An RSS Lugsail

In 2011 I built a Mayfly 14 as designed by Jim Michalak. He recommended “that my customers sew their own sails either from common polytarp…or real Dacron sailcloth. I can do it and so can you.” So, I made a polytarp 76-sq-ft balance lugsail from the Mayfly plans. I sailed with it in the 2011 Texas 200 where it quickly started coming apart due to my terrible workmanship. After the 2011 event, a friend sent me a Mayfly 14 sail that he had made of Dacron sailcloth, which was a vast improvement, but five 200s and many other cruises in high winds took their toll on that homemade sail. I turned to Michael Storer, a well-known small-boat designer with expertise in balance lug rigs, for advice. As luck would have it, he had recently opened a sail loft called Really Simple Sails, which specializes in sails for small boats, especially lugsails. I decided to order the sail from RSS.

Chuck Pierce

The RSS lugsail combines time-honored reinforcing including leathered corners and stitched corner patches, with modern 4-oz sail cloth. The corner grommets are pressed stainless steel with plastic inserts.

I had some specific requirements for my sail. Given the high winds that are routine on the Texas coast, I wanted sailcloth that was heavier than normal for a sail of this size. I requested three reefs, with the third reef essentially making the sail a lateen. The cringles for the third reef needed to be angled up as they went aft so that the boom would not droop when the sail was fully reefed. The sail was to be loose-footed for draft control and, lastly, I asked for a heavily reinforced tack to accommodate the loads from the downhaul. Michael had me measure the amount of bend in the yard and boom under moderate downhaul pressure, and I sent him drawings of how those were built so that he could factor the curve of the spars into the sail design.