The boat that shouldn't sail!

I'm a bit of a latecomer to sailing, I only took it up as a replacement for mountain walking/climbing after the arthritis set in. This means I haven't been indoctrinated with some of the long-held beliefs that seem to exist throughout the sailing community.

One of these beliefs is that bilge-keelers are the work of the devil, and of no use to "proper" sailors.

I know Roger Taylor (http://thesimplesailor.com/), amongst others, has a different opinion!

The second of these beliefs is that the junk rig is of even less use to windward than bilge keels.

Now, as I said, I've not been sailing very long and cant claim to be any sort of an expert sailor. My boat was rigged by myself from drawings I gleaned from the internet and books, it's still not perfect, but it works......

So know you've got an idea of the setup, a novice sailor using a badly set up junk rig on a bilge-keeled boat (Newbridge Coromandel). According to the "experts" I'd probably be lucky to sail with a force 10 blowing from right behind me!

So now, what I've actually found on the water is a bit different, quite a bit actually....

I was sailing a couple of weeks ago with a more experienced sailor on board, he commented that I was sailing closer to the wind than he would have been able to with his Hurley 22!

I've tried, just out of interest, to see what sort of angle I can tack through. In a F2/F3 I was tacking within 90 degrees. I've offered to take anyone who thinks I'm being less than honest out for a sail, so farI've had no takers!

Right, on to the junk rig itself.

When I decided I wanted my own boat there were a couple of things I had to take into consideration. Firstly, I would mainly be sailing single-handed, secondly my arthritis means that clambering on the coachroof or hanking on foresails wasn't an option. After much reading and suggestions I started to look seriously at the junk rig. A single sail, all lines easily handled from the cockpit, reefing being an almost one-handed job. It looked ideal.
Being new to sailing, and having no interest in fitting in with the "Yacht Club" types it even looked odd enough to attract me!

For the uninitiated, I'll just give you an idea of sail handling.
Being heavier than a "normal" sail due to the wooden battens, the halyard has a 4-1 purchase using blocks, which makes hoisting the sail easy. I've added a winch to my coachroof to help with the job as the arthritis gets worse, but rarely use it yet.

The sheet "zig-zags" from the pushpit anchor point up to each batten and back, in use it gets treated as a single sheet.

The only other lines are the yard hauling parrel, this simply pulls the centre of the yard up and in towards the mast, and the luff parrel which moves the whole sail backwards or forwards in relation to the mast in order to balance the boat.

Hoisting the sail is just a matter of letting all the lines go and hauling the sail up! No need to point the boat into the wind, but better if the wind is forward of abeam as the sail will then "weathercock". Once it's hoisted the sheet is taken in and you're sailing! The other control lines can be altered to suit whenever you're ready......
There's no need to haul the sheet in with the sort of force normally used on a "Bermudan" rig, in fact if the sheet starts to feel heavy it's probably better to ease it back off! The stresses and strains on a junk sail are far less than on most other types.

It's often been mentioned how quiet and relaxed sailing a junk rig is, I couldn't agree more!

Now, a few lessons.

1) Tacking.

Push the helm over. Sail on new tack.

2) Gybing.

Push the helm over. Because part of the sail is in front of the mast (much like a balanced rudder) , gybing is a gentle affair and is a quite normal part of junk sailing.

3) Reefing.

Let the halyard go until the sail drops to the required position, make the halyard fast. Adjust yard hauling and luff parrels.

As an example of how useful the ease of reefing is, a little tale....

I'd been heading back to my home port in strong winds and with the tide, I'd been sailing as slowly as possible for 4 or 5 hours as I couldn't return to my mooring too early on the tide. I'd reefed right down, with just the top "triangle" of sail still working. In this way I'd kept the speed down below 3 knots in an F5.
As I neared the entrance to the river I decided I'd be happier with a little more power "just in case" as it's a nasty spot to get things wrong.
In a few seconds I hauled 2 panels of sail back up and shot into the river at 6 knots!
Once inside the safety of the banks I dropped the sail once more..... back down to 3 knots.
Further upriver I hauled up some more sail as the wind dropped, eventually dropping it altogether and starting the engine.

I can't imagine being a happy chap if I'd had to do that single-handed on anything other than a junk-rigged boat!

The benefits are not just confined to heavy weather or changeable conditions. Earlier the same day I'd been drifting along with barely enough wind to sail. Although it was, at least, right behind me! With the sail fully up and the sheet tied off I barely had to touch the tiller for an hour. the sail just sat there waiting for little gusts, no flapping, no filling and emptying..... my girlfriend dropped off to sleep, I almost did the same!
Half a mile or so closer inland was a friend in a slightly bigger boat, with 2 crew, vastly more experience and a big spinnaker. Over the course of an hour or so he pulled slightly ahead of me, often having to "play" with his big sail to keep it under control. After a while he gave up and dropped the headsail, within a few minutes I'd caught him up and, after a couple of pics, left him behind!
He told me afterwards that he had to suffer "stick" from his crew all day about it!

So upwind, downwind, ease of use, lack of stress, I'm still trying to discover the drawbacks.....

Ken.