Arne wrote:

•     A forward raking mast (more than say 3°) can easily lead to increased friction when raising and lowering the sail, as the batten parrels will be more likely to rub on the mast, with that halyard constantly pulling the sail forward.
• ·         The Chinese ‘never’ used forward rake on the masts for their mainsails. Only the foresails, generally smaller, were made with forward-raking masts.
• ·         Badger’s foremast was set plumb, and when reading Annie Hill’s books about sailing Badger, I cannot remember any complaints about this.

Frankly, I think that the recent use of forward-raking masts has become a fashion, or hype, with no particular technical base  -  or else the Chinese would have done it already. Annie has given a rational reason for it (hoisting sail in light winds and old swell on the east coast of NZ), but she is the only one.

I have not noticed any increase in friction when raising the sail and certainly it comes down withut a problem.

Badger did have have a vertical foremast and I certainly have written about the drawback of that.  Whether I included it in VOASI, I don't recall.  However, if it had had more rake, the sail would have stayed asleep much longer when we were running wing and wind.

The other reason I love my raking foremast is that I do a lot of sailing among islands in this part of the world, where there are often turns to be made or the wind is a wee bit flukey.  The rake allows me to sail considerably by the lee without gybing the sail, which is a real advantage (if you are as lazy as I am), when you know you will shortly start heading up into the wind.

I would agree it makes it more difficult to climb the mast.  I have so far neither had to climb it, or to lower it in its tabernacle.  

Asmat.

• ·         First of all, it is easier to step a plumb mast.
•       A plumb mast is also easier to climb.
• ·         A forward raking mast (more than say 3°) can easily lead to increased friction when raising and lowering the sail, as the batten parrels will be more likely to rub on the mast, with that halyard constantly pulling the sail forward.
• ·         The Chinese ‘never’ used forward rake on the masts for their mainsails. Only the foresails, generally smaller, were made with forward-raking masts.
• ·         Badger’s foremast was set plumb, and when reading Annie Hill’s books about sailing Badger, I cannot remember any complaints about this.

Frankly, I think that the recent use of forward-raking masts has become a fashion, or hype, with no particular technical base  -  or else the Chinese would have done it already. Annie has given a rational reason for it (hoisting sail in light winds and old swell on the east coast of NZ), but she is the only one.

Some yacht designers, like Forestier, seem to like forward mast rake, but he, like most of them doesn’t design good junkrigs.

However, the JRA world is a free world, so one should do what one likes.
Live and let live.

Arne

So now we have almost gone full circle!

The shown sail below has the same mast position and 70° yard angle as the first sail I drew up in 2020. Now I have lowered the AR to 1.90 to hit about 40sqm. This sail is of the same planform as the one on my Ingeborg, only a bit bigger.

The advantage with this sail with 70° yard is that you get a tall sail for the mast length. The disadvantage is that the moderate mast balance brings the CE quite far away from the mast. This leads to higher sheet forces, but more important; when running before, the CE will sit well away from the centreline, and this makes helming harder in rising winds. The last sail I drew up for you, with AR = 2.24 illustrates the difference.

However, there is a trick which some have used with success: By using a running TP, Throat Parrel, and TL, Tackline, one can shift the boom forward at will, and thus bring the CE closer to the mast (and CL).

The next diagram shows how it looks with the sail (red) tilted 6° forward. This type of sail, with 10° boom rise, appears to be very well suited to this kind of tilting. This is made clearer by shoving a front view of the boat.

To make the system work, one will, as said, need two more running lines. In addition the batten parrels must be made with adequate length, and the mastlift needs a moderate re-arrangement.

Have a look.

Arne

(Full size diagrams under Arne's sketches, Section 8, photo19 and 20)

(PS: can the word 'rake' be used as a verb, as I have done?)

Arne

Arne

Yes indeed.  

My Concise Oxford Dictionary has rake as a noun and also as

a transitive verb (ie taking an object) as in 'he raked the mast forwards'

and 

an intrasitive verb (ie not taking an object) as in 'the bow of the ship rakes forward'.  

As it happens you didn't use rake as a verb in your post , but only as a noun.  

Please be assured that you written English is better than many if not most native English speakers.  

And of course your knowledge of junk rigs is 'Nulli Secundus' .  

Please keep up the good work.  We are all grateful.

Yours aye  Jonathan 

That'll do nicely, Arne. Perhaps a degree or two of forward mast rake, to reduce the balance even further?