [> Mule Sail -- Tim Mertinooke, - Monday - 10/29/07 - 7:50pm

The boat in the post wasn't a Fuji, but a Hinterhoeller 25 ketch. The photo was taken during a race in Long Island Sound. I think a Fuji or Mariner would wear one well though even if it wasn't an overly practical sail.


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