Sail Far Live Free

"No matter how hard I work on the aesthetics, I never arrive at a place where I feel the boat is "perfect". It may look perfect on Monday, but by Tuesday I will know I can improve it." -Bob Perry This is the third entry in a series of my mini-interviews with prominent sailboat designers. My guest this time is SailFarLiveFree guest blog veteran and one of my personal favorite designers - Bob Perry . You probably already know many of Bob's designs, but some of my personal favorites are the Babas (30, 35, 40), the Nordic/Valiant Esprit 37, and the Lafitte 44. It's hard to sum up Bob's sailboat design work in just a paragraph, so instead of trying I'll just give you a few more examples of his production designs: Islander Freeport 36/38, Norseman 447, several Passports (456, 470, 485, 515), Tashiba 31/36/40, Tayana 37, and many Valiants (32, 40, 42, 47, 50). And did you know Bob also designed the Westsail 38, the big CTs (48-72), and the very unique D

"I hate those cute names like “slutter” and “cutter rigged sloop” or the worst one, “cutter rigged ketch”. We already have all the terms we need to describe rigs that have been around for 200 years.  A sloop is a sloop. If someone chooses to add a staysail it’s still a sloop."  - Bob Perry (see below) Sailing can seem pretty intimidating if you're bound to learning it from a book. All of the rigging jargon, varieties of sails, and especially the rig types can feel overwhelming. Luckily, once you're on the water ghosting along on a summer zephyr, none of it seems as complex. But if you insist on figuring it out through reading, Bob Perry's words can fill your intellectual sails.  Once again, it's my pleasure to welcome Bob back as a guest blogger here at SailFarLiveFree.com. Recently I asked Bob to share his insights into sailboat rig types. What follows is his thoughtful response. [Thanks, Bob! If you haven't read Bob's previous guest posts