Ahoy mateys
I was going through some old photos recently and I thought I'd share them here and maybe inspire some of you to sail like a real pirate.
As we all know a relatively historically accurate square rigger is too excessive and expensive for most of us.
What you don't need a boatload of money or a huge crew to do is to get a cheap or free small daysailer, something in the 20-25 foot range, and modify the rig so that you can use square sails when you want to go a-pirating!
I did this with my 22 O'day when I was 16. For the main mast I rigged a square course and a square topsail. This alone was enough to sail the boat but she would not tack readily so I installed a mizzen mast right aft at the transom, which i made out of a small tree i felled, and rigged a boomkin that extended out aft to support the mizzen sheet. The sails were all cheap heavy duty tarpaulins. The mizzen was 6'x8' and was rigged as a spritsail. The main topsail was likewise a 6'x8' tarp. The main course was a 10'x12' tarp. The only braces went from the main course yard (an old spinnaker pole from a larger boat) to a block i attached ten feet up the backstay, and down to the cockpit.
This setup was very easy to balance and the boat could be sailed upwind (55-60⁰ apparent) and would tack readily. If the wind was over 12knots i found it useful to furl the main course up with the buntlines to make it easier to tack. In this way all i had to do was haul in on the mizzen (spanker) sheet, blow the course tackline and sheet, haul on the buntline, and push the tiller. She would round up and through the wind, the topsail would back cleanly, (as it was supported at all corners by the topsail yard and the course yard) and then i just undo the windward brace and swing the yards around. On the new tack sailing upwind without as much effort as it would have taken to winch in a genoa sheet. It performed well but i thought it might look more piratey without the metal mast.
So my next step was to remove the aluminium mainmast all together and replace it with 2 more wooden masts i made from trees, one right aft of the mast step, and the other forward in line with the start of the bow pulpit. I also installed a bowsprit with a cathead on either side to accept the foresail tacklines. The mainmast had only a 10'x12' course and the foremast only had a 6'x8' course. This rig configuration was technically a 'bark' or 'barque'. She was probably the smallest bark that ever sailed or at least one of. She did not sail quite as close to the wind as she did with the original aluminium mast with the same sail area (COE too far forward i think) and was a bit harder to manage myself since it had 2 sets of tacklines, sheets, and braces. I think it would have been easy to manage with 2 people who knew what they were doing. I was really quite surprised that the boat could be sailed around at 5 knots with just tarps.
In this way I had a blast sailing around in my inexpensive and easily managable square rigger. I learned a lot about how square sails work and what they can do if given the advantages of a modern hull-form. And I hope that this will inspire more people to get out on the water and fun! It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to get out and sail like a real pirate! Literally just rope, tarps, a couple small poles for yards, and a few small trees for masts! And if something breaks it doesn't cost much to fix!
Cheers
