Ferro Cement Hull ID

[mudnut]

I know that production GRP boats have hull #s,but do professonaly built ferro boats have one,for Identification purposes.And also ,is there any reason why a ferro boat shouldent or couldnt be run under a Junk rigg.Its just that I keep reading all these books that have people raveing about Junk riggs and how they are easy to handle.Im not interested in racing around so if speed is the problem it wouldnt really be a factor.I like the look of Junk rigged boats and this is why I want to go that way when its time to head off.Thanks for any help that may come.Mudnut.

[encore]

Mudnut,

I'm in year five of a nine year rebuild on a ferro. The builder and his wife lived on and sailed the boat near Toronto for five years with a junk rig. I hauled it into my back yard and devote much time to it.

While it looked to be in fair condition, after digging into it I tore off the cabin, removed the Farymann engine (replaced it with a 4-109) and the ballast, and basically started over from the hull. The hull is wonderfully fair, but was plastered over cedar and there are the inside voids you would expect from such a method. The hull is now repaired, rebalasted with steel and I'm doing the cabin and joinery work.

Ease of handling is one of the main advantages of Junk rigging, with two masts you basically have two lines to play with and this can be done from the cabin. It is self reefing.

The biggest thing you have to worry about is that the masts are unstayed. If the boat is not designed as a junk rig, lateral stresses on the masts can be a problem. And if it is a two masted rig, the stem of the boat may not support such a setup. The advantage in this area is that there are less stresses with the junk rig with an equal amount of sail. Collin Brooks at ferroboats.com can fill you in on all of the disadvantages and dangers of the junk rig on ferro.

If you are considering a junk rig, get "Practical Junk Rig" by HG (Blondie) Hasler and JK McLeod. It is a wealth of information both on the engineering and sailing aspects of junk rigs.

The hull number on the three ferros that I have been on were carved on a cabin beam visable from the companionway. I think the lettering was about 2 1/2 inches high, but this is spelled out in Coast Guard rules. It also listed the net tonnage.

Ellis

[Alan Wheeler]

What Encore said.
Just to echo..., what ever rig, the rig must be part of the design. You can't take any design and place any rig on it. The design is part and parcel of the overall design. Any boat can be designed to take any rig. The suggestion is not that any rig will suit any design however. Some of the biggest mistakes made in FC were just this argument. The builder placed a rig on the boat that the hull was designed to take. Loadings must be accounted for or the mast will come down and that's if you were lucky.

[StoneAge]

Ditto to Alan's suggestion. If the structure and load points aren't designed into the boat, you are looking for trouble. Especially when you are looking at a boat that was designed for a stayed rig and you place an unstayed rig up. Forces start unloading at different points and your engineering had better be on.

Good luck on the rebuild.