As far as weather helm goes, get a couple of different size jibs, you can
even the balance on the helm by easing the main or sheeting in the jib
(possibly even using a larger headsail). I find that when sailing with the
Tall rig potters, I can handle heavy weather a little easier and the boat
itself is stiffer. This is good as the wife and kids used to get nervous if
we leaned over too far (and me too).
When it comes to trailering they're wonderful because you don't have the
extra side stays (baby stays) to get tangled up, and the foot of the mast
can stay bolted to the tabernacle and just lean back onto the yoke for
trailering. Stepping the mast involves standing on the fore-hatch and
lifting up the mast by pulling on the forestay (one-man job) takes about 3
minutes.
I think that speed in light wind is the only real negative, but once the
wind gets above 10-12 knots I have no trouble keeping up with the tall rig
P19's.
The main is the only sail that is different between the two rigs. I believe
the headsails are the same. But as far as stay length goes, there isn't any
substitute for just measuring your own. I wouldn't assume the two are the
same. I would get stays to place your mast pretty close to perpendicular and
have a 2 - 4 inches of adjustment on each stay with turnbuckles.
Mike Calva
"Panacea" P19 #719 (Short is Beautiful)
<snip>
Your info rigging info is very helpful. Jerry Barrilleaux pointed me to
a picture of the short rig on the Minnesota Page
http://www.foad.org/~elp/waconia98/index.html that I think shows the
characteristic long boom and short mast. Now I am in a real quandary about
how to rig the boat. I understand that the short rig is considered failed
experiment on the part of HMS and that the boat has a severe weather helm.
But I sail on the river and have no real interest in high performance and
probably wouldn't recognize weather helm if it bit me. I might also
consider cutting off the weather helm if it wouldn't harm the structural
integrity of the boat... :-)
<snip>
Regards All
Rye Gewalt K9LCJ
HMS 19 #658
Springfield, VA