Junk Rigs on Cats

[wambam]

Because this (for me) pertains particularly to multihulls, I also include it here:

Been browsing pros and cons of various rigs, recently. Am intrigued re. how (acc. to junk rig enthusiasts) much easier it seems to be to both handle and quickly drop junk rigs, compared to traditional rigs .

So, the thought occurred to me to ask if anyone has tested junk rigs on cats (for my interest between 25ft - 35ft length) and how did the junk rig work on the various points of sailing (tacks, reach etc) , compared with trad. rigs.

James Wharram seems to have established sufficient confidence in such a rig but as of to date the idea of using it on up-to-date designs seems to have not caught on a lot. Can anyone comment? Thank you.

[tenchiki]

I once had a 34ft junk-rigged cat. It used 2 unstayed masts stepped one forward in each hull (ie: a side-by-side rig). The rig was easy to handle, and performed reasonably well in strong winds (ie: the typical 15-20+ in the SF Bay), was mediocre to windward in any wind speed, and poor in light winds. Part of that was the poor hull design. I have heard other people having better luck, and talking with some more recent Junk rig users, newer rig designs are more efficient, especially to windward and in light air.

[andres]

I don't have experience with this type of rig but there are some Wharrams with biplane junk rigs. One is the Tangaroa MK IV Aorai

Google Übersetzer

another is the TIki 30 PHA

Wharram Tiki 30 for sale

the builder of PHA now is ending the build of a Tiki 46 with the same rig, so I think he is very satisfied with the biplane junk rig. I know there is also another french Tiki 46 with this rig.

[maxingout]

I have no experience with a junk rig.

If I was considering a junk rig, I would ask myself where I was going to be sailing, and whether that type of rig was optimal for that area of the world.

I would also consider the amount of residual windage in the rig in storm conditions if I was going to take the rig offshore.

I don't know if the junk rig is a rig for all locations. There certainly must be some areas of the world where it works better than in others because of the wind patterns and the type of sailing and weather.