Sails, Rigging & Deck Gear

Deck joints don’t leak as much as they used to. Most builders have switched to less leak-prone types of joints, and most are more conscientious about fastening and sealing them.

For hull bottom and topside repair, we love our Porter-Cable random orbit sander and WEST System Microlight Fairing Compound.

Tuning the rig of a boat is one of the necessary -and pleasant -tasks which must be done to achieve good performance. In an untuned boat, the mast bends in odd ways, and this in turn causes the sails to set badly. By contrast, on a well tuned boat, the rig bends in a controlled fashion, allowing the sails to do their best.

The Catalina 30 is a remarkable success story. We suspect that more Catalina 30s have been built than any other boat of that size anywhere in the world. While the basic boat has remained unchanged since it was introduced in1975, there have been dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of minor developments in the boat in the course of a production run that is approaching 4,000 hulls.

On most trailerable boats, when the mast is stowed for travel it is lashed to the bow pulpit and stern rail with no support at all in the middle.

When the 28’ Pearson Triton appeared on the market in 1959, a revolution began in the boatbuilding industry. Fiberglass made economical mass production of boats a reality , and helped make sailing - and boat-owning - an activity for everyman. And Everywoman.For sailors who have never known boats built of anything but fiberglass, the changes in boatbuilding that can be attributed to the prosaic laminate of glass fibers and polyester resin are hard to imagine.

At boat shows, you see clipper-bowed boats with wooden spars cheek by jowl with IOR racers with reverse transoms and straight sheerlines. Each may be attractive in its own way. Both can also be little more than caricatures. Although “style” may sound like a question of pure aesthetics, style is also a matter of function. A reverse transom on an IOR boat is there purely for rating reasons. For the owner or potential buyer of the cruiser/racer modeled in some fashion after an IOR racer, a reverse transom may be a reminder of a racing heritage.

Even the most dedicated sun worshipper craves shade after a bright, hot day on the water. For those of us whose goals include keeping our skin intact over time, a way to get out of the sun is imperative if we are to enjoy being in the cockpit at anchororinaslip. The problem is that few sailboats come equipped with usable shade, at least when the sails are down. The solution to the shade problem is a sun awning. A sun awning also solves another problem, particularly in tropical climates. By keeping the deck shaded, and by preventing the sun from streaming through deadlights and open hatches, an awning is a big help in keeping the temperature of the cabin interior at a habitable level.

This month’s Gear Graveyard called to mind the famous scene in the movie The Graduate when actor Dustin Hoffman is pulled aside at a dinner party and offered a word of advice: "I just want to say one word to you son . . . just one word . . . plastics." There are a myriad of polymer combinations that make up the vast realm we call plastics, so to speak of them in a general sense can be misleading. Some plastics, like the glass-fiber reinforced acetal copolymers used in a variety of marine hardware are extremely strong.

This year, Practical Sailor’s Winter Reading List offers a roundup of books to boost your navigation, weather, and knot-tying know-how as you while away the winter hours hearthside. We’ve also reviewed a few picks for the young adults in your crew; these reads will surely stoke their sailing daydreams as they too long for spring’s return. Featured titles include “The AMS Weather Book: The Ultimate Guide to America's Weather” by Jack Williams, “Emergency Navigation” by David Burch, “Oliver's Surprise” by former Olympic sailor Carol Newman Cronin, and “True Spirit” by 16-year-old solo circumnavigator Jessica Watson.