Because there's no headroom where I am in the shop, I can't put the mast up in the boat. So I took it outside and clamped it to a metal structure and hauled the sail up, to see what it will look like:
And, with a reef in:
That must be close to half the sail area taken in. (The jiffy reefing lines aren't on yet.)
Meanwhile, back in the shop, I ran through the set-up from kayak to trimaran, and found I had to do some adjusting. Here's how she looks:
From the cockpit I won't be seeing any red—too bad! Maybe I'll come up with another way to distinguish between the amas. Or discover they can go on either side. Or decide I need to make larger ones...
Looks pretty sharp from outside, though! The stub from the shortened mast is standing in for the mast here. Hopefully the mast will fit in the partners. I made a bit of a collar to spread the load so the ropes don't make pressure points on the mast:
The rudder and all its lines!
I'm quite happy with the way the rudder turned out. It didn't look like I was going to have an up-haul, but it worked out very well:
The steering lines have a 2:1 purchase by going through the rings on the yoke. This makes steering easier, and lets me make minor adjustments more easily, since the line needs to be moved twice as far as a direct pull would. By a happy accident (I was looking for it) the clip-hooks on the ends of the steering line fit through the rings on the yoke, so I can take the rudder off without having to undo any knots.
Blade up:
And down:
On the left below, the up-haul has a simple jam cleat. On the right, the down-haul has a quick-release cleat (if the rudder hits something, the cleat releases the line). Both lines have a cork on their cockpit end, which cannot fit between the aka and the after deck to escape, so they won't get lost.
BTW, the steering line works very well; smooth and easy with no hint of drag.
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