Andrew, I smelled that trap of yours, but was happy to step into it :-)

Very nice video of yours, well-cut and filmed! Thanks a lot for posting it.

Anonymous wrote:

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!

I agree wholeheartedly with Graham. Wanting a bigger boat last year, I bought a bermudan rigged boat: a Rival 32. After bringing her north from the Channel to the Humber, I quickly saw the error of my ways and immediately began researching a possible conversion to junk rig. 

I really did not want at my age, to spend another year converting a boat, so sold the Rival and now have Pete Hill's old Pearson 367 "Blossom", aero-junk rigged.

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!

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?

Excellent bit of writing Arne, you do make everything understandable.

Yes, I remember the slide rule very well. Our maths teacher had a huge one, badly made out of plywood, for demonstration and he gave us an example "two times two - there we go, 3.9 - call it four!"