Why?? What is the Driving force for doing the conversion?? I kind of want a bow spirit to hold my anchors and put a stay to hold a jib if i loose my roller but why the gaff rig? At your service Larry Pegg 208 249 0538 -----Original Message----- From: Doug Kelch <doug_kelch@yahoo.com> To: Montgomery <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sat, 20 Dec 2008 5:52 pm Subject: M_Boats: M15 conversion has started :-) The conversion of my M15 to a gaff rigged cutter has started.? The old mast is stripped down.? The new gaff and boom are in transit, the bowsprit has been fabricated and I am working on the bow/forestay attachement. After all of the components are completed, including sealers and varnish, the drilling and cutting will start. Then things are serious. I have tried to post a thread on the the trailer sailer BBS but the component picture won't load so all you can see is the sail plan as it exists right now. http://bbs.trailersailor.com/forums/montgomery/index.cgi/read/273 I need to reduce the sail area a bit ( I would like to be under 140 sq ft) and move the CE forward a little.? I will likely lower the gaff and shorten the foot a bit. I won't order the sails until I have the rigging complete and can dummy the sails up with light line to get some good measurements. I am thinking of going with barn red sails.? Anne Westlund was using a color called NASCAR red on her Slipper 17 in the the North Channel.? The tan bark is too dark for my taste and the I have had the Egyptian cotton for 8 years.? Time for something new - hmm robins egg blue? Your comments would be appreciated. Doug Kelch M15 #310 "Seas the Day" Maybee I will change the tag to MG #310 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!

Doug, For what it is worth, I have owned a factory Gunter gaff-rigged Potter 15 for 25 years, and the setup is marvelous. I can raise the gaff jaws and get the gaff vertical in a second off the dock, and should the wind get excessive or blow directly into the slip, I can drop the whole gaff and mainsail into a lazyjack on the boom in less than two seconds, and have the oars in the oarlocks in another 5 if necessary. My boat is flat-bottomed and perhaps innately slow, so I can't tell if the rig slows it even more, but my guess is the vertical gaff on the mast disrupts flow over the sails a bit and marginally decreases its pointing ability thereby, but the advantages to me are considerable. As for a true gaff rig such as you are building, the first sailboat I almost bought was a gaff-rigged Herreshoff Eagle 22, but I had never been on a sailboat and the gafftopsail intimidated me a bit; had I bought it, I would still have it, like as not, because it is a beauty for the traditionally-inclined. For those who have not seen small gaff boats, there is a picture in www.herreshoffeagle.com showing the jib on the bowsprit, which must be similar to what you are working toward. My only puzzlement is how you can get by without stepping the mast on the "keel", since I thought the M15 runs without a backstay. Must have something to do with the shroud angle. If I stepped my Potter mast on a tabernacle, I would have to have a running backstay to keep the rig from collapsing. Sorry about the longwindedness, but it is snowing outside, and one's thoughts can turn to elegant rigs with lots of strings, as you say. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Doug Kelch Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 4:52 PM To: Montgomery Subject: M_Boats: M15 conversion has started :-) The conversion of my M15 to a gaff rigged cutter has started.  The old mast is stripped down.  The new gaff and boom are in transit, the bowsprit has been fabricated and I am working on the bow/forestay attachement. After all of the components are completed, including sealers and varnish, the drilling and cutting will start. Then things are serious. I have tried to post a thread on the the trailer sailer BBS but the component picture won't load so all you can see is the sail plan as it exists right now. http://bbs.trailersailor.com/forums/montgomery/index.cgi/read/273 I need to reduce the sail area a bit ( I would like to be under 140 sq ft) and move the CE forward a little.  I will likely lower the gaff and shorten the foot a bit. I won't order the sails until I have the rigging complete and can dummy the sails up with light line to get some good measurements. I am thinking of going with barn red sails.  Anne Westlund was using a color called NASCAR red on her Slipper 17 in the the North Channel.  The tan bark is too dark for my taste and the I have had the Egyptian cotton for 8 years.  Time for something new - hmm robins egg blue? Your comments would be appreciated. Doug Kelch M15 #310 "Seas the Day" Maybee I will change the tag to MG #310 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!