Junk Rig Mast ?for a Hurley 22 located in Plymouth

[DownWest]

Hi DownWest, no, she is a Bruce Bigham designed Flicka sailboat. His father, Fred Bingham was a naval artichect as well, and at my request, he extended the plans of my boat from 20 feet to 22 feet on deck. I received the plans in October 1993 and I launched the boat in July 1994 in Torquay harbour. I had a full time job and worked on the build every evening, weekends and took my holidays to work on her as well. At present she is cutter rigged, but hoping to convert to junk rig by next year. Best regards, Oz.

I thought she looked familiar. That is an impressive build time. Kudos!

Don't discount the birdsmouth idea. I have built a few. With a simple jig on the router table, shaping the staves out of oregon pine was simple. A week-end would see it milled and glued up.

I inheirited a 24ft multichine design from my father. Designed for a wingsail and with a canting keel. (he built a foiling tri with a wingsail in '55!) To simplify it, I did a lot of research on junk rig, but in the end decided that it was not viable, bit too narrow and could not resolve the stability culcs.

 

[dunedin]

Hi Dunedin, you are very observant!! Originally I rigged my boat as a gaff cutter and she looked very smart with a suite of tan sails made by Andrew Hooper. An accident with my back made it difficult and painfull when letting one runner out and taking up on the other, so I changed the rig to the present Bermudan cutter. As I'm getting older, the thought of a rig that would make tacking easier, and lessening the fear of accidental gybes, junk rig has become more appealing. Best regards, Oz.

Understand the issues with aging and backs - currently grounded due to new hip!
Definitely anything that keeps you sailing is worthwhile. But personally I might have gone for perhaps better winches to aid hoisting main halyard and tacking jibs (I often single hand 12m boat with big rig).
Avoiding worries of accidental gybe in our case is a mix of mainsheet out of cockpit, preventers pre-rigged and often zig zagging downwind rather than dead run if lumpy.
Good luck with your plans.

 

[DownWest]

Sorry SailingWest; Might have derailed your post...But hope there is enough info to go forward.

 

[ash2020]

Hello, I would like to convert my new acquisation into a junk rig. But I am struggling to find an aluminium unstayed mast. Can anyone point me in the right direction, regards.

Excellent idea, if I might say so. I sailed on David Tyler's junk rigged Hunter Duette "Weaverbird" a few years ago up in Scotland, when we did some comparison tests against my Bermudan rigged boat. I remember thinking "why aren't all sailing boats like this?" So simple to tack, to reef, excellent in heavy weather. You can tack your way up a creek very easily.
I am in the early stages of a conversion plan myself, on my Hunter Medina and had the same queries about masts. If you'll excuse the pun, the aluminium lamppost ship has sailed, unless you're very lucky to find a used one. There were two possibilities, Needlespars, who a few people have used, and are no longer making masts, and Norsk Hydro, AKA Streetlighting.com. who have a depot in South Wales. They are about to go bust by the sound of it and as any orders are on 10-12 weeks delivery, I would be very careful about paying them any money. Also they were expensive, around £900 for an 8m lamppost.
You must join the Junk Rig Association. It's not expensive and there is a wealth of knowledge from very experienced junkies. In particular, Slieve Galliard's Split Junk Rig designs. It solves a lot of the potential disadvantages of the old sails. By all accounts, this rig will perform as well to windward as a conventional Bermudan rig. Also, the amount you need to move the mast forwards is greatly reduced. I can't wait to do mine. I do sewing as a business so making the sails is no problem, especially as they are generally lighter cloth.
David Tyler and I are both, independently, designing masts made from tubular aluminium sections, reducing in diameter, with 3D printed fairing sections at the joins. Mine is going to be 5", 4" and 3" tubing, coming out at about £350 for an 8m mast. I am even possibly making it a telescopic system, for easy erecting. I doubt if I will start the actual hacking about of the boat until next winter but I'm hoping to build the mast and sails by then. Give me a shout if I can help in any way.