Maxi 77 junk rig conversion

  • 29 May 2024 15:36
    Reply # 13363139 on 13226713
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Paul, as for getting the pointing angles symmetric or not, there are two more noise factors plying in:

    1.     If the batten parrels are slack (worst with wooden masts with some taper.), the sail will ‘believe’ it has been sheeted in more on sb. tack.

    2.     The sheeting point should be asymmetric to make the sail swing symmetrically back and forth when tacking. How much?
    Excactly...

    ..good luck with that...

    Arne


    Last modified: 29 May 2024 15:37 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 29 May 2024 10:51
    Reply # 13363027 on 13226713

    Ups, you are right! I just dully translated the german expression "Backbordbug" to "port tack", but it is the other way round. Thanks for clearification, I corrected my post below!


    The foto shows the position of sail I mean.


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    Last modified: 29 May 2024 10:54 | Anonymous member
  • 29 May 2024 09:57
    Reply # 13363023 on 13226713
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Paul,

    I am confused.
    If the sail rides at the port side of the mast, then sailing on the port tack means that the mast is on the leeside of the sail, right?

    Arne

  • 29 May 2024 09:16
    Reply # 13363016 on 13226713

    Thanks, Annie and Arne, for your kind words and suggestions.

    Yesterday we crossed Hanö bay, dead running for hours at and above hull speed with 6.5 - 7 kn. Now we officially reached the swedish scaers.

    Annie: I'll try out in the next days.

    Arne: The measurements I will take on the next miles. I will try to increase the mast balance even more, as Ilvy shows a bit of weather helm (only slightly). Without a wind angle sensor I can only guess on the good or bad tack, as 10° off cannot be told for sure with just a windex. I almost don't dare to tell, as it could be really a wrong observation: I think we are pointing a bit higher on starboard tack (mast windward of the sail), and are a bit faster at that tack. However, this is merely a rough guess, really!


    Last modified: 29 May 2024 10:55 | Anonymous member
  • 28 May 2024 20:13
    Reply # 13362764 on 13226713
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Paul, I’m very happy on your behalf!

    It is quite a relief to see when a sail design turns out to work well. In this case, it was not a big surprise, since it is a 1:1 copy of Boudicca’s sail. However, Ilvy’s sail seems to be set with more mast balance.


    I have a few questions for you, so I can ‘finalise’ the design of that rig:

    ·        Could you measure the horizontal distance from the luff of the sail at work to the middle of the mast section? In other words  -  what is the current mast balance?

    ·        Have you found a considerable difference in pointing angle on port or sb. tack?

    ·        Could you measure the actual max camber in one of the lower panels?

    I hope to get rid of the last traces of fear for big mast balance, by busting the myth of the bad tack, even with rather high values of that balance...

    Anyway, keep up the great journey!

    Arne

    http://goo.gl/khii3l


    Last modified: 28 May 2024 20:14 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 28 May 2024 06:22
    Reply # 13362448 on 13226713

    Raising and lowering sail in a chop is alway a bit fraught.  There is, of course, no reason to ease the sheet to reef.  Instead of being directly head to wind, I usually have the wind about 45 degrees off the bow which means the sail hangs out more to one side.  When making sail, don't let the sheet off completely, just give it enough slack that you can haul up the sail without too much energy being wasted.  Ease it out again at each batten, or in between, as it suits you.  When you are raising the sail, you can haul in the YHP every now and then to stop the yard thrashing about.  I suspect your tolerance levels for all this behaviour will increase as you get used to the rig.

    In these conditions, it's sometimes worth reefing incrementally, and adjusting the sheet fairly often rather than dropping the sail all at one time, if you are intending to motor with the sail down.  I would be inclined to keep up the top two or three panels all the time, in a seaway, to keep things steadier.

    I don't have a boom gallows either and think it would be impossible to fit one on the extreme camber of  FanShi's deck.  However, I have two lengths of Dyneema fitted with small carabiners that clip to the end of the boom and the deck stanchions.  These steady the sail surprisingly well and are especially appreciated in the summer with all the power boat wakes!

    I love the colour of your sail, by the way!

    Last modified: 28 May 2024 06:23 | Anonymous member
  • 27 May 2024 21:53
    Reply # 13362279 on 13226713
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The sail looks really great.

    I think those semi-circular wrinkles show that the sail is set up just right and I'm not surprised that a sail like that, on a hull like that, should cause a few jaws to drop.




    Last modified: 30 May 2024 01:51 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 27 May 2024 20:50
    Reply # 13362263 on 13226713

    and some more.

    Ilvy overtook all boats on those fotos that day. All of them, close hauled, beam reach, broad reach, running! Though I am more of a cruiser than a racer, that was just amazing. It was a steady slaughter, with a cup of coffee in my hand and many dropped jaws left behind.

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    Last modified: 27 May 2024 20:58 | Anonymous member
  • 27 May 2024 20:49
    Reply # 13362262 on 13226713

    Hi,

    three weeks into cruising with the new junk rig on my Ilvy, and I can't even imagine to sail bermudan again. We pretty quickly got used to the altered handling, as it is pretty simple. The longest it probably took to find handy german words for YHP and THP, which would slip fluently enough through ones lips to shout them even in a gale. We stayed with "Kopf" (YHP) and "Hals" (THP) - quite uncreative I guess.

    Tacking is fantastic. We quickly adapted to grab ones coffee cups as soon as the "ready to tack!?" is heared, and just slip to the other side of the cockpit without sacrifying one drop of that black gold.

    Only few things I changed after installation and departure from Kiel:

    • Before, I tried to recycle the main sheet running block for the junk rig. However, it is obviously not made for 8mm line, and the sheet often slipped in a strong gust - annoying and hurts the sheet. Replaced it with two old standard blocks from the old rig, and lead it to the portside winch (I think similar to what I saw on Arne's Ingeborg). Looks a bit cramped now, but works just fine.
    • I still had two easyblock thingies laying around. Installed it in Klintholm, for FUP, YHP and THP. Works like a charme, really quick and safe, compared to my old system of using standard cleats.
    • The mast is now waxed (standard candle) just where the sailbundle rests. That totaly silenced the annoying squeeking of the bundle at anchor due to swell.
    • Installed telltales near the luff. However, I could not quite look through the fabric, so it was a bit useless and I teared them off again.

    Some (minor) open issues remain:

    • Setting, Lowering and Reefing in choppy seas: the whole sail flies around like crazy in a frantic forward-aftward motion along the mast, as soon as the sheet is let go and YHP and THP are loosened. Still need to find a sweet way to to this.
    • As I did not build such a sail bundle holder as described in PJR, the bundle swings left and right quite a lot in choppy seas, even if sheeted in strongly. I guess I should have listened to the PJR...
    • Oh, and I am thinking about printing a fact sheet/ FAQ for the junk rig, laminating it waterproof, and hanging it on the railing or pulpit. Always the same questions in harbors... some develop into really interesting discussions, some I could happily omit.


    All in all, one of my best sailing experiences so far.

    Cheers,

    Paul



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  • 22 May 2024 09:54
    Reply # 13360123 on 13226713

    Hi,

    Some days an miles later, we are still slowly progressing to east! Slowly? Not because of poor junk performance, but because of only easterly winds for almost three weeks now... Still dreaming of reaching or running one day. However, after all those tacks in the last days the upwind performance has been more than proven. Truely enjoyable, even in the choppy, ugly waves of the baltic sea.


    We are writing a little travel blog, if anyone is interested in more detailed stories and a lot of yellow junk rig fotos:

    fiery-sails.de

    (You can switch the text to english, in the upper right corner or in one of the menues)


    Cheers,

    Paul

       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
                                                               - the Chinese Water Rat

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