Junk rigs...?

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Rumtotty

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Have watched the fabulous series of videos mentioned by Bluerm on 24 Jan about the adventures of the yacht Teleport and the Northwest passage trip. (Many thanks for link) Absolutely riveting stuff with superb photography! Why so little about Junk rigged boats both on here and in YM?
 
I think the proportion of boat owners with junk rigs is pretty small compared to Bermudian and even gaff rigs. There was a contest, I mean comparision between a junk rig and Bermudian rig in one of the yottie mags recently. I think the conclusion was Bermudian is better upwind, junk is better down wind, comparable on a beam reach. Kind of what everyone knew anyway...
 
I believe the test was done with 2 Van de Stadt Splinters.

Upwind the Bermudan was considerably better, down wind the junk as long as the Bermudan kept up white sails.
Once the spinnaker was flow the Bermudan was marginally faster
 
I have the magazine open in front of me! I found it in the 'pile' of old magazines we keep at the club earlier.
 
The main advantage of junk rig is not the performance, but the ease of sail handling (reefing - just let some halyard out; sailing by the lee - no problem), and the simplicity of construction and repairs (no specialist high-tech bits, or anything under significant loading).

For single/short handed cruising, and going to out of the way places, it's hard to beat.

I've sailed thousands of miles in a friend's junk-rigged boat, and wouldn't rule out having one myself. Main downside in my experience is miles of sheets in the cockpit.
 
I was rafted up next to a junk rigged Newbridge of some sort (well, technically he was rafted up next to me) in Portpatrick last summer. I think that's the only junk rig I have ever seen in use, but I rather fancy a Coromandel.
 
ronsurf said:
(...) I think the conclusion was Bermudian is better upwind, junk is better down wind, comparable on a beam reach. Kind of what everyone knew anyway...
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For many people the inferior upwind performance might not be a serious disadvantage. The ever increasing number who prefer to take advantage of their powerful engines and motor to windward when coasting would be no worse off, and ocean voyagers (generally) seem to follow the established sailing ship routes.

Conor O'Brian, author of the very readable "Across Three Oceans", came to the conclusion after his circumnavigation that the best type of yacht for ocean voyaging would be square-rigged for tradewind sailing and fitted with a reasonably powerful engine for getting into and out of harbour.
 
I've seen a schooner with a jib on the front mast, not sure if that makes any sense. I thought a jib would impede the sail operation (?) . I guess such configuration would allow for effective goosewings on a full run and the jib would allow for better sailing upwind.

I have no experience with these rigs so maybe some of the resident experts can clarify. Looks like an interesting concept.
 
The biggest difficulty with a junk rig is getting a good camber in the battens. If you just took a flat sail and battens it would adopt a negative camber and be useless except downwind. There are several solutions - some use hinged battens, others stiff battens with baggy panels. I've never sailed with the rig but admire its ease of handling. We have a Jester replica at Millbrook these days.
 
LittleSister said:
The main advantage of junk rig is not the performance, but the ease of sail handling (reefing - just let some halyard out; sailing by the lee - no problem), and the simplicity of construction and repairs (no specialist high-tech bits, or anything under significant loading).
Click to expand...

A secondary advantage of an unstayed mast well forward is that you can have a large cabin, not needing much foredeck or side-decks. You can also build up cockpit coamings since there are no jib sheets, jib sheet winches, or the like. I go over some of these things in this video where you can get a look at the arrangement.


Sailing my Coromandel is a lot like sailing a Topper. A dry comfortable ocean-capable Topper with tea-making facilities.

As for miles of sheet in the cockpit, that's partially true, though you get similar amounts from any sheet with multiple purchases. On the other hand, no jib sheets! I wonder if the net amount of sheet is higher or lower...

The Coromandel is not without problems. It has trouble turning through the wind in a F6 and short sea, and you're unlikely to make any progress to windward in those conditions. On the other hand, I can beat upwind on smooth water in a F5 about as well as any boat I've sailed, and tacking in rivers is a doddle. Just put the tiller over. Some of these problems are due to the old (early 1980s) design of the Coromandel, and have been fixed in newer junk rigs. I don't have personal experience of those though.

If you're just hungry for junk rig related discussion you could pop over to the JRA forums http://junkrigassociation.org/

snowleopard said:
... If you just took a flat sail and battens it would adopt a negative camber and be useless except downwind. ...
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I have a flat sail and it's far from useless upwind.
 
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By the way, anyone who wants to give junk rig a go (well, my particular variety) is welcome to get in touch. Tammy Norie is based in Portsmouth Harbour this summer at least. PM me. Don't be shy.
 
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Many years ago, I had a bilge keeled Coromandel.

We used her for pottering around the east coast.

In many ways she was great. She sailed ok, had decent accommodation for her size, took the ground happily plus, of course, she was incredibly easy to handle under sail.

Need to tack? Just put the helm over. So great for short tacking through the moorings (though one of my current boats, a Trident 24, sails equally handily under mainsail only).

Want a reef? Just let the halyard off, then tighten the luff hauling parrel.....job done, without leaving the cockpit.

So, lots of pluses for junk rig.

The trouble was, though, that I found it a bit boring: it was all a bit too easy.

So we sold her, and bought a beautiful, proper old gaff cutter. Plenty to keep me amused at sea there.

If I were thinking of long distance single-, or two-, handed sailing, I'd definitely consider junk rig again.
 
NealB said:
The trouble was, though, that I found it a bit boring: it was all a bit too easy.
...
If I were thinking of long distance single-, or two-, handed sailing, I'd definitely consider junk rig again.
Click to expand...

I'd just like to second this. I'm restoring, modifying, and maintaining Tammy Norie myself. I would've been on the Jester Challenge this year if it weren't for an unfortunate injury, and I plan to be on it next year. These things are where my challenges come from, and not so much from trimming the sails to get an extra half knot. So it depends very much what you're up to!
 
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