Is it possible to move the foresail a little forward and the mainsail a little aft?

Yes there is some room to move sails forward or aft a small amount by moving the halyard sling point on the yard up or down the yard by a small increment, and by allowing the boom to move forward across the mast, or by pulling the boom further aft. It would be useful if you could post some photos in the Technical Forum Illustrations so that we can more clearly see just exactly what could be causing your problem. A photo of the rig with the sails raised and also one with the sails down would be good.

Most of the blocks are not roller bearing. I'll check the halyard blocks tomorrow. As the roller blocks are pretty expansive, what is the order of importance of the smooth blocks?

Roller bearing blocks are not essential as they are expensive but obviously they would help. I would look to other things on the rig causing friction and as long as your current blocks turn easily and have 60 to 70mm sheaves then they should be fine. I do not have roller bearing blocks on the halyard for Footprints although I am considering upgrading the blocks this year, and maybe going to a 5:1 purchase on the halyard.

 

Another thing I should have mentioned yesterday which helps with both making raising the sail easier, and avoids tangles especially with the mainsheet, is that I always try and raise and lower the sail with the boat not head to wind but with the wind 10 to 15 degrees off the bow to the windward side of the mast. That helps to prevent the sail and battens being pushed against the mast as it goes up and down reducing friction, and keeps the aft end of the sail bundle just slightly outboard of the gunwale. This has solved all my problems of the mainsheet getting caught around the tiller, peoples heads, and all the other things it tries to catch on. Another lesson I have also learned is not to coil my mainsheet because it always got tangled when I did that, instead I flake it loosely into a large bag set up for that purpose and the sheet always comes out without tangles. 

 

David Thatcher wrote:

You will probably get a lot of helpful advice on your problems but some thoughts below based on my own experiences. The book Practical Junk Rig contains the best advice for how your rig should be set up so if you do not already have a copy of the book it would be well worthwhile getting one.
Hi David,Thanks for the answers! I've got the book and studying it now.Evgeniy Goldshtein wrote:

1. Flapping. As I read j.r. is not supposed to flap. My sails flaps when the wind is low or not stable or when the boat rolls. When this happens control lines become loosed, sail go back (sometimes pretty much back) and then hits to its normal position. Those hits (probably) caused the lines between battens (forgot the term) to cut a few times during the storm. When you say flapping do mean the cloth itself flapping which should not happen on a junk rig if the sail is built correctly, or do you mean flapping from side to side? If this is occuring in rolling sea co0nditions with little or no wind you may need to try and rig a preventer to hold the sail to one side of the boat, or if there is not enough wind to fill the sail then maybe only put up part of the sail and sheet it in tight.

What I meant is on the backstay, for example, the sail have to be released pretty far and when the boat rolls or wind suddenly weaks the sail goes closer to the central position (not very far usually) and goes back with force stressing all lines. I got sheet spans cut twice (new 6mm rope) in those moments. The sheets had to be pretty released as the wind is from the aft.

2. Battens hitting the mast. When rolling there is a strong hit of battens on the mast. Pretty laud and  scary. My guess is that may be the loops that holds the battens on the mast are too large? When the sail is down I could put it away from mast about 15cm. When the sail is riffed, the situation getting worse. This used to be a problem on my old sail which had hard rubbing strips on the battens which also included the yard. But general the batten parrels (lines from battens around the mast) should be tight enough when the sail is lowered that you can only get the width of your hand on the flat between the parrel and the mast, that is so the batten is being held against the mast. Your mast is probably tapered so the parrels will become looser as they travel further up the mast. On my boat I use very long webbing batten parrels which are very tight when the sail is in lowered position, and the battens and yard have foam cushioning against the mast so I no longer experience the problem as you have described.

I'll try to shorten batten parrels, see how it's going. What is webbing batten parrel?

3. Tangling.  Not sure if someone can help me on that stage without photos, but... Lines get tangled on the regular basis, everything with everything. Halyard is connected to the yard with swivel (not recommended by Sunbird marine). During strong wind it flaps around itself, around lazy pack lines (that are constant, not adjustable) and any additional lines that were connected to the mast top. This is also something I have experienced in the past but now seem to have fixed. No swivels anywhere seems to be a golden rule with the junk rig. There are no swivels on my halyard and I always pull the halyard tight when the sail is lowered and lash it against the mast in strong winds and overnight when I am on board so as to prevent the endless noise of the halyard slapping against the mast. You also need to follow the guidelines of halyard attatchment and the way the halyard is set up as is found in the book Practical Junk Rig. Do you have braided control lines or 3 x strand. I found that once I shifted to braided control lines most of my tangling issues disappeared. There should also be no swivels on your sheets and sheetlet blocks.

I'll get rid of swivels. I have braided lines only, although halyard rope is tends to kink by itself. I also think that the topping lifts are installed on the wrong angles what caused halyard get tangled with it and once in a strong gasp the forward end of the reefed yard somehow managed to get under it and stuck. Only luck helped me to release it. Current topping lifts are just two lines (one from each side) that are attached from the mast head to the middle of the boom. What would you suggest? 

4. Tension. Again not sure that currently I can give enough info about it, but to raise the the sail I had to use winch on the low speed! Unless your sail and battens and yards are very heavy this is probably a result of friction, provided you have sufficient purchase on the halyard. The 53 square meter sail on my boat is quite heavy but with a 4:1 purchase on the halyard I can pull the entire sail up by hand if I am at the mast and pulling down on the halyard. But even leading the halyard back to the cockpit through the single turning block at the base of the mast seems to add a considerable amount of friction, but I am still usually able from the cockpit to pull a third of the sail up by hand, and then the rest using the high speed on the winch. You also need to ensure that all lines are free to run as you are pulling the sail up and especially the sheet and the yard hauling parrel. Also check over everything on your sail for possible friction from the quality of the halyard blocks to the chafing strips on the battens and yard which could be causing friction as they slide against the mast.

What is the good halyard block?

5. And could you guys suggest me how should I go downwind? I never done it before and not sure I'm setting the sails to "butterfly" correctly. Maybe someone with a two sail rig can best comment on this. But with my single sail rig I find that when reaching and running I have the sail as far out as possible. I have fitted leech telltales to my sail which is useful for indicating correct sheeting position.

Wow! I was afraid that the "forgiving" junk rig also doesn't indicate correct position. Where did you installed telltales and how do you read them?

Now I'm in Port Mahon, fixing things, so If you have any locations-based advices, they would be greatly appreciated. :) 

 

Thanks in advance,

Evgeniy

You will probably get a lot of helpful advice on your problems but some thoughts below based on my own experiences. The book Practical Junk Rig contains the best advice for how your rig should be set up so if you do not already have a copy of the book it would be well worthwhile getting one.Evgeniy Goldshtein wrote:

1. Flapping. As I read j.r. is not supposed to flap. My sails flaps when the wind is low or not stable or when the boat rolls. When this happens control lines become loosed, sail go back (sometimes pretty much back) and then hits to its normal position. Those hits (probably) caused the lines between battens (forgot the term) to cut a few times during the storm. When you say flapping do mean the cloth itself flapping which should not happen on a junk rig if the sail is built correctly, or do you mean flapping from side to side? If this is occuring in rolling sea co0nditions with little or no wind you may need to try and rig a preventer to hold the sail to one side of the boat, or if there is not enough wind to fill the sail then maybe only put up part of the sail and sheet it in tight.

2. Battens hitting the mast. When rolling there is a strong hit of battens on the mast. Pretty laud and  scary. My guess is that may be the loops that holds the battens on the mast are too large? When the sail is down I could put it away from mast about 15cm. When the sail is riffed, the situation getting worse. This used to be a problem on my old sail which had hard rubbing strips on the battens which also included the yard. But general the batten parrels (lines from battens around the mast) should be tight enough when the sail is lowered that you can only get the width of your hand on the flat between the parrel and the mast, that is so the batten is being held against the mast. Your mast is probably tapered so the parrels will become looser as they travel further up the mast. On my boat I use very long webbing batten parrels which are very tight when the sail is in lowered position, and the battens and yard have foam cushioning against the mast so I no longer experience the problem as you have described.

3. Tangling.  Not sure if someone can help me on that stage without photos, but... Lines get tangled on the regular basis, everything with everything. Halyard is connected to the yard with swivel (not recommended by Sunbird marine). During strong wind it flaps around itself, around lazy pack lines (that are constant, not adjustable) and any additional lines that were connected to the mast top. This is also something I have experienced in the past but now seem to have fixed. No swivels anywhere seems to be a golden rule with the junk rig. There are no swivels on my halyard and I always pull the halyard tight when the sail is lowered and lash it against the mast in strong winds and overnight when I am on board so as to prevent the endless noise of the halyard slapping against the mast. You also need to follow the guidelines of halyard attatchment and the way the halyard is set up as is found in the book Practical Junk Rig. Do you have braided control lines or 3 x strand. I found that once I shifted to braided control lines most of my tangling issues disappeared. There should also be no swivels on your sheets and sheetlet blocks.

4. Tension. Again not sure that currently I can give enough info about it, but to raise the the sail I had to use winch on the low speed! Unless your sail and battens and yards are very heavy this is probably a result of friction, provided you have sufficient purchase on the halyard. The 53 square meter sail on my boat is quite heavy but with a 4:1 purchase on the halyard I can pull the entire sail up by hand if I am at the mast and pulling down on the halyard. But even leading the halyard back to the cockpit through the single turning block at the base of the mast seems to add a considerable amount of friction, but I am still usually able from the cockpit to pull a third of the sail up by hand, and then the rest using the high speed on the winch. You also need to ensure that all lines are free to run as you are pulling the sail up and especially the sheet and the yard hauling parrel. Also check over everything on your sail for possible friction from the quality of the halyard blocks to the chafing strips on the battens and yard which could be causing friction as they slide against the mast.

5. And could you guys suggest me how should I go downwind? I never done it before and not sure I'm setting the sails to "butterfly" correctly. Maybe someone with a two sail rig can best comment on this. But with my single sail rig I find that when reaching and running I have the sail as far out as possible. I have fitted leech telltales to my sail which is useful for indicating correct sheeting position.

Now I'm in Port Mahon, fixing things, so If you have any locations-based advices, they would be greatly appreciated. :) 

 

Thanks in advance,

Evgeniy