If your boat is essentially an H28, you should be able to find all that you want to know from L Francis Herreshoff's Sensible Cruising Designs.  If not available in your local library, try www.abebooks.com.

There are more than a few JRA members in your area.  Look at the membership list in Member's Area - Directories - Membership list.  You could search San Francisco, or California if you want to check more quickly.

Best of luck!

Issac Trotts wrote:Hi all,

In May I purchased my first boat, a ketch-rigged wooden boat based on the classic Herreshoff 28 design. The rig is Bermudan, as nearly all boats are here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Having seen what a pain it is to reef these, and knowing about the demastings that happen with stayed masts, I am very interested in getting some experience with junk rigged boats. If that goes well, I'll probably want to convert my own boat.

So, to get started, is there anyone out there who would like an enthusiastic crew member who knows the basics (ASA 101 and 103 out of the way, soon to take 104) for a bit of sailing? I'm open to going pretty much anywhere in the world for this.

Plenty of additional questions come to mind:

What are the risks involved with converting?

Will there be too much weather helm if I keep the masts in their current positions?

Is there a reasonable way to experiment with mast positioning instead of having to get it exactly right in the design?

Does anyone have experience making a mast out of bamboo? Guadua bamboo looks like it would do very well for this, except that bamboo generally fares poorly when exposed to sun and rain.

Is there anyone experienced in this area who would like to help with a conversion project?

Cheers,

Issac

1: I'd be happy to take you sailing though I live and cruise currently on the east coast of Australia.

2:  I converted Arion from bermudian cutter to cambered single masted junk in 2011.  I kept the CE in exactly the same place as it was on the bermudian plans and the balance is excellent.  The conversion itself was pretty straightforward.  You need to build strong mast-steps and partners but the stresses are far less than on a bermudian rig.  It took me a while to feel comfortable with sailing the rig, but 3 years later it has become as familiar as the old rig was.

3:  I used an alloy mast, yard and battens and they are very strong and lighter than solid wood but wood is good for yards and battens and a wooden mast is ok too, either hollow laminated or solid.  Bamboo does not strike me as suitable for masts.  It is ok for battens if you can get the right quality stuff.

4:  I doubt if you can keep the masts in the same positions but that is not such a drawback as you will need to build new mast-steps and partners to take the much larger-sectioned unstayed mast or masts anyway.  If you know the CE of your current rig you can start from there to position the new rig.  A 28 foot boat could easily have one mast and a single junk sail, though a number of small boats have fitted 2 masts.  There are good arguments for both.  It depends partially on what kind of sailing you plan to do and partially just on your preferences. 

I loved my old bermudian rig and it was so solidly engineered it was never going to fail me  but I am a 62 year old offshore sailor who was beginning to struggle with foredeck work in heavy weather.  Since fitting the junk rig I never leave the cockpit unless it is to admire the view from the bows on a perfect day.  Hoisting the sail is a bit of work (though it wouldn't be with an electric winch or winch handle), but reefing, furling, tacking and gybing are almost effortless.  The unstayed mast, properly engineered, is a marvel of simplicity and reliability. 

If you cannot find anyone to assist you in your area, a copy of Practical Junk Rig and these fora will give you enough support to successfully complete the project.  Good luck!