A good general resource for the small traditional sailboater

books:


	• The Working Guide to Traditional Small-Boat Sails: A How-to Handbook for Builders and Owners David Nichols Breakaway Books, 2006 - 176 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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A good general resource for the small traditional sailboater

I like this book for its enoyable writing style and practical information on the rigging of traditional small wooden boats. The various sails documented are the lovely and functional products of centuries of European and American boating tradition, and what is good in life should stay that way, and the author assists this process with his contribution to the subject. Indeed, what better way to insure the continued tradition of lug sails and etc, than to discuss them in an inexpensive and focused book such as this? If you were to own just one book on small traditional sails, and were not interested a lot of ancillary and craftmanslike detail, this might be the book, although a variety of other books are also available and go into greater depth on this or that issue. Of course, you can't have too many books about traditional boats, so you ought to own and read them all! Start with this one, and if you enjoy it, start buying the others, is what I'd advise.

The photographs are clear and useful, but if I have one complaint, it is the basic visual format of the book: the type size and page layout could be slightly more compressed and compactly designed, providing the same information in a more handy (less amateurish looking) package. A small complaint, but there you have it. If I didn't complain about something, you might not believe the good things I had to say. --wt

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Make your modern sailboat look (and work) like a salty classic.

The Golden Age of Sail is long past, sadly, and much of its lore is nearly extinct. Sailboats now almost uniformly use the Bermudan sloop rig-a triangular jib and a triangular mainsail. But that rig evolved mainly to meet esoteric yacht-racing measurement rules. It is not necessarily the most efficient or effective rig. This book lets sailors rediscover the practical advantages-and the aesthetic delights-of such configurations as the sprit sail, the gaff sail, the lug sail, and the gunter rig. It also includes valuable information on marlinspike work like rope-whipping and eye-splicing; and tips on converting your modern sailboat to a traditional rig.

David L. Nichols has been building boats and making sails for approximately fifteen years. When he isn't designing sails or building boats you'll find him in the boats he's designed and built. He feels that the only way to truly understand boats and sails is to use them. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, he has written for boating magazines like WoodenBoat and Boatbuilder, as well as writing and producing boat building videos. His designs may be viewed at www.arrowheadboats.com.

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