Beer Lugger

THE BEER LUGGER
The Beer Lugger is not just any old lugger with the word Beer stuck in front of it, but is a design and rig type specific to Beer. The archetype is documented in the Science Museum as the Little Jim of Exeter. (Exeter is the port of registry.) Owned by H. Bartlett it was built by Lavers of Exmouth in 1916. However, even this long ago the angle of the yard had started to steepen as is the modern trend. There are of course other luggers up and down the South Coast, many of them may look similar, but to the informed eye there are differences. Some, further down Cornwall way for instance, set a jib outside of the for's'l (foresail) so the sail cannot be dipped when going about. The Penzance Lugger is an example.

There are some lovely old pictures of the luggers years ago with three masts, e.g. in the Anchor Inn, and with very square sails, but the ones you will see racing Regatta Day or during the racing season (usually Monday nights) will probably only have two masts with a much steeper angle on the yard, the latter is a modification to make them sail better to win'rd (windward). The essence of the Beer Lugger is that it is a working boat rig. In a two-master the foremast is set right vor'rd (forward) and the mizzen mast is set right aft, often outboard. This leaves the boat uncluttered for working. In the three-master the main mast amidships would often be unshipped when working so as to clear the decks. The vor's'l and mains'l are called dipping lugsails and the mizzen a standing lug. There is no boom on the vor's'l or the mains'l and when under way the sail is completely outboard. Even when close hauled the foot of the sail will never come inboard of the gun'l (gunwale). This means that when going about there is nothing to bang you on the head and the whole sail can be turned inside out around the vor'rd side of the mast, so no part of the sail has to cross the working area of the vessel. Those of you who have sailed naval luggers will note the difference. The mizzen sail is self tacking. There are other advantages to the rig: all the spars are short enough to fit in the boat when unshipped, the short mast does not require a sophisticated system of stays or spreaders to support it and with such a rig it is possible to set a large powerful sail despite the low mast.

Most of you will be familiar with the square sails that you might see on a Viking Longship used for their voyages to the Arctic and America. Down the ages, this rig has slowly been turned on its side for better windward ability. First to the lateen or lugsail type, then the gaff, followed by the gunter rig (similar to the Mirror dingy) and eventually the modern Bermudian rig that you see on so many modern yachts and dingys.

The Beer Lugger is, I believe, a direct descendant of the Viking rig taken to Normandy by the Norsemen and then later introduced to Southern Britain by the Normans in 1066. If you study the Bayeux Tapestry you will see that the rig can be seen in some detail. The sail is square and set on a yard, the mast is short and is unshipped on reaching shore, there are no stays only a few shrouds, and it appears they used the halyard as an extra shroud to win'rd, this is a real old Beer trait forced upon poor fishermen who could not afford enough rope.

As mentioned before, the rig has changed over the years, the angle of the yard has steepened and the luff has become shorter to aid speed when beating and to ease going about (with a steep yard there is no need to slacken the halyard when dipping the lug). In the old days they had a special spar that was stuck in a cringle on the luff to help keep it tight and to win'rd. This was called a vo'g'rd and is, I believe, a local corruption of fore-guard. However, the rules of Beer Lugger racing still encourage many of the old skills. For instance they are allowed no mechanical advantage on the sheets, they must attach the sail to the yard with robins (twine lacings tied with a reef knot), the shrouds must be of rope and held taut using only a rolling hitch. A Beer man is the only person you are ever likely to meet that can tie a rolling hitch "correctly", but that is another story. Beer is the only place in the world I know where they race dipping lugsails, so keep a good look out Monday evenings in the season and on Regatta Day for the Beer Luggers. Particularly watch them when they go about (i.e. change direction), that's when the "fun" starts.