I've always leaned towards more simple sails, so I've been most happy making lug rigs with easy roller reefing. V sails can be even easier to make and use but they don't sail as well and it can be hard to dump the wind instantly.
To further ease the use of the sails I've made I took a lesson from Matt Layden's Kayak rig and made the sheet come off the front of the boom instead of the rear. This makes it really easy to enter and exit the cockpit unencumbered.
I also moved towards simplicity by eliminating the stays and having the mast slip into a hole on deck. The whole rig and mast can be dropped in the water with a simple sweep of the paddle. I've yet to see another rig that dumps so completely and instantly. On a sit on top it is easy to plug the mast back in and go. But with a sit inside you'd need a to get out of the cockpit to reach the fore-deck. I'm working on this solution and I think I'm on track for a reliable easy method of setting the mast in the step.
My final stumbling block it to move to a non reefing sail. This means the sail would just be one meter and there would be no option for reefing. This is pretty practical for long trips where you'd want the simplest sail available. But here on the Atlantic Coast we have very light winds all summer and a 2 meter rig would mean you could still sail during the summer months. So I'm struggling with the decision to make an even larger reef-able lug sail or with making my existing size even simpler by maintaining the same size and eliminating the reefing gear.
I'm leaning towards smaller and simpler, because when I want to bring a sail on a trip or just bring one along in case I need it, I always reach for the Flat Earth Kayak Sail that I rigger to be freestanding without stays. It is too small for most days around here, but it is super easy to use and it sails very well on most points of sail.
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