 RL 24 rigging details | I am an expat Aussie in Canada and am about to acquire a US built RL 24. It has lost its mast due to among other things the previous owner using broom sticks and thin metal brackets as the spreaders. yes I know... It has a heavy looking mast from an Aquarius 23 and I am looking for more drawings and specs than on the RL site such as shroud sizes etc.. This is a full rebuild of the rig but I am looking forward to the challenge. Any help would be greatfully received.
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| Re: RL 24 rigging details | Look for a 16 foot skiff rig which should suit your yacht.
You may need to get a sail maker to add reefs and slugs in the mast track but that is a good way to fit out a rig at a reasonable price.
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| Re: RL 24 rigging details | Unfortunately 16 foot skiffs are pretty hard to find in landlocked Saskatchewan. I do however know the whereabouts of a Fireball mast. How would that compare to a 16 foot skiff?
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| Re: RL 24 rigging details | I have no idea what size a fireball rig is, a few minutes with a tape measure and the drawings of the RL24 rig dimensions should figure it out soon enough. Stay with a small jib (100%) sheeted close to the mast and the rig will be reasonably efficient.
A very flexible mast works well on the light RL hull. Keep weight out of the yacht and a flexible mast will do wonders.
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| Re: RL 24 rigging details | Ric.
The Fireball rig would be very much undersize for a RL24 if you intend to race, the mast would be some two feet short, and the sails 75 squ ft under size, however, if you only intend to use the boat as a knockabout and sail single handed then it could work for you, beware though the rig would be rather fragile in a good breeze. A very successful conversion was made several years ago here using a Hobie cat 16 rig, the all round dimensions of the rig are very close to the 24s.
What ever you do, keep well away from the US idea of a mast, the rig that ended up on most US boats was very over sized and too heavy.
If you need imformation on anything come back to this site with a specific list as there are a lot of experienced RL24 sailors able to help.
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| Re: RL 24 rigging details |  Thanks Robb and Greg. I have a feeling that the mast is rather on the large size. It is 115 x 78 mm or therabouts with an oval profile and is fully stayed with forestay, backstay and 4 sidestays. What profile would I be looking for? Also what size of stay would be "normal" for an Australian built version? I have attached a shot of the bottom of the mast for information. I am keen to get her working well and show off the Aussie design here in the Canucks.
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| Re: RL 24 rigging details | Ric, the details are here
http://www.rlyachts.net/NorthSails.asp
I suspect the mast you have is about the same size as the American mast. Unfortunately the American mast was probably heavier than prefered.
Still better the mast you have than no mast.
This rigging plan would be a good start, remember you need the centre of the areas of the sail in a similar location to the standard rig and the forestay position is set to suit the headsail.
http://www.rlyachts.net/drawings24-rigging.asp
Its worth drawing the standard RL24 rig and hull from a side view marking the centre areas of the jib and mainsail, the center of area for the combined sails is between these points a distnce back from the jib center as a ratio of the areas of the sails.
Then draw the new rig over the original drawing the centre of the sails, the new rig needs to be positioned with its center near the old rig.
If its too hard post me a message and I will try to assist. I am not an expert but getting close to the correct position is not too hard.
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| Re: RL 24 rigging details | Thanks Greg. I get what you are talking about and will do the measurements and a few sketches to see how it looks. A little time planning can save a lot of heartache. I will post any questions.
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| Re: RL 24 rigging details | Hi I have managed to untangle the broken stays and measured the rig. The mast is on the large size but I plan on putting the fittings per the drawings on the RL24 site. I have a few questions. What would be a suitable spreader fitting (the site has RL002 which I assume was an RL kit) also I have not been able to determine the size of blocks on the mainsheet or the configuration of the rear stay. Any help would be useful.
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