Mark Dennis Posted June 6, 2012 Report Share Posted June 6, 2012 Hi, I'm thinking of getting a Taipan and I see there are some cats are for sale with Main sails cut for Cat rig and some cut for Sloop rig. Would someone in the know be able to tell me what the differences are in the cut and other setup between the two types of main and if you can still get good performance from a main cut for the other rig type when sailed in the opposite configuration, i.e. a Sloop cut main used as a cat rig and vice-versa. Are their also rigging/mast rake/diamond changes needed when using each of the two types of main sails (beyond the obvious need for a jib )? Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTMD Posted June 7, 2012 Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 Mark, being the proud owner or a Taipan for one week I'm not really in a situation to answer from the point of view of what the difference is, just what it should/could be. If you visit the taipan website, you could ask the same question in the forum there. I have found the class to be very welcoming and I'm sure people will be more than willing to help you out. Now the theory... A sloop sail will have more depth to provide the power to carry two crew on trapeze and may carry the draft a bit further aft so it doesn't get back winded by the overlapping jib. You should be able to flattern the main and suck the draft fwd by playing with the prebend of the mast but it isn't perfect and may be a little questionable around the hounds, so if you're sailing regularly cat rigged with a main built for sloop then you might want to get a sail maker to re-cut the luff. Having said all that if you're new to the class like me, having the wrong cut on your main probably won't be a big deal for a few months at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelnerve Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Hi Mark, I have had my Taipan 4.9 for a couple of years now and first bought it with a big head cat main. I sailed it sloop rig and found the cat cut main great for getting to know the boat for the first year. More forgiving in the strong or gusty conditions and similar speed up wind but suffer down wind speed and less likely to pitchpole. I have now purchased a sloop cut mainsail and can see a massive difference in power especially downwind to the point of having to be much more careful from pitchpoling. So ideally start off with and learn with a cat cut sail and when your confident go for the extra power and downwind drive of a sloop sail. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dennis Posted July 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 Another sort of related question. If you have a mast made for and used with a pin-head main, can you just put a square top main on that mast or do you need to make some rigging changes or even buy a new (stiffer) mast to suit the square to sail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado Posted August 5, 2012 Report Share Posted August 5, 2012 There is a light mast and a heavy mast. The light mast use to be for cat rigged boats, however are few and far between and no longer class legal. The heavy mast is used for both cat, sloop, pin head or square top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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