The gunter rigged Potters had three wooden spars - a short mast, a boom,
and a gunter yard or gaff. The mainsail was attached at the foot to the
boom and at the luff to the gunter yard. The gunter yard lay on top of the
boom when the sail was lowered. The halyard attached to the gunter yard
such that when the yard was hoisted it formed a vertical extension to the
mast. The mainsail was a conventional three-sided sail, although the newer
type, four-sided, sail can be used. The boat had a conventional jib hanked
to the forestay.
The advantages of the gunter rig are that the spars are shorter, the
mainsail can be very quickly and positively lowered and raised, and the
boat will go under lower bridges when the gunter yard is dipped.
You'll find a number of photos of gunter-rigged Potters on the WWP web site
<http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/>, the Potter Yachters web site
<http://potter-yachters.org>, and the ECPA web site (see link on PY web
site). Also on the Potter Yachters web site are reproductions of old
brochures for the gunter-rigged Potters. The many photos on those web sites
may help you with the rigging questions on the later P15s also.
Harry Gordon
P14 #234, Manatee
Sometimes gunter rigged, sometimes lateen rigged
Mountain View, CA
>Greetings,
>
>Ladies and Gentlemen,
>
>I'm very close to buying a 1977 P-15. I think the hull# is 751. I'm looking
>for information/diagrams/manuals that would aid me in rigging it. Please
>advise. BTW, what does "gunter rig" mean? and is it specific to certain
>Potter vintages?
>
>v/r
>
>Wally Patterson