Talking About Adventure In Small Boats
I bought a Blue Jay a couple of weeks ago. Great boat. I'm sure DancesWithMullet would agree. Perfect sailing conditions here for it on the Miles River and Chesapeake.
Does anyone know where I could find a "new" Bermuda rig/sails for a Blue Jay? The boat currently has a Gunter rig (with a very tired mainsail), which I'm not particularly thrilled about, unless I'm missing something.
KB
RunsWithBeer
Member
Try Super Sails in Ft LAuderdale for the sails... http://www.supersailmakers.com//other-small-boat-sails/
They are the go to guys for small sails...
For a used set of sails try Masthead Sailing https://www.mastheadsailinggear.com/UsedSailSearch.aspx
As for a rig...I would call Dwyer Mast and ask about the Bluejay. www.dwyermast.com/measuring.asp
They have all the parts and specilize in small boat masts and rigging.
seabag
Member
I've had good luck in these situations by cruising the class association. Blue Jays are actively raced and racers usually put only a few seasons on their sails. http://www.sailbluejay.org/ is the address.
danceswithmullet
Member
Congrats Kiwi!
Good choice in boats. It sails well, rows well and the stability instills confidence. Now what the watertribe taught me was boats can be used outside their intended purpose and really, the limit is your own tolerance for creature comforts, which in the sleek little kayak you paddle and your list of gear, you are one of the ultimate minimilists. Cruising with this boat will feel like a megayacht. Even not overnighting, there is plenty of room for picknicking, fishing, snorkeling gear and my personal favorite, BEER. Mrs Mullet and I used old Mullet during one of the small craft gatherings in Cedar Key and then took it on a trip to the keys snorkeling. It was kind of funny sailing out to where we wanted to snorkel, then raising the dive flag on the mast. Kind of rare in a powerboat dominated world. I miss the old boat. With the rest of the fleet she just wasnt getting any love and needed to find a new home. Hopefully Justcuz uses and enjoys her. To anyone contemplating using one in a challenge they make an excellent solo boat, but will need some mods to make it safe. DWM
ZeroTheHero
Member
I have a pretty tired BJ mast up here in VT. I have the boom too but sometimes I use it on my Wave. Could be tempted to let it go. DKHT has the jib I think and Kayakman7 has the spinaker but I think I have the main. Needs some repairs. None of this stuff is pretty. The mast has the shrouds still on I think. Blue Jays were huge in Long Island sound for a long time but were replaced as a youth trainer in the late 90's, early 2000's. There are thousands of them in that area of the country. Mostly they are rotting behind sheds as parents slowly realize their kids are now having kids and the class is never coming back. A few clubs use them as frostbiting boats. There is still a class association but I doubt there is much action going on. I see them on Craigslist all the time in CT, RI, MASS, VT. Prices are all over. They are fun little boats, great for a nice solo sail, also fun with one other adult or a kid or two. I eventually cut mine up, the core was soaked and it was beyond fixing. Have fun.
Kapakahi
Member
All sorts of Blue Jay sailboat parts boats, masts, sail (used) at this site:
http://www.sailbluejay.org/classifieds/index.html
Kap
juscuz
Member
Hey, KiwiBird!
LOVE my Blue Jay that I got from DancesWithMullet! Great boat! I haven't sailed it all that much because of so many other projects, and I've only sailed it in relatively flat water (Indian River -Sebastian area of FL) but it is a Blast! I also thought of new sails when I first got "Mullet" - talk to Sailrite, they can make you a kit to sew yourself or actually build you a sail. I hadn't thought of them before but as someone mentioned, Super Sailmakers in Ft Laud is an Excellent choice for anything they may offer.
Best of luck with your Jay! Let me know what you come up with - maybe I'll copy your order! BTW, mine is a sloop rig - no gunter - not sure what's original but DWM probably can tell us.
juscuz
DonKeyHoTey
Member
Yup RM, that's how it began for many kids and how a solo Class 4 Challenge can be done in relatively good comfort, seaworthiness (when properly fitted), and speed. With plenty of room to sleep right in the boat under a boom tent, there's no need to feed the raccoons or skeeters -- just anchor out. And the Blue Jay is a classic -- the younger/smaller sister of (trainer for) the iconic 19' Lightning also designed by Olin Stephens -- one of America's greatest "yacht" designers. Rig her right and with her hard chine, she should even go to weather in <1' of water.
KB, I've never seen a gunter-rigged BJ -- but don't write it off, yet. There are good reasons why it remains a popular rig in UK/EU even today. If the your boat's rig doesn't work well, the sail could be a big part of the problem, and the PO's setup may be flawed, making it hard to rig/set/reef/strike properly.
You have a couple of options, depending on your budget, sailing style, and venue. As discussed above, you can return the boat to "stock", but its stock "pinheaded" triangular mains'l is not particularly efficient by today's standards. OTOH, a well-sorted gunter rig with "fat-headed" mains'l could be a good rig for the boat, with many attractive features for WT types -- most stemming from the short "fixed" mast: easier to step/unstep, fits under a lot more bridges (which may or may not be happy to open for you under sail -- you paddlers take that detail for granted
). Yet able to get the sail area "up there" to catch the breeze on those super-light summer drifter days you get in the tidewater region. And "in principle" the sliding gunter makes it easy to shorten sail or even strike the mains'l completely by lowering the yard (also reducing airdraft and weight/windage aloft). Yet helm balance remains basically unaffected. And performance of a well-sorted gunter rig should be very close to -- or potentially even better than -- that of the stock rig, while being more manageable and flexible, given that the stock BJ marconi sloop rig has no provision for reefing. This makes the gunter well-suited for a challenge-type boat, knocking about in an area where thunderstorms may pop up out of nowhere, or sailing in fresh spring/fall conditions. Here's an informative article on sliding gunters: http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/articles/gunter/
The BJ has simple 3-stay fixed rigging with no backstay, so you could go right to a more efficient, really well-sorted "batwing" or "bird's-wing" full-battened gunter sail like those in the article and that Sawhorse and his buddy Hugh Horton use on their sailing canoes. Here's an article by Sawhorse from some time ago (further developments since then) that provides some insights and ideas that could be applied to your rig: http://epoxyworks.com/index.php/evolving-the-sailing-canoe-rig-for-cruising/. The folks at Sailrite might even be willing/able to gin up the custom sail pattern for you. Or you could try modifying a Club 420 or CFJ "Power-head" (square-headed) mains'l from Intensity Sails (very inexpensive but very serviceable). Intensity's 30sf, very inexpensive Club 420 jib might work as a substitute for the stock 26sf BJ jib: 420 luff is 11.5' vs BJ's 12.2'; foot is 5.75' vs 4.26', so jib leads may need to be moved aft. Also note that the BJ jib hanks onto the forestay, while the 420 sail is set flying (not a big deal, and easier to set, but must be brought into the boat when dropped).
If you decide to go back to the stock BJ mast, you could probably use a Club 420 sail (standard "pin-headed" or Intensity's Power-head) on it. The sail area of both stock sails is virtually the same, foot on both is the same (7.9'), and at 16.1', the 420's luff is "only" about 3" longer.
One more wild&crazy idea: as the BJ mast is keel-stepped, you could rig her with an unstayed balance- or standing-lug rig...say, a commandeered Goat Island Skiff 105sf rig, or a SCAMP 100sf rig. I'm guessing she'd go pretty good and balance up about right (the swinging c/b gives more flexibility in getting the right amount of weather helm). And with no jib and no stays, dead simple to rig and sail. You can make a suitable mast from an old, widely available Laser rig (just shorten the upper to about 5'). My wuzza-Lightning Hare, originally rigged like her little sister the BJ, now has two balance-lugs'ls (or lugs'l and Powerhead Laser sail ) using this approach, making her much more comfortable and forgiving sailing solo/shorthanded while as fast or faster on most points of sail.
I'm toying with a sliding gunter setup, too, for the reasons mentioned above plus the ability to fly a jib and a mizzen stays'l (not very do-able with an unstayed balance lug). And, not least, the sleeved 90sf? Power-head Laser sail on a stock Laser mast has no ability to be reefed (we are adventurous Tribers, not round-the-buoys sailors, so we well understand the importance of reefing capability
).
Good Luck -- and Fair Winds!
DKHT
PS: the BJ jib that ZTH gifted to me is, alas, MIA.
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