Stories from the Street

Donald Street Jr. is somewhere north of 80 years old, and has swallowed more salt water than most of us will ever have splashed on us. Here he shares the views of the late Bill Snaith, engineer, author, raconteur, and successful ocean racing skipper of a series of yawls named Figaro, about the yawl rig…

The yawl allows the owner to properly display his flags, club burgee on mast head, private signal on mizzen which also on wheel steered boats, makes an excellent back rest for the helmsman.

Its rigging makes a good hand hold for the “strap hangers” to hang on to while offering unneeded advise to the hard working crew.

Under the CCA rule the rig gains a slight rating advantage over sloops and cutters, but most important it enables the owner to set a mizzen staysail, a wonderful psychological weapon to be used against the owners of sloops and cutters.