Scow Rig and Strings Drawing

Rig and Strings

The various strings can be divided into two groups:

Sail Lashings and Lacings

Each of the four corners of the sail are lashed to the gaff or boom by 3mm cord. Each lashing consists of two parts: 3-4 turns through the eyelet in the sail and round the spar; and 3-4 turns through the eyelet in the sail and through the lashing eye. This system makes sure there isn't a large load trying to pull the lashing eye out of the spar.

The whole length of the head of the sail is laced to the gaff by one piece of light cord (say, 2mm). This starts at the throat lashing eyelet of the sail, then passes in a continuous spiral around the gaff and through each of the lacing eyes along the head of the sail, and ends at the peak lashing eyelet.

Five strings are required to reef the sail: two 3mm lashings are used at the tack and clew to fasten the sail to the boom; and three light strings are required to bundle up the surplus sail at each reefing eye (note: these do not tie to the boom, just around the bundle of sail).

Running Rigging

The various bits of running rigging are:

Name	Diameter	Description/notes
Halyard	At least 6mm	The halyard is simply tied around the gaff (having passed through an eye on the underside of the gaff which holds it in place), passes up to the block at the top of the mast and comes down to the jam cleat at the foot of the mast. As the halyard is only tied to the gaff, the complete sail with the gaff and boom can be easily removed from the scow, for example to use it for rowing.
Gaff and boom snotters (photo)	4mm	The snotters hold the gaff and boom against the mast on the starboard tack (as the gaff and boom are on the port side of the mast). These are also known as 'parrels', but it's too much to pass up on the chance to use a word like 'snotter', isn't it? Each snotter is tied around the gaff or boom at one end, passes around the mast and is tied around the gaff or boom again at the other end. At each place where the snotters tie around the gaff or boom, there is an eye to stop them slipping along the spar. It is convenient to put a loop in one end of each snotter, so that it can be quickly tied to the right length when fitting the sail to the scow.
Tack line (photo)	4mm	The front end of the boom is held down (and back) by the tack line, which is tied around the boom at one end and is tied to an eye low down on the port side of the mast at the other end.
Kicking strap	4mm	The arrangement of the mainsheet makes it unnecessary to use a kicking strap upwind - a balanced lug rig just cannot be pulled taut like a bermudan. But downwind there is a tendency for the boom to lift and this is prevented by the kicking strap. Since the boom rotates around the mast, the geometry of the kicking strap is not constant - if the kicking strap is correctly set for downwind sailing, it will be slack when the sail is close-hauled.
Kicking strap block strop	4mm	The kicking strap passes around a block just behind the mast and then goes to a jam cleat on the bow seat bulkhead. The block is fixed to a strop which passes around the mast and through an eye on its forward face.
Safety line (photo)	3mm	As the mast is not fixed in the step, it could come partially out of the mast step in a capsize and, as the scow was righted, it could do serious damage to the mast step. To avoid this the 'safety line' passes around the mast, through the same eye as the kicking strap block strop, and ties to a cleat on the bow seat bulkhead.
Painter	4mm	The painter is tied to an eyebolt set in the bow transom.
Leeboard rope (photo)	4mm	The leeboard rope pulls and holds the leeboard down. It passes through a hole in the end of the leeboard arm and runs to a jam cleat on the hull side.
Leeboard shock cord (photo)	6mm shock cord	The leeboard shock cord holds the leeboard up when it is not in use. It passes through a hole in the end of the leeboard arm and runs to an eye on the hull side above the bow seat bulkhead.
Mainsheet	8mm plaited	The mainsheet provides a 2:1 purchase and needs to be at least 8mm and plaited, to be easy to hold.
Mainsheet block strop	4mm	This strop holds the upper mainsheet block to the end of the boom.
Mainsheet bridle	4mm	The bridle holds the lower mainsheet block and is tied to holes in the aft transom either side of the rudder.
Rudder lift string	4mm	The rudder lift string runs from a hole on the trailing edge of the rudder blade, through a bullseye fairlead on the back end of the tiller to a jam cleat.
Rudder shock cord	6mm shock cord	The rudder shock cord holds the rudder down and runs from a hole in the leading edge of the rudder blade, around the top of the rudder inside the rudder housing, through the lift string fairlead , to an eye on the tiller.

Some of the description above may be easier to understand if you look at a photo of the top of the mast and gaff here, a photo of the bottom of the mast and boom here and a photo of the rudder here.

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