Andrew wrote:
General question here.
Bearing in mind JRA is a bit of an echo chamber, I would say most members are probably very much sold on the whole idea.
With a normal persons hat on, apart from the excitement of pushing the envelope and a geek like enthusiasm on my part, overall, is it a good project and why?
There is an elegant simplicity about junk rig that is intoxicating to anyone with a genuine cruiser's mentality who tries it, I think. I was interested in the rig since the late 1960s, when I became aware of JESTER's Atlantic exploits, and followed Mike Richey for the rest of his days. A mutual friend gave me his letters to read, which added to the charm. If efficiency can be measured by the amount of sweat you expend handling the rig in various conditions, and the ease of repairing it's low-tech systems, then junk rig wins hands down. It is like comparing bicycle technology with motor cars.
I currently have a bermudan-rigged ketch, recently bought, and cannot afford, at this stage, to do a conversion, but my recent 200-mile delivery passage back to my home port reminded me of the differences between sailing junk-rigged yachts and their bermudan-rigged counterparts. I found myself dreaming of how much easier it would be with a junk sailplan. The only reason to choose bermudan rig, in my opinion, would be if you were solely planning to race the boat, or perhaps if you were the hyperactive type, and taking it easy drove you nuts!