Anonymous wrote:

These are lovely boats.  I shall follow this adventure with great interest.

Thank you Annie. It all depends on whether I am lucky enough to have somewhere to keep her and sail her. I am waiting for the lottery results on a temporary mooring in Fowey but it's far from assured. If it does happen, then I will have the enthusiasm to start the conversion during layup. If not, I can't see me putting energy into something that might never be afloat. I'll obviously post here if it goes ahead.

Anonymous wrote:

Andrew wrote:

Hello, just renewed my menbership after a lapse of a few years. I am now the proud owner of a Yachting World 5 tonner, built in 1947, lying at Fowey. As I am of advancing years I like the idea of a simpler rig so I'm wondering about a conversion. Would it be sacrilege to mess about with such a classic yacht? Can anyone suggest examples of a similar conversion? She's 25'LOA, 5 tons displacement, long keel. The forward compartment is currently the heads so could easily accommodate a keel stepped mast. The current mast is wood and appears to be in pretty good condition. Ideas very gratefully received.

Hi Andrew.  I am delighted to see the photo of your Yachting World 5-tonner.  This design remains one of my all-time favourites.  Robert Clark was a wonderful designer.  I met one in 1969/70 in Durban South Africa, when I was 17, called Tarmin, that was circumnavigating the world.  Tarmin was sailed by John Sowden, who went on to complete three solo circumnavigations, and wrote himself into the Guinness Book of Records.  So a fine ship you have there, and it will look grand as a junk sloop.  There are three Vertues, which are very similar, as the other JRA members say, with successful junk rigs. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Hello Graham, thank you for your reply. I wasn't intending to buy a wooden boat, in fact I've often advised friends against it! I really don't need another project because we've just moved and have plenty of work to do on the house, but the boat was advertised in the local village shop and seems like the only way of getting a mooring here, the waiting list for permanent moorings is reputedly 20 years!. However, I'm the same age as you and figured if I don't do it now then I may never do it. I have a good sewing machine (used to do upholstery on charter boats) and making the sail should be well within my capabilities. I might even cannibalise the existing sails, a rather nice fawn Dacron. She's in a very good boatbuilders yard so heavy duty stuff like re-positioning the mast ought to be easy. I will certainly post my progress here as and when.

Anonymous wrote:

David wrote:

Andrew, the closest comparison that I can think of would be the Vertues that have had JRconversions. Have a look at Shirley Carter's Speedwell:

http://speedwelladventures.com/blog/speedwells-junk-rig/

Hi Andrew,

recently I‘ve found this about JR Vertues, I hope it can help…

https://vertueyachts-com.stackstaging.com/christmas-newsletter-december-2023/

Cheers 

Mauro

Hi Mauro, Thank you very much for that. It gives me a good idea of what can be done.

Anonymous wrote:

Andrew, the closest comparison that I can think of would be the Vertues that have had JR conversions. Have a look at Shirley Carter's Speedwell:

http://speedwelladventures.com/blog/speedwells-junk-rig/

Thank you David, that looks very interesting.

Hello, just renewed my menbership after a lapse of a few years. I am now the proud owner of a Yachting World 5 tonner, built in 1947, lying at Fowey. As I am of advancing years I like the idea of a simpler rig so I'm wondering about a conversion. Would it be sacrilege to mess about with such a classic yacht? Can anyone suggest examples of a similar conversion? She's 25'LOA, 5 tons displacement, long keel. The forward compartment is currently the heads so could easily accommodate a keel stepped mast. The current mast is wood and appears to be in pretty good condition. Ideas very gratefully received.