Question: I am in the process of refitting a 1975 Chris Craft Caribbean 35, which is a later version of Mark's Chris Craft Sail Yacht. Among the projects I am considering converting it from a sloop to a cutter rig. I would be interested to know if Mark has considered doing this, and what his views are on such a conversion for this boat. I beleive that S&S specified a slightly taller rig for the Caribbean 35 than the Sail Yacht. I am based in the Chesapeake, but plan to cruise the ICW to Florida and the Caribbean. I would also be interested in any other deck plan modifications Mark might suggest.

Robb from Maryland

Answer: I write only with the experience of our boat in its present state and we were happy with its performance overall. All of the previous owners of my boat have kept it pretty traditional. As far as converting yours to a cutter rig, it’s within the realm of possibility, but how well it sails will likely only be known with certainty after the conversion is done. My sense is that the boat was designed that way for a reason--the advantages of cutter rigs were known at that point, too. Going to windward, I think a roller reefed working jib reefed down would be just as effective without the extra work. And off the wind the sail area is pretty small and can’t see a big boost in performance. When the wind piped up, we found that a double reef and a small working jib worked for our cruise through the Eastern Caribbean and back up to the West Coast. There are other factors to consider as well. Dinghy storage is one--we kept our hard nesting dinghy on deck, which wouldn’t have been possible with a cutter rig. And tacking a genoa around an extra stay on deck can be something of chore. It’s a project that sounds simple from the onset, but one which could become expensive and time consuming: modifying the rig, there’s also the added cost of the hardware involved, beefing up the deck, roller furling if you go that route, another set of winches, and so on. Not that it can’t be done, only how effective it will be is sort of a mystery.

Good luck with the refit. Take lots of pictures if you decide to go forward with it, and let us know how it turns out. I’d also recommend getting some opinions from knowledgeable hands on our e-mail discussion lists. I’m on the Chris Craft list and it be great to have a few more sailors on it as well.