Rope Sizes and fittings for the Oz Goose Rigging

The background thinking of this is that building boats in the Philippines means that many parts are not available.

This has forced us to eliminate fittings – it is unlikely that you will find another  racing class with as sparse a list as this. And remember … we still want to win races, so this very small list has to work. We use spectra ropes as fittings in several places.

The basic fittings list is: three blocks, rudder fittings, a stainless steel ring and a plastic 4″ horn cleat. Most of the boats were sailed with just this before the inspection ports were added later.

All ropes are 4mm except for the mainsheet which is 6mm.

A good explanation of where they all go is on the Oz Goose Lug Sail rigging page. There are also Videos showing step by step rigging of Oz Goose.

Smaller ropes keep the cost of other parts down – and reduce friction

We keep the rope diameters down as a strategy for reducing friction. We run in slightly oversize blocks (pulleys) and small lines.

Same goes for the mainsheet. It is double braid which is easiest on the hand but also small diameter to keep the block sizes down for cost – you won’t need ball bearing blocks if running smaller lines.

The other aspect is stretch. If  not using spectra for halyard and downhaul a lot of performance is being thrown away. Not  to mention a huge increase in reliability. The 4mm size also means the cheapest metal cleats will hold the control lines if you want them adjustable.

Forthwith the rigging list. If needing to substitute do an image search on google for the part number and description to see an image – then you can find a local fitting that will have the same function. The Ronstan brand, though Australian is available in most countries at least from online suppliers. Most other brands are quite regional. Harken is well distributed but is expensive and not considered to be the most reliable.

6mm is 1/4″

4mm is 5/32″

For Rigging Method for Oz Goose follow this link.

For North And South American and Europe Duckworks has rigging kits.

Our friends at Duckworks – famous for their brilliant customer service have packages of these fittings and ropes available.

They can deliver economically to the Americas, and may be competitive to Europe

Rigging kits, sails and Plans for the Oz Goose

More information about the Oz Goose