MERLIN ROCKET FORUM

Topic : deck stepped or hog stepped

Hi looking at getting a melrin for club racing and the odd open meeting and possibly circut too. does having the mast deck stepped make much difference over hog stepped and if you want to be competetive do you need deck stepped? I know most answers will be you need carbon but would like to know which is favoured as i;ve seen 2 boats of similar age one is deck stepped and the other is hog stepped.

cheers


Posted: 18/10/2011 14:53:25
By: Neal_g
neal hi

we were looking about a year ago. We tended to find the deck stepped ones were far better kitted out for raking the rig than the hog stepped ones, we have sailed with a tin rig this year and its been fine on the deck


Posted: 18/10/2011 18:54:19
By: steve ward
Every body at the front sails with deck stepped, get a deck stepped rig if you can.S/S M1 Ally. is as close to carbon as you can get. 
If you are a light wind, flatwater sailor then a hog stepped mast will give you more control over mastbend.(If you have all of the controls).


Posted: 18/10/2011 20:29:45
By: broz
Depends entirely on what you mean by competitive, & the context of that competitiveness.  You are not going to get a boat that will be in the top 25% in an open water open meeting without spending a significant amount of money and anything in that category will have a deck-stepped raking rig as no boat has been built without in 20 years.  If you want to have good club and local circuit racing particularly on restricted water then an older boat with a hog-stepped rig in good condition and everything working correctly will be a better buy than one with a deck-stepped rig that has been poorly converted or maintained.  But will also be true that a deck-stepped boat is more likely to have recent sails & kit.


Posted: 19/10/2011 14:04:26
By: Andrew M
As above, a deck stepped rig will allow you to buy used sails that fit and use other peoples tuning information.
A carbon mast is less weight aloft, which can only help on choppy water.
A look around the results of Coastal open meetings will mostly reveal boats less than 20yrs old, inland is a slightly different picture, there is keen racing in older boats, including people favouring tall hog-stepped rigs on rivers.
As it happens, my Deck-stepped, carbon rigged boat is about to hit the secondhand list. I now have the budget for a more modern boat, but if your budget is around £3200 and you have somewhere dry to winter a wooden boat, maybe it's worth a look?
Good Luck with your quest anyway!


Posted: 19/10/2011 18:31:04
By: Chris I
Hi thanks for the advice so were most of the early canterbury tails deck stepped masts or were they hog stepped, will have a look around at some boats over the coming months see hwats about.

thanks again for the advice


Posted: 20/10/2011 12:51:19
By: Neal_g
I don't think the Canterbury Tales was ever made with a hog/case stepped mast. I think they are all deck stepped.


Posted: 20/10/2011 15:04:38
By: Jez3645
There are some bargins to be had at the moment and I would strongly suggest talking to Chris Illes about Armed Forces. This is a particularly good and well kept boat. You won't find a better example of a wooden Tales Bar maybe Charge of the Light Brigade.


Posted: 20/10/2011 15:06:39
By: Jez3645
It might be worth looking closely at early 'Tales as not all were fitted out for a deck stepped rig which raked on the move originally and although most will have been upgraded, some may not. The cost of the blocks to do the raking may be a significant additional amount.  I guess it depends on the available budget /age of boat you're looking for.


Posted: 20/10/2011 15:37:02
By: wellwisher
Thanks for the kind words, Jez.
Armed Forces is not in perfect condition, there are little bits of wear and tear that need touching up, a few evenings work for an amateur with workshop space.
She's also been repaired in the past, but very, very well (ask Chris Martin).
I have dry storage for her, but it's away from my home and due to changing jobs I've decided to try to move on, as I also want to race in the winter. No mad rush, I have an RS400 to sail in the meantime. (Should I say that on this forum? )


Posted: 20/10/2011 19:18:48
By: Chris I

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