Launching and rigging my new Drascombe Lugger

So with the Lugger cleaned and prepped, the next thing to do is get her in the water to make sure she doesn't sink!!
After that I motor her round to my quiet slipway and try to work out how to rig her up.
If you like to watch someone bungle their way through rigging a boat for the first time, on a beautiful summer's day then this is the video for you!!!
00:00 Trailer launching Fail!!
03:15 The boat is in the water!
04:31 First shakedown motor
08:40 Back at base
11:27 Rigging the Mizzen
16:18 Raising the Mast
21:09 Working out the Gaff/Mainsail
26:31 The tack and clew
28:07 Furling Jib
31:59 Back home for the footy!

[@bobcornwell403]

For your information, the lower, front corner of the sail is usually called the Tack. The lower rear corner is usually called the Clew. The forward top corner is often called the Throat. And the upper rear corner is often called the Peak. The top spar (which raises or lowers) is often called the Yard, if it crosses the mast. It is commonly called the Gaff, if it ends at the mast. The forward edge of the sail is called the Luff. The rear edge of the sail is often called the Leach. And the bottom edge of the sail is usually called the Foot. The top edge is often referred to as the Head. But the top corner of a triangular sail is also commonly called the Head. I hope this helps.

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Bob, cheers for taking the time to help on that! For me, I do know the names etc of all the parts, but when on camera and recording I just seem to get things mixed up!! I'm currently doing my Day skipper course so I am much better now at all the parts of the boat!!

[@peugeotsport5]

Excellent film as usual Dave ….. many thanks for letting us join your latest voyage of discovery!! 👍👨🏻☘️

[@SailingWithDave]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@edmundosubiabre2168]

Congratulations Dave for your new boat.

[@SailingWithDave]

Thanks 👍

[@johnryan2193]

Great boat , much easier to sail than a mirror I would think !

[@SailingWithDave]

Yes, she feels much more like a "big boat" everything happens a little bit slower and she has never once felt like capsizing. The Mirror is a proper dinghy, needs your full attention at all times!!!

[@neilpayn2835]

Thanks Dave, i have a new ( to me ) Lugger and have been going through the rigging. Your videop helped Cheers NP

[@SailingWithDave]

Oh Awesome, I will definitely be doing some more rigging videos for the Lugger and also experimenting with the sails too, so keep an eye out for those soon.

[@jamesblackburn3753]

Always love watching your videos Dave. I am a newbie to all this and recently bought a Wanderer to sail in Poole harbour- funny thing is I went through the same things as you, figuring out the rigging and making sure she didn’t sink! Your videos give me confidence as a try to improve so thanks very much and keep them coming! Good luck with your Lugger 😀.

[@SailingWithDave]

Welcome aboard! Many thanks for the kind words. When I was looking at the next boat up, the Wanderer actually seemed to fit the bill and was definitely on my list. It wasn't quite as big as the Wayfarer, sailed well, could be used to cruise, but Ijust couldn't find one. They're brilliant boats and can be solo sailed easily. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

[@SCCFORUM]

Excellent video. The Drascombe is a great boat. I pretty much did the same as you, started with a Mirror then I got a Wayfarer. But I wanted something bigger, so I ended up with a Drascombe long boat cruiser and I love it. Your lake looks amazing. Is it open to visitors? Cheers, Paul. 👍🏻⛵

[@user-lk5jd4un5v]

Thanks for posting this. I wonder if tou could advise what knot you use for the foresail sheet? Thanks

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi there. Do you mean the Jib sheets and how they are connected to the jib? If so it's just a std loop knot. You thread the sheet through the jib clew and then tie the loop knot making sure each side of the sheet is equal. Hope that makes sense.

[@user-lk5jd4un5v]

@SailingWithDave thanks very much. That makes perfect sense! Just rejigging my drascombe lugger ready for a West Scotland sailing trip in a couple weeks. Existing rigging was all wrong! Your videos have been extremely useful. 🙂

[@SailingWithDave]

@@user-lk5jd4un5v Many thanks for the comment. I'm quite interested in sailing up that way too once I get some experience down here. Maybe FIrth of Cyde area. Please let me know how it goes!

[@roosuppel3975]

What year is she? She’s beautiful I’m currently thinking of buying a lugger

[@SailingWithDave]

I think she's 1984, defintely a MK2 Lugger. When you buy one, they should have the boat number on the bronze bow roller/slot and you can look that up on the forums. Also definitely join the Draascombe forum. For £15 per year its a welath of information.

[@Vein76]

Will you be sailing the lugger by yourself? If so, how will you right if you capsize?

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Vein, cheers for the question, although I can see a whole new debate on capsizing being stirred up here!!! Short answer is that I am not expecting a capsize. I will do everything I can to not sail in weather that would cause one and I will have the equipment necessary to call for help should it happen. Long answer is more complicated: It is interesting as I have capsized the Mirror in bad conditions where she turtled. I could bring her up but she went straight back over again. 5 times of this and I was done. In the lake you can just drift to a shore, or even abandon the boat and swim to shore and go get some help, but in the sea, it could be an issue. If the Lugger does capsize, she's suppose to come up by herself, much like a yacht being "knocked down", if not then as long as the centreboard is kept down, she is able to be righted by one person. I'm told It's a slow and gradual thing, but she comes up. I have seen someone right a Lugger by just lifting the top of the mast, so she is eager to right. If she turtles then I don't know, I think you're probably in the wrong weather in that case. She sits low in the water when she's capsized so she doesn;t easily turtle, but that depends on the sea state really. I'm definitely going to test her fully on the channel next season. The Lugger has a very good reputation and history of being a safe and sturdy boat, however there have been 2 incidents that have brought light to a couple of possible issues with her, but both reports concluded that sailor error was probably the most prevalent mistake. The other issue was the centreboard slid up when the boat turtled, rendering it impossible to right her or even board her upside down. I already sorted that in my boat with an up/down haul for the centreboard. Sail-plan wise. I've had her out in 35mph winds this year and she was fine. If you sail "Jib and Jigger", she hardly heels and still makes decent progress. She has so many sail plans that wind is the least of your worries. However what will get her are waves. On a lake the waves never get too big to worry anything, but on the sea, she's still a small boat, and one worry with the Lugger is that she can fill with water and once the waterline goes above the centre box, you can't stop water coming in. Webb Chiles famously had this issue on his Lugger when he sailed one across the South Pacific sea (very brave or crazy!!!). He explains that in his book and talks about how the sea state made it impossible to get her bailed out. That is a worry, i'm not going to lie about that. There is a fix for this that Drascombe can retro-fit. However the danger then is that if the boat becomes too buoyant in the water then it will be harder to right her, especially if she turtles, so its a big trade-off. I have spoken to many Lugger owners and many have said that even a towel stuffed on the gap where water comes in staves off the water enough to bail out OK. A sprayhood has also been recommended as an essential sea faring item as it will stop waves breaking into the boat and divert the water straight to the scuppers. I actually have some good fixes to the problems the boat may have and will be testing these out over the winter, so watch this space. I will also give her a full testing next season to see if I can handle a capsize myself. Ideally if you're cruising then you never want to capsize. I think if I was in a state where that was going to happen then I have made a mistake with my planning. So I think that you have to have the right equipment. Make sure you have a VHF radio, decent clothes, flares and a PLB so if the worst happens I can get help. Crikey I type fast!!!

[@Vein76]

@@SailingWithDave Really comprehensive response. Looking forward to seeing your progress.