The Gaff Rig Interview
Master Rigger Brion Toss
By Frank Hagan

     Captain George Vancouver surveyed the natural harbor before him. Charged with charting the Pacific northwest and settling once and for all if the fabled "northwest passage" existed, Captain Vancouver was captain of not one, but two sailing ships of the British navy, the Discovery and the Chatham. Vancouver never believed the "northwest passage" existed, a fact made plain by his sharp criticism of those who supported the idea. He was, in his day, a man skeptical and more, a man who proved his claims with the irrefutable proof of personal experience and discovery. In today’s venacular, we would say Captain Vancouver had "been there, done that." Captain Vancouver named the safe and secure harbor for his friend, the Marquis of Townshend. Today, it is known as Port Townsend, WA, officially founded in April of 1851, and given the nickname "City of Dreams" for its promise of becoming the largest port on the west coast. While that dream never became reality, Port Townsend is still a safe and secure harbor, and the local economy for the 8,000 people there is still greatly influenced by the maritime industry.
     On the harbor today, you might find cruisers from all over readying their boat to sail from Port Townsend to Hawai’I or other ports distant, looking up from their deck skyward, where Master Rigger Brion Toss is aloft in a bosun’s chair he designed and, by popular demand, now sells through his business Brion Toss Yacht Rigging.
     Like a modern-day Captain Vancouver, Toss challenges modern misconceptions and proves his claims the same way … with irrefutable proof based on his professional experience over the last two decades. But instead of sharp criticism, Toss uses a unique blend of self-effacing humor and good-natured ribbing in pointing out the errors of others. The venues he uses are varied, among them his best selling "The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice," the book which has been hailed as the modern classic on rigging, and his instructional videos "Tuning Your Rig," "Inspecting Your Rig," "Going Aloft," "Making Your Own Eye Splices," "Installing Sta-Loks," and "Doing Your Own Fancy Work." His clients have included cruisers all over the world, as well as organizations such as the US Forest Service, the American Institute of Architecture, and the Seven Seas Cruising Association. In addition, Toss presents live seminars across the country on topics such as preparing your boat for a blue water passage, how to avoid jury rigging, etc. His web site includes "SparTalk," a bulletin board where common, ordinary folks like us can ask questions and get straight-talk answers, and "Miscella", a wonderful column overflowing with the unique Toss wit and wisdom. Despite his busy schedule, Brion Toss graciously agreed to an interview for The Gaff Rig.

     Q. For most of us, the profession of "Master Rigger" is not one we hear about everyday. How did you become a rigger, and what influenced you to choose it as a career?

     A. One day, when I was eighteen or so, I chanced upon a book on urban survival - how to keep your feet in a riot, how to get out of a flaming apartment building, that sort of thing. This book had illustrations of a Square Knot and a Sheet Bend in it. Just those two knots, for some reason. And all by myself I figured out how to tie them, then went to show off to my friend Bart, not knowing that he had grown up sailing in a big ketch out of San Diego. He watched my little demo patiently, said, "That's very nice, Brion", then reached over his right shoulder - I can still see it – and took a book down off the shelf. It was "The Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Ropework", by Raoul Graumont and John G. Hensel. Big book, dense book. I opened it, and was overcome with an Alice-down-the-rabbit-hole feeling; I fell into that book, and didn't come up for air for months, at which time my parents gave me a copy of "Ashley's Book of Knots", which is a profoundly better book in every way, and I fell down another, deeper rabbit hole.
     For several years I did little but tie knots, partially supporting my habit by making key chains and doormats for street fairs and gift shops. Eventually, it dawned on me that a knot, interesting though it may be in itself, is almost always an integral part of a system. This system concerns itself with the delivery and resolution of forces, via tension and compression. Knots, in all their glorious variety, are the connection nodes in the system, and, far from being arbitrary complications, are often highly evolved tools, beautifully suited to specific jobs. I began to look at those jobs, and discovered the equally evolved, densely elegant architecture of sailing rigs. This led to an introduction to loads, both in their natures and their magnitudes, which led in turn to the characteristics of materials used to handle those loads, to the blocks, tangs, masts, and other hardware that also formed a part of the system. Somewhere in this exponentially expanding series of discoveries, I realized that human beings were part of the system, that the system was in fact an expression of humanity. ( Nowadays I even consider the system to be our way of exploring, comprehending, coming to terms with the fundamentals of our physical and emotional world.)
     So I started out as a knotting hermit, and was gradually drawn out of isolation by these most human of artifacts. Becoming a rigger was a byproduct of this process.

     Q. In your book "The Complete Rigger's Apprentice," you have a dedication to Master Rigger Nick Benton. Who was he?

     A. Nick Benton was rigging's Mozart, a prodigy of manual and technical skill. Like Mozart, he died young, but not before inspiring a new generation of riggers to see their work as something more than just holding up masts and sails. It was Nick who said, "The first rule of rigging is: FAIR LEADS". He said this often, and when I eventually asked him what the second rule was, he said, "Brion, there are no other rules". The deeper idea behind this is that rigging involves the resolution of forces, and the smoother and more efficiently we can move those forces around, the better the rigging will be.
     Nick also instilled in me the idea of "quality first, then speed", meaning that though production riggers need to work quickly, their initial responsibility is to study and practice, and practice some more, no matter how slowly, until they can produce the best possible quality of work. In such a labor-intensive trade, these are conflicting demands, and to this day I often see one neglected for the other. Nick insisted on satisfying both.
     Finally, Nick put my engineering awareness up on plane, showing how the best handwork in the world is meaningless if the design is inappropriate or incomplete. Too many traditional rigs, in particular, are failed clones of the real thing, or are filled with "modernizations" that actually make them less efficient, or fail to take advantage of genuine modernizations, or just don't make sense from a structural standpoint. They usually work, but not nearly as well as they could.

     Q. Besides the videos and books, you also conduct seminars? How did you get started doing that, and do you find it enjoyable?

     A. From the very beginning, I have been incurably enthusiastic about this beautiful art, and eager to share its beauty with others; no matter how careful and thorough one is in crafting a book or video, there is nothing like in-person experience. The first seminars I taught were pretty much blatant self-promotion at boat shows, but even there, it soon became obvious that there was a lot more at stake than commercial opportunity. People were hungry for information about rigging. They wanted to know how to do it, and do it right, and there was a real shortage of details on the subject. In time, I offered classes on everything from splicing wire rope to jury rigging to rig tuning to fancy ropework. Satisfying stuff, but also exhausting, as the only time I have for them is on weekends. I'll be taking at least a year off from teaching, so your readers might want to know that the last two classes I'll do for the indefinite future are the ones scheduled already: on October 21and 22 I’ll be presenting "Jury Rigging and How to Stop It" and on November 11 and 12 "The Wah of Wire (Rig Design Principles)" here in Port Townsend.

     Q. The Weekender, Vacationer and Pocket Cruiser our members build have gaff rigs, and finding information on gaffers isn't that easy. You devote quite a bit of material in The Complete Rigger's Apprentice to the traditional methods and techniques. Why do you include that information in this day and age of high tech rigging?

     A. Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to have some extended conversations with the late, great Lars Bergstrom, one of the inventors of the B&R rig. This is the futuristic-looking rig seen on Hunter's and other modern boats, and Lars was expansive on the subject of how and why he had come to develop it, as well as how a rigger could optimize it in terms of tune and sail trim. But eventually I said, "Wait a minute, you've got a rig here with no backstay, aft-swept spreaders, big mains'l, small jib, and you get performance more by changing sail shape than by changing mast shape." "That's right," he replied. "So essentially," I continued, "what you have is a gaff rig with a three-cornered main." As one might imagine, this cutting edge rigging genius was taken aback by this conclusion, but eventually granted that, except for the way the stays interrelated, I was essentially correct. I relate this story as an example of how seemingly archaic technologies have a habit of reappearing in new guises. There is nothing intrinsically obsolete about the gaff rig; it's just that it has suffered a long suspension of development, in the shadow of the Bermudian rig. But new materials, a better understanding of aerodynamics, and breakthrough ideas like the B&R rig all give gaff a new life. And that is in addition to its longstanding advantages of strength, simplicity, potentially low cost, and versatility.
     Similarly, new rope technology is allowing rope to displace wire in many rig applications, just as wire displaced earlier versions of rope. Topping lifts, running backstay pendants, head and tack pendants, and halyards are almost always out-and-out better in high modulus rope than wire. Some race boats use extruded Kevlar standing rigging, and this or other materials make a good choice for some non-racing vessels.
     Rope is also displacing conventional hardware, reclaiming some old jobs. Anyone who watched the most recent America's Cup, for instance, saw how every mainsheet boom block was attached to the boom, not with metal hardware, but with a high-modulus rope strop.
     Finally, high tech is a relative term; as soon as riggers can work the bugs out of a new material or application, and as soon as they can learn to play around with variations, the thing becomes traditional, part of the lexicon, just how things are done. I recently figured out how to make a locked grommet in high-modulus rope. It is faster to make than in 3-strand, is fabulously strong, and can even be made with a cover on it, to protect the material from UV and chafe. My most pressing writing project is a book detailing this and other new knots and splices. It'll be called "Working Knots," and should be out by Spring. So instead of thinking in terms of preserving old technologies, I urge your readers to consider any worthwhile technology as being susceptible to evolution, so always having the potential, at least, to remain new and relevant.

      Q. Do you still sail your 16' catboat, Katy? The information on measuring it for a new rig has helped quite a few of our builders.

      A. I'm so glad that Katy has been valuable to others. That is one sweet little boat, but unfortunately Katy is in Maine, and I am in Port Townsend, and the commute is a chore. For some years I toyed with the idea of moving it out here, but partly it would cost more than I have, and partly I'm reluctant to take it out of home waters. So if anyone out there would like to buy an historic Crocker catboat, get in touch.

     Q. Some of our builders are using the very best of materials, and others are looking for the least expensive alternatives. In regards to rigging, where can you save money on a day sailer? For instance, is there a big difference between stainless and galvanized shrouds? How about things like galvanized turnbuckles or stay adjusters, galvanized cleats, etc.?

     A. Our shop specializes in cruising boat rigs, both traditional and modern. No material worth taking to sea is going to be cheaper than some alternatives, and many sailors, over many millennia, have found to their regret that bargains can be your worst enemy. In fact, too much of our business comes from redoing rigs that were done on the cheap in the first place.
     That said, wonderfully durable, functional - and inexpensive - materials are often overlooked when boats are being rigged. The trick is to have a thorough understanding of the materials, the loads they will be expected to bear, and just what the cost/benefit ratio is for a given boat. Sometimes the very best materials are the least expensive. There are any number of examples of this, but here are a few:        *3-strand nylon rope is more elastic, more chafe-resistant, and much cheaper than any braided construction, so it makes excellent sense for mooring and anchor lines. Yet there are boats I would never put it on, either because it can be harder to stow in tight spaces, or because a good grade might be unavailable, or because the client simply likes the look of braided line.
     *3-strand Dacron is also cheaper than braided Dacron, but it is never my first choice for halyards; here its greater constructional elasticity will translate not only to poor performance, but more work for the crew, since lack of control over sail shape translates directly to more frequent reefing. For gaffers, at least, a single-braid Dacron makes for an excellent combination of low stretch, low cost, great handling, and a pleasing appearance. It's also thud simple to splice.
     *Galvanized wire can be much cheaper than stainless, as well as being stronger, less elastic, and far more resistant to fatigue. It would seem like the ideal standing rig material, but it can be hard to find in 7x7 construction, let alone 1x19, and even harder to find with good galvanizing. Especially when served, it can be very tricky getting it to fit into turnbuckles, which are mostly built with unserved 1x19 in mind, and it does require maintenance. The list could go on and on, and in fact it does so in the "Apprentice". But to sum up, the term "low cost" is meaningless by itself. In engineering, as elsewhere, you get what you pay for.

    Q. The Complete Rigger's Apprentice includes several options for making "self tending staysails," which has been of interest to some of our members. Our boats have a jib clubfoot, attached to the foredeck, that makes the jib self tending. But some have speculated that your Semi-Self-Tending Staysail arrangement (pg. 155) might be a better solution, while others think the benefits probably won't be seen in our small boats. Do you think its appropriate for our small boats?

    A. Good heavens yes. There's not as much foredeck space liberated as on larger boats, but the performance improvements alone give the arrangement an edge.

    A. Our website is a lot like the art of rigging: workable, but undergoing constant evolution. Thanks almost entirely to the efforts of my spouse, Christian, we now have an online catalog, a schedule of upcoming events, my semi-regular "Miscella" column, and of course the heart of the site, the "Spartalk" board, where people from all over the planet write in to ask and answer questions about rigging.The upshot of all this is that we ship tools, books, and videos a lot further than we used to, that I get a lot more consultation jobs, if only because the boats are too far away for me to go and work on them (although see below for exceptions), and that I have the makings for a great book, just by taking the cream of the exchanges. It feels now as though the "Apprentice" is the foundation, what I think everyone should know about rigging fundamentals. "Spartalk" is about how those fundamentals get translated into actual boats.

     Q. You seem to be in the prime of your career, with a busy schedule. Is there anything else in the works you can tell us about? In other words, what is next for Brion Toss?

     A. Our shop is expanding, at a dizzying-yet-manageable rate, and we are firmly committed to continuing to build superlative cruising rigs. But much of the fun of this business is that it has such a wide spectrum. So I'll be heading for Milwaukee shortly to supervise the installation of a rig in a new 3-masted schooner, we're working on the design phase of a "sailboat sculpture" for a hospital in Texas, and it looks like we'll be in Burma sometime early next year, to work on a classic cutter. Your readers can find more about the other kinds of work I get involved with on the site. Aside from the two books mentioned above, I have some others in mind, and maybe a new round of instructional videos. Between the rate of change in rigging, and the rate at which my ignorance is daily revealed, it's a full-time job just keeping up. Fortunately, I still spend the bulk of my time in the shop and on boats; all that teaching and learning is great, but as Nick once told me, "Unless you're getting the work out the door, you're not rigging, you're hobbying."

    Q. We know you are busy, but you’ve been extremely gracious with your time. To wrap it up, if there’s one last thought you can leave our builders with as they rig their boats, what would it be?

     A. Fair leads.