I have a 2015 Portland Pudgy and love it, but my sailing rig is totally different. The rig in most of the pictures in this article shows a main halyard, with a sail that can be raised and lowered. This is not the case, the sail actually uses a sewn sleeve that the mast slides into, this can be seen in the photo that shows the sail up with the canopy deployed, ie: the lifeboat configuration photo. The difference between a gaff rigged and the square head rigged option is the sail itself, and the top mast. On the gaff it is bent, on the square head it is straight and slides into the lower mast.
What rig is being used in the article? I want one.
Did you get an answer to this? The most disappointing part of the pudgy is the difficulty putting the sail up since the mast, boom, sail and lines are all attached. It would be nice to be able to lower the sail when I am not sailing. Inevitably there is no wind in the moorage until I go to take down the mast and I am positive eventually the whole apparatus will end up in the water..
Hi Bob, no I never received any input. I’ve mentally narrowed my options down to three. (1) leave the original rig intact, store it away, get a whole new mast and sail, set up some kind of rig(s) that are more traditional in nature for general use. (2) cut the the sleeve of the sail that slides over the mast, add grommets and reinforcement, add mast hoops, BUT adding a halyard would be very problematic with the stock mast (an unresolved option) (3) just use it as is, BUT I too have challenges to make it work as an everyday sailing dinghy in my environment with our strong winds and waves. I love my Pudgy but I do believe my long term solution will be #1. That’s what they did in this article, there also is a fun U-tube from 10 years ago where a fellow in Croatia alters his Pudgy’s sail rig and embarks on a sailing adventure. Keep the hull, ditch the limiting sail rig, try different sailing rigs for fun.
Nice write-up. I'm looking forward to checking out a recent Pudgy arrival in the Port Townsend area!
I have a 2015 Portland Pudgy and love it, but my sailing rig is totally different. The rig in most of the pictures in this article shows a main halyard, with a sail that can be raised and lowered. This is not the case, the sail actually uses a sewn sleeve that the mast slides into, this can be seen in the photo that shows the sail up with the canopy deployed, ie: the lifeboat configuration photo. The difference between a gaff rigged and the square head rigged option is the sail itself, and the top mast. On the gaff it is bent, on the square head it is straight and slides into the lower mast.
What rig is being used in the article? I want one.
Did you get an answer to this? The most disappointing part of the pudgy is the difficulty putting the sail up since the mast, boom, sail and lines are all attached. It would be nice to be able to lower the sail when I am not sailing. Inevitably there is no wind in the moorage until I go to take down the mast and I am positive eventually the whole apparatus will end up in the water..
Hi Bob, no I never received any input. I’ve mentally narrowed my options down to three. (1) leave the original rig intact, store it away, get a whole new mast and sail, set up some kind of rig(s) that are more traditional in nature for general use. (2) cut the the sleeve of the sail that slides over the mast, add grommets and reinforcement, add mast hoops, BUT adding a halyard would be very problematic with the stock mast (an unresolved option) (3) just use it as is, BUT I too have challenges to make it work as an everyday sailing dinghy in my environment with our strong winds and waves. I love my Pudgy but I do believe my long term solution will be #1. That’s what they did in this article, there also is a fun U-tube from 10 years ago where a fellow in Croatia alters his Pudgy’s sail rig and embarks on a sailing adventure. Keep the hull, ditch the limiting sail rig, try different sailing rigs for fun.
So nice to re-read this one and the additional photos make it even better. Thanks.