Hi - I sail a waterlust sailing canoe, with outriggers, from Bergen in Norway. The boat is great fun, currently set up with the 'stock' balanced lug yawl rig.
I am contemplating building a junk rig - mostly drawn by the speed and ease of reefing. It's important on a sailing canoe to be able to adjust the rig quickly to the conditions to avoid a swim. (sometimes cold round here).
So a few questions - I think I will have to ditch the mizzen if I am not to get myself tied up in the mainsheet at every tack or gybe. Do any small boat sailors here have any experience with this issue or am I making it up? It would be nice to keep the rig low, and I do like my mizzen, but I suspect we will end up with a big string spaghetti.
The other question I have is regarding batten stiffness - how important is it that the battens are very stiff? I will want to keep rig weight down as much as possible - but without getting into carbon tubes - I can see that I am going to end up with a bit of flex - if I went for either thin aluminium, or laminated pine. Is this generally ok?
in the suggested sail plan used one from Arne's - with low aspect ratio and took a panel out of it.
fair winds,
Guy