Converting to Junk Rig?

[feelsgood]

there are drawings in china and Vietnam of junks with 5 masts that carried 1000 troops and traveled to south africa. According to records of western ships that saw them they traveled at speeds way in excess of square rigged boats

[feelsgood]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Modern sail cloth has made all these old sail rigs pointless. Materials in general have changed sailing more than any single factor. The junk rig does let you use almost any woven material as a sail since the design provides all the sail shape even if it isn't all that optimum. The idea may be curious but not worth actually doing.

Sir I beg to differ many years ago I bought a 6 ton falmouth pilot which I rigged as a cambered junk rig. At the same time a friend bought asimular sized yacht with the bermuda rig. He has done many miles in his yacht but never felt that he would be happy in the open sea in a yacht of the size. I offered to take him to the azores then to the med back out to the azores and back to the Uk, in all a joly time was had by all and we had all sorts of winds even up to 68 knots. He now has a junk rigged yacht in fact my old one and has completed a circumnav and almost a circumnav of the med as well.
The total cost of the rig and mast 20 years ago was £1260

[bobconnie]

I can't tellya how to rig a boat of your type to a Junk rig. But I can tell ya that a junk rigged boat with Dacron sails made in Hong Kong, sailed for over 20 yrs with the Same Sails !! sure they were repaired, sure they looked a Little bit shabby, but they took us everywhere we ever wished to go !! just the wife and I and 4 kids! when we started out Connie had never sailed! and after 3 weeks she could do anything she wished with our boat ! they are easy, and fast if ya want them to be and if the boats desinged for them ! I know this cus we bilt a Colvin, sailed a colvin and Loved it ! I now have a Marconi rig staysail ketch and I wish it had junk sails, cus it's a way bunch harder to sail !LOL Thats all I have to say about it ! modern material for the sails works GREAT

[rgranger]

I found this someplace. Don't remember now ...

Taking the dimensions as ratios, you could design any sized sail you wish.

[conachair]

Roger Taylor on a 22' junk rigged Corribee Mingming.


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[feelsgood]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

I can't tellya how to rig a boat of your type to a Junk rig. But I can tell ya that a junk rigged boat with Dacron sails made in Hong Kong, sailed for over 20 yrs with the Same Sails !! sure they were repaired, sure they looked a Little bit shabby, but they took us everywhere we ever wished to go !! just the wife and I and 4 kids! when we started out Connie had never sailed! and after 3 weeks she could do anything she wished with our boat ! they are easy, and fast if ya want them to be and if the boats desinged for them ! I know this cus we bilt a Colvin, sailed a colvin and Loved it ! I now have a Marconi rig staysail ketch and I wish it had junk sails, cus it's a way bunch harder to sail !LOL Thats all I have to say about it ! modern material for the sails works GREAT

Quite agree I made the sails for both yachts out of old spray hood material and in fact the first sail from our old pilot is in a friends shed waiting to be put on his yacht for a trial sail. You could litery make the junk sail from an old bed sheet and probably get a few years out of it

[Cacique]

Blondie Hasler said after the first OSTAR about the Atlantic crossing in Jester his junk rigged folkboat 'I've never had to go on deck in an emergency or in bad weather' I remember reading somewhere that he did the majority of the trip in his 'lounge slippers'. His idea for the race was to promote the design of sailing equipment to make sailing easier.
Jock McLeod sailed Ron Glas a chinese lugsail rigged schooner in the 1972 OSTAR he fished in 38 days and said he never used his oilskins and had only had to reef his big lugsails 3 times on the Atlantic crossing.
Annie and Pete Hill crossed the Atlantic 7 times between 1983 & 91 and cruised Greenland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Cuba, Venezuela, Iceland, Norway and the East coast USA (to name just a few) in their 34 foot Junk rigged Badger.
I beleive the bermudan rig advantage of sailing to windward is its only plus, junk riggs will point quite well but just don't go as fast, and lets face it most of the likes of us who go cruisin (rather than racing) try not to go to windward, I must admit that most times when I am sailing to windward I usually use the 'iron topsl' amd motor sail

[first wind]

Originally Posted by rgranger

I have a 25 Coronado. Might be interested in talking to your friend. If you see him ask if he is willing to give advise. I'll be needing to replace my sails soon and it seems that for the cost of new marconi rigged sails I might be able to convert and build my own sails. It might be fun at the least and not too expensive.

My first question would be... "How do you get the mast to stay up without stays?"

really? for one, such a mast is keel stepped and not deck stepped. also, on such a sail, the mast is considerably shorter than on a bermuda rig. overly tall, spindly masts that need tons of standing rigging to stay upright is what got bermuda rigs the alternative name of marconi. heck, nonsuch uses unstayed masts and they don't even use junk rigs..

[CruiseN]

Originally Posted by Efraim

I would say the exact opposite is true.
Because of the new sail cloth, designers are now looking back at the "old" rigs to see what advantages they may offer.The best example of this would be recent designs of Nigel Irens.

Although better know for his super fast ocean racing cat designs, when it came time to design a cruising boat for his own needs he choose a lugger rig, a rig that is usually dismissed by people who have never seen one, let alone sailed a lug rigged boat.

So maybe it's time to ignore all the marketing fluff from the "boating community" and think outside the box for a change.

I'm impressed.
Some of you guys must have been cruising 15 odd years or more..
Know any great anchorages thanks.
How's my oceans doing.

More so point. Cheers for square to macaroni lead from my gibberish threads. And wholla. A load off junk hence without shrouds.

Although no boat yet, coming.
I like sloops. Rigging can wait afew years.
Weight ain't an issue, can lead the keelson easy enough.
Single handed reefing from cockpit. A torqued luff leading edge. That'll be okay here. Square running into storm. Sloop walking. Guessing that'll jog.
Repair ease underway.
That'd handle well IMO.

Probably find a sloop. Stepping another 1or2 shorties should be okay. Sort of thing that can wait a couple of years whilst sailing as is. Merely thinking of response ability. Spare masts. Less prone to instability motion from movement during wind sort of ideas I deal my thoughts.

Any info? Bumping thread.



https://www.classicboat.co.uk/articles/pros-cons-junk-rig/

https://www.pbo.co.uk/seamanship/bermudan-rig-vs-junk-rig-17481

https://wavetrain.net/2013/03/07/sails-a-rigging-junk-rigs-for-cruisers/

[CruiseN]

Thanks again.
For junk lead men.

A snippet from
https://www.sail-world.com/-115445/

'The strength of the junk rig in beating to windward became rapidly apparent and appreciated for its steady pull and comfortable ride as we tacked across to the'

Eg she's able to open her throat and constantly pull uphill.
Wouldn't be as strong as a square rig but less work for point.
Wouldn't be point as Lateen but less work for strength.
Just a choice inbetween.

Squares, triangles and circles of sailing.
LoL go figure

Cheers again. I might be a fan of that.