Horse power

Rob Brown looks at rig development in 18ft skiffs

In the first two parts of my current series on 18ft skiff developments we have highlighted the differences in the designs of the hulls and variations in mast and rig concepts, all of which in turn affect the way we set up the boat to gain maximum performance. Obviously some concepts are faster than others. In this article I would like to focus on the engine room of the 18s, the mast and sail relationship. This is the most important performance factor. Get this wrong and you will struggle in all senses of the word.

Michael Coxon, who runs North Sails here in Australia, has been at the forefront of skiff sail design for the past 20 years. I worked with Michael on many of my own successful skiffs and feel that by now he has as good a grasp of what makes the18 tick as anyone on the planet.

For the rest of this article please consult the August edition of Seahorse.

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