John is a fan of lug sails. I'm not. But that'd be an easy way to hang canvass on a mast. Below are links to two articles that sing the praise of lug sails. But if you watch the video clip in the second article closely, you won't be convinced, either, that a lug sail is as good as a rig that places no canvass before the mast, because the boats are sailing downhill in calm weather and not having to tack repeatedly into a head wind where a Bermuda rig will offer crisper performance.
Why do I know this? Because a
Sunfish is classically rigged with a lateen sail, which can be considered a variant of a lug sail, and when I switched to a Marconi rig, i.e., a typical triangular sail that keeps the canvass aft the mast, I could tack faster and easier, as well as sail closer to the wind, as well as sail backwards far more easily, which is a useful survival skill when the wind suddenly goes from Force Five to Force Six or Seven, and you've gotta heave to or else go over. Going over doesn't matter in summer months when the water is warm. But if you're sailing in March, or in December as I would, on a day when the ice had broken up enough for me to get out on the water, I wanted the safety offered by the control a Marconi rig offers over a lug sail.
https://clcboats.com/life-of-boats-blog/lug-nuts-lug-rigs.html
https://rosslillistonewoodenboat.blogspot.com/2014/05/lugsail-performance-better-than-you-may.htmlAnother good article on head sails.
https://sailingellidah.com/jib-sail-explained/
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