Re-rigging Free Ascent as a Wishbone Ketch
I had renovated Free Ascent back in 2005 after purchasing it at an attractive price. We had sailed the coastal waters near Perth, Western Australia for 5 years. The in 2011 a minor disaster, the people at the lifting yard were removing the mast to allow me to check and re-paint it. They lost control and it fell backwards in its tabernacle and hit the solar panel support at the mast's weakest point, the attachment for the lower shrouds and spreaders. Naturally it broke in half there. The insurance company couldn't get a replacement timber mast made for less than $16,000 so they offered a cash settlement a bit under that which I accepted. I had been thinking about the old wishbone ketch style of rig for may years after meeting Bill Golder back in 1974 and subsequent years with his 45ft (or so) ferro cement wishbone ketch, built in Melbourne, where I had also built my 36ft yacht Dreamtime launched in 1974 (see my video Dreamtime - The Beginning). So the settlement gave me the chance to give the rig a go, updating the concept to use self tacking staysail tracks, instead of the wishbone boom structures. Also with four of the sails on reefing furlers to give an easy sail control in all types of weather. The mizzen sail wasn't on a furler, but has the standard jiffy reefing facility and lazyjacks for control when furling. For a more detailed look at the resurrection and re-rig of Free Ascent see my long form video Free Ascent - The Resurrection. We sailed Free Ascent in the Perth waters for many years then did a relaxed long cruise from Perth in Western Australia to Dover in Tasmania. My other Free Ascent longer form videos cover this journey. See the playlist Free Ascent - The Resurrection and Travels.