Find out about our next boat here .
On Thursday, 8 May 2025 John, her new owner, and I took Pitthirrit for a short sail at Altona. She really is a fantastic boat, and I am sad to be seeing her going. John is really looking forward to getting her out on the water up North, so I'm pleased to see that she is going to such an appreciative new owner!
My final entry to Pitthirrit's blog is a photographic record of the process of rigging her for sailing.
You can download a PDF of the process here .
Keep in mind that my Lapwing 16 is an open-decked variation on the original plans, so placement of blocks and clamcleats will differ to the standard arrangement. My reefing setup is probably different to other Lapwings as well, but this is what has worked well for me.
Start off by removing the tie-down rope from the trailer and boat. This is wrapped around the mast crutch to help prevent the boat from twisting or moving from side to side on the trailer.
Once removed, the tie-down line is then used as the main mooring line, attached to the bow eye.
You will find that a milk crate is the easiest way to get into the boat while rigging.
Remove the shock cords and wrappings from the wishbone booms.
The larger boom is for the forward, main mast, and the smaller boom is for the mizzen mast.
Remove shock cord and cloth from around the main mast and the mast crutch. Undo the bolts from the mainmast partner, and take out the mast crutch. Place the boom under the masts, so that when the main mast is raised the wishbone boom is already around the mast. If you forget to do this, there is a bolt and wingnut at the aft end of each boom, so you can open up the boom to fit it around the mast without having to unstep the mast.
The taller mast, with the leather fitted to it, is the main mast, and is used with the larger sail.
Remove the shock cord and cloth from around the masts and the mizzen mast crutch. Move both masts back so that they are balanced on the mizzen crutch and the stern. This will make it easier to raise the main mast.
Note that there is a loose piece of leather in the bottom of each mast step. This reduces the noise made by the masts rotating.
Place the foot of the main mast into the bow of the boat, and start lifting it towards vertical.
Insert the foot of the mast into the mast step, and then raise the mast to completely vertical, slotting it into the notch in the foredeck.
While holding the mast vertical, replace the mast partner and insert the two bolts and secure them with the wingnuts.
Undo the knot holding the S hook at the end of the red line, and fit it into the cringle at the tack of the main sail.
Feed the end of the downhaul through the silver clamcleat, and pull tight.
Take the mizzen mast off the mast crutch, and place it to one side, so you can remove the crutch.
Place the mizzen wishbone boom over the mast partner in the thwart. Make sure that the mainsail sheets are forward of the mast partner.
Lift the mizzen mast to vertical, and guide it into the mast partner, and lower it to the floor of the boat. The red line aft of the mast is the mizzen sail downhaul.
The foot of the mast has to be seated in the mast step. There is a leather pad in this mast step as well.
Insert the downhaul S hook into the tack, and feed the end of the downhaul through the silver clamcleat.
Remove the yellow line from around the mizzen sail, and unfurl the sail.
The red line attached to the black webbing band around the mast is the mizzen “snotter”, and is used to lift and tension the front of the boom.
Uncoil the snotter and feed the bitter end through the block on the forward end of the boom.
Then feed the bitter end though the block attached to the black webbing band, running it through from top to bottom.
Feed the snotter through the silver clamcleat on the front of the mizzen mast, and tie a figure of eight knot in the end, to prevent it from accidentally coming loose.
On the port side of the mizzen mast there is a blue line. Tunning through a black clamcleat. This is the “topping lift”, which is used to hold the aft end of the boom up when not supported by the sail.
Loop the end of the topping lift around the upper red line at the aft end of the boom.
This will hold the boom up away from the deck of the boat.
Hook the cringle in the clew of the sail into the S hook at the aft end of the boom. The topping lift will now probably be quite loose.
Pull on the other end of the topping lift, through the black clamcleat, to barely remove the slackness in the topping lift where it connects to the aft end of the boom.
The topping lift should be tight, but not causing the leach, or trailing edge, of the sail to become loose.
The uphaul for the mizzen sail is a blue line that runs through a black clamcleat on the right side of the mast.
Uncoil the uphaul and place it into the bag on the thwart.
The uphaul clamcleat has a preventer fitted to it, so that when you release the line it won’t accidentally jam while sail is being lowered.
To lower the sail, pull up on the line, to get it past the preventer. The weight of the sail will do most of the work, but you will need to pull down on the sail as it comes down the sail track.
The slugs in the luff, or front, of the sail will slide to the very bottom of the sail track, but won’t come out the bottom while the stopper is screwed into place. If you want to remove the sail, take out the stopper and the sail will come out completely. If you want the sail and boom to be a bit higher up above the deck of the boat, lift the lower slugs a bit higher in the track, and the use the topping lift to raise the aft end of the boom. You may need to slacken the snotter a bit in order to do this.
Uncoil the mizzen sheet (the shorter of the two sheets, if you have removed them from the boat), and pull the sheet block do that there is even amounts of line on both sides, and the lines aren’t twisted.
Attach the sheet block to lower red line at the aft end of the mizzen boom, using a bowline.
Pull equal amounts of the mizzen sheets through the fairleads on each side, and secure through the cam cleats mounted on the seats. Coil the excess line and pass it through the shadecloth loops, making sure that the knot at the end of the sheet is not passed through the loop. This helps keep the boat tidy. The knot has to be free in order to prevent it catching anywhere if you need to release the sheet in a hurry.
Remove the yellow line around the main mast and unfurl the mainsail.
The coiled red line at the front of the mast is the main snotter. Uncoil this line. You will notice that it is much longer than the mizzen snotter.
Pass the end of the snotter through the block on the forward end of the boom, from starboard to port. Take the end of the line through the block attached to the black webbing around the mast, from top to bottom.
Pass the end of the snotter through the block directly in front of the mast.
Pass the end of the snotter through the block at the starboard edge of the foredeck.
Pull on the snotter until the boom starts to lift off the foredeck. Tie a loop in the snotter to hold it in place.
The blue line running through the black clamcleat to the left of the sail track is the topping lift for the mainsail.
Untie the line and make sure that the end running through the clamcleat is pulled through as much as possible.
Loop the other end of the topping lift around the upper red line at the aft end of the boom.
Undo the loop you made in the snotter.
Run the snotter through the black fairlead on the starboard edge of the deck.
Pass the end of the snotter through the black clamcleat between the starboard hatches. Tie a bowline in the end of the snotter, to prevent it from being accidentally released.
Hook the cringle at the clew of the mainsail onto the S hook at the aft end of the boom. Take up the slack on the topping lift.
The uphaul runs through the black clamcleat to the right of and below the sail track. The uphaul will be kept in the bag while sailing.
Pull the uphaul up past the preventer on the clamcleat and lower the sail, as was done with the mizzen.
Uncoil the mainsail sheet (the longer of the two sheets if you have removed them from the boat). If they are not in front of the mizzen mast, unknot the end of the sheet and rethread it through the block once the path of the sheet has been corrected.
Move the sheet block to the centre of the sheets, and use a bowline to tie the block to the lower red line at the aft end of the boom.
Pull equal amounts of the mainsail sheets through the fairleads on both sides of the boat, and secure through the black camcleats.
Tidy up the sheets by placing them into the loops on each side of the boat, but make sure that you don’t pass the knots though the loops.
The mast crutches, shock cords, and padding are stored in either of the aft lockers.
When you’re ready to hoist the sails, loosen off the sheets, so that the sails won’t instantly catch the wind. Pull on the uphaul to lift the head of the sail to the top of the sail track. Once it has been lifted as far as it will go, lock the uphaul line into the clamcleat, and then stow the uphaul in the bag beside the mast. Increase the taughtness of the luff of the sail by tensioning the red downhaul line through the silver clamcleat below the sail track.
When sailing, the sails should have a bow, or belly, in them from the luff to the leach. Hauling in, or letting out, the snotter a few centimetres will change the shape of the sail. In lighter winds, ideally the sail should be just clearing the curve of the wishbone boom. Hauling in on the snotter, and making the sail flatter, will reduce the power of the sail, and can be used as a step before reefing.
When reefing, start with the mainsail.
Loosen the main’s downhaul and uphaul.
Let the sail down enough so that you can fit the downhaul S hook through the cringle at the first tack position.
Leaving the clew of the sail on the S hook at the aft end of the boom, slip the loop on the luff at the first tack position over the S Hook at the aft end of the boom as well.
Raise the sail with the uphaul.
Tension the sail with the downhaul. If you want to move the centre of pressure down the mast, adjust the uphaul and the downhaul so that the sail is lower on the track. Keep in mind that the lower the sail the poorer your view will be.
Haul in on the snotter to achieve a good shape in the sail.
Roll up, or bunch, the foot of the sail, and tie the reefing lines around the foot of the sail, using reef knots.
In this photo you can see that more of the wishbone is in front of the mast that when the sail isn’t reefed. This is part of why the main is reefed first, as the same will apply to the mizzen, and the mizzen boom could catch on the unreefed mainsail.
To put in the second reef, repeat the above process. With the second reef in place the snotter will be almost fully extended.
The boom will also be extending further forward of the mast.
I tend to keep the sails lower down the mast when reefed, as it will put less pressure on the masts, as well as reduce the boat’s heel.
The centreboard is tied into the stowed position with a loop that passes around the centreboard handle and through an eye screwed to the deck. Untie the starboard side of this.
Take the centreboard’s uphaul line out of the black clamcleat at the rear of the centreboard trunk. You will have to pull this all the way through while holding the line up to stop it from re-engaging.
The centreboard downhaul runs through a fairlead under the thwart, and locks into a camcleat at the aft edge of the thwart. Further forward, you will see that the downhaul has a shock cord fitting, to reduce the effect of running aground with the centreboard down.
The tiller is secured through a loop to prevent it swinging while trailing the boat. Pull the loop over the end of the tiller to free it.
If I am towing the boat only a short distance I leave the rudder blade in, and held up. For longer distances I remove the rudder blade and store it in the boat. The blade has two lines on it.
The line through the centre of the blade is fed through the tube in the rudder cheeks, and locks into the clamcleat on the port side of the tiller. This is the rudder downhaul.
The clamcleat has a pressure sensitive release on it, which lets the rudder come up if you ground the boat.
When launching the boat, keep the rudder lifted up, using the rudder uphaul, the line through the trailing edge of the rudder blade. The uphaul is fed through the fairlead on the starboard side of the rudder and forward to a clamcleat.
The tiller lock can be used to help keep the boat on track when you don’t have a hand on the tiller. Keep a little tension on the shock cord to prevent the white cord binding between the clip and fairlead under the tiller.
Increasing the tension on the shock cord and locking it into the clamcleat on the tiller will make the tiller stiffer, and give you more time to attend to other tasks.
The timber with the two holes in it on the transom is for mounting the Honda 2hp outboard. The holes locate the outboard correctly and stop the motor from twisting sideways when in use.
A piece of cord is tied though the loops in the clamps, and is used to stop vibration loosening the clamps.
When storing the engine horizontally, or when the engine is not in use, make sure that the breather knob on the fuel cap is tightly closed.
Also make sure that the fuel selector is set in the “off” position. When you are no longer needing the motor for the day, leave the motor running, and turn off the fuel selector. This will use up the fuel in the carburettor, and prevents stale fuel sitting in the engine, and makes it easier to start the outboard the next time.
When tilting the motor up, make sure the breather knob is closed, and the fuel selector is in the off position (you don’t need to have let it run out of fuel). Flip the throttle handle back over the transom.
With the propeller pointing towards the back of the boat, push the tilting lock up, and pull the top of the motor forward. Release the lock, which will catch on a can that stops the motor dropping down.
While sailing, twist the motor so that the fuel cap is towards the centre of the boat, and keep the throttle back over the stern. This helps stop the mizzen sheet from being tangled in the motor. Note that when you want to drop the motor into the water you have to twist the motor back so that the fuel cap is towards the front of the boat. Pull the top of the motor towards the front of the boat and push up the tilting lock. While keeping it up you can lower the propellor into the water.
Before starting the motor, open the breather cap a couple of turns.
Set the fuel selector to the on position.
If there is no fuel in the carburetor you will need to pull out the choke. If there is fuel in the carburettor and the engine has run recently you probably won’t need to do this.
Twist the throttle handle a small amount. Don’t overdo this, as this motor uses a centrifugal clutch, which engages at higher engine speeds, so you could start the engine and immediately start moving.
Pull the cord to start the motor. If there was no fuel in the carburettor this might take a few pulls. Once the engine starts, let it run for a minute or so before closing the choke.
To move the boat backwards you simply rotate the engine so that the propeller is pointing forwards. Only turn the motor around when it is idling. Be very careful when moving backwards, as if you hit anything the outboard leg will be pushed into the transom.
Pitthirrit has moved to her new home, in Nowra. She's been a great boat, and I've enjoyed sailing her over the past four years, but it's time to build the next one, and there isn't room in my garage for both. Find out about our next boat here.
