The Gaff Rig Page

A Repository of Sources About Gaff Rigs Revised 9/01/01

The Gaff Rig Page, in association with Amazon.com, has provided links for books that take you directly to Amazon.com's listing.  Amazon.com provides reader reviews of the books, which can be very helpful, and you can usually obtain them faster than from a bricks-and-mortar bookstore.  If you purchase the book using that link, a small commission is paid to The Gaff Rig Page to help support it.  All of Amazon.com's usual policies apply for secure ordering, satisfaction guarantees, etc.  The links to the other sources are not compensated in any way.  Unless they want to throw some dough at me . . .

Brion Toss, master rigger and author of "Rigger's Apprentice," has a web site with an active BBS where Brion and other experts are more than willing to answer questions on gaff rigs.  Click on this link to get there: Spar Talk - From Brion Toss  Be sure to check out the archives for "gaff rig" messages; there are quite a few. Brion also offers his unique tools for splicing, etc. on the website, so if you have a large project coming up, be sure and check out the rest of his site also.

Click on The Wooden Boat for The Wooden Boat Magazine website, and click through to the Wooden Boat Forum (the link is on the right had side, after you scroll down a bit, under "WB Forums").  Once you click through, there is a "boat builder's" forum listed, with some friendly and knowledgeable people there who can help.  You do run into purists there, who have very strong opinions about things like plastic mast hoops, so take some of the comments with a grain of salt. But all in all, a pretty helpful group of people.

Kasten Marine's Gaff Rig article by designer Michael Kasten gives contemporary arguments in favor of the rig. Michael emailed me in November, 2000, advising that he has updated this article and it now contains more information which will be useful to  readers of this page. Kasten Marine's web site shows Michael's designs, and his plans show that he is one of a limited number of designers specifying modern gaff rigs. Check out the sail plan for his wonderful Redpath schooner, and also Lucille's midship sail plan. These are great looking gaff rigged boats. Michael has promised some more diagrams and illustrations for me to scan in; I'll include them in the Detail Pages when they get here.

Another favorable review of the gaff rig appears in a Sailing Now Article.  It is mainly editorial in content, but worth a read.

The Catboat Forum on By-The-Sea is full of people who buy, restore and sail catboats, which mainly use gaff rigs.  You can get good info on obtaining mast hoops, etc.  Links there will take you to pictures of catboats, many of which will show some details of the gaff rig.  On a related subject, The Catboat Organization, is an organization dedicated to the venerable catboat.  More pictures and contacts for supplies there.

The Old Gaffers are a group of English gaff rig boat owners, so their site is worth a look.  Good pictures, but I didn't find much of practical use (like sources) for those of us on this side of the pond.

Craig O'Donnell of the Cheap Pages fame forwarded several references to me (boat builders interested in money-saving ideas should definately check out Craig's site!)  The Sailing Smacks site, another one from our friends on the other side of the pond, has some wonderful details on the gaff riggers they sail.  Lots and lots of illustrations to ponder. I think I count 5 blocks on one "peak halyard arrangement"!

Robert Laine notified The Gaff Rig Pages that his new sail design program, Sailcut4, for all 4 sided sails is free for all amateur sailmakers.  Robert is the author of the very well respected Carene CAD software for hulls.  Both can be downloaded at his website, Sailcut4 and Carene CAD software.

There are a few books still in print, and even some brand new, that have varying amounts of information about gaff rigs.  That might signal a resurgence of interest that corresponds to the growth of home boat building.  Tantalizing tidbits remain in some books, with apologies given to the more bermudian-minded readers.  Still others don't focus on the rig itself in the text, but contain some photos showing beautiful details.  I have tried to give a description of the content in my reviews below, but also read the "reader reviews" submitted to Amazon.com (clicking the link for each book takes you to Amazon.com's website, and helps support The Gaff Rig Page.)

Heartily recommended:

The Gaff Rig Handbook, by John Leather.  This was suggested as the best resource out there on the gaff rig, and I can report that it is everything people say it is.  Great text, clear illustrations, and quite a bit of information not found elsewhere makes this my favorite of the books listed.  It was pricey, however, at about $32, and then it was out of print.  UPDATE 9/01/01:  Amazon.com is now offering this book on a pre-order basis at a very good price, under $21!  The new edition will be out in November, 2001, and your pre-order will save you $8 - $10 (it also helps support The Gaff Rig Pages and my ultimate goal of having our own domain name in the future.)  I've included several of the illustrations form the most recent edition on the Gaff Rig Page Detail Pages for your browsing pleasure.  A scan of the table of contents is here.  This recent edition was printed in 1996.

Hand Reef and Steer, by Tom Cunliffe.  When looking for this book, make sure you note the author, and the subtitle, which should read "Traditional Sailing Skills for Classic Boats."  An out of print book with the same name is not gaff-rig specific. Click on the link to go to Amazon.com's entry for the correct Hand Reef and Steer.  I purchased this one from Amazon.com, and find it full of useful information.  At first glance, there seems to be a lot of historical information, but what Cunliffe has done is describe nearly every imaginable type of craft using a gaff rig.  Then, selecting the gaff cutter, he continues on to describe the rigging details of every aspect of that sail plan. Because the cutter has every rigging feature the other types  have, you immediately identify those rigging features you need to consider.  This deals with the gaff rig exclusively, and contains many details not found in Knowing the Ropes.  My own, unofficial (not sanctioned by the publisher!) chapter and illustration list is available by clicking Hand Reef and Steer Chapter and Illustration List.  Cunliffe also includes sail trimming and sailing tips, with a dose of humor.  With the unavailability of Leather's Gaff Rig Handbook, Hand Reef and Steer by Tom Cunliffe rises to be the most influential and complete book on the Gaff Rig that I know of.
 

Knowing the Ropes, by Roger C. Taylor, includes a full chapter, with apologies, on the gaff rig.  Roger admits he is quite partial to the gaff rig in explaining why he inculdes the chapter.  I don't know for sure, but I suspect there may have been some discussion about whether the chapter belongs in a modern edition of a sailor's resource book.  No matter, it is here, and it is excellent (like the other information in the book, which except for three chapters that apply bermuda rigs, is worthy in anyone's library.)  Chapter 15 includes information on attaching the gaff, mast hoops, bending and hoisting sail, trimming the main sail, amount of purchase required for your peak and throat halyards, and fitting a bridle to your gaff for the peak halyard (I've provided a sneak peak at a couple of the illustrations on my Details Page.)  Roger also gives some great information you don't see everywhere:  how to rig gaff vangs and preventer backstays for the gaff rig.  Good stuff.  The paperback edition is reasonable in cost at just $15, and if you only get one book, this should be it.  I review several of his drawings on this page, although it is just a taste of what's in the book.

Recommended, but:
These are valuable, but have limited information on the gaff rig itself.
The Rigger's Apprentice, by Brion Toss, falls into the category of general knowledge about all rigging (and knots, and ropes, and ...) with some information on the gaff rig just because Brion seems to like it.  Brion is a master rigger, author, public speaker and a pretty nice guy.  His wife, Christian, told me Brion likes the gaff rig, and he always seems willing to talk about it on his web-based bulletin board system, Spar Talk.  Along with Brion's home page, www.briontoss.com,  this book and Spar Talk make a powerful resource.  Brion's website also sells the book, along with rigging videos and selected supplies.

The Arts of the Sailor by Hervey Garrett Smith.  The paperbound edition was last published in 1990, a reprint of this 1953 classic.  Smith writes in a 50's style, so you think you may have tuned into an episode of Leave It To Beaver if the Beave had built a boat.  Because the gaff rig was still popular in 1953, this books contains some details of rigging.  But much of it is dated also, as most of us won't be using hemp rope.  Like Knowing the Ropes, above, this book is very interesting, and much for the novice to consider.  But if you have to choose between it and Knowing the Ropes, get that latter!
 
 

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