Karl

Thanks to the horizontal rain here, I found I would rather have another go on that Nicholson 32.

After having traced the profile of the MK XI, Bm rig and all, I compared it with the original rig. It appears to just have had the tail stretched. The rig wasn’t made bigger. As you can see, I traced the mainsail and the working jib, and it is the same as the early Mk. It appears to me that Sailboatdata.com has used the working sail area of the early models and the Main plus Genoa 1 SA on the Mk XI.

Still I had a go to try design a taller sail, and also increased B from 5.50 to 5.60m. This brought the SA up to 55sqm.

I promise you one thing: That 55sqm JR will be much more powerful than a 55sqm main plus Genoa. As you see, the mast is still not very tall, at 12.9m above the wl.

If the boat were mine, my choice between the two JR designs would depend on its use:

If I were to only potter up and down the coast during the summer season, I would choose the tallest rig. However, if I had oceans crossing ambitions, I would go for the lower one. For lightwind coastal work, I could then add a light jib, no more than 15sqm, set on a spectra stay (to a short bowsprit-cum-anchor roller). With both a halyard and a downhaul for it lead aft to the cockpit, one would stay in control.

Now I spotted you latest posting:

Yes, if you can find a suitable light batten material; that would be good. As for choice of canvas; there is no law against using thicker material in the top three panels and lighter material in the lower section.

Electric capstans are in use by several JR sailors. They burn very little energy on one hoisting. I still have the electric winch handle which I bought for a bigger boat.

Good luck.
Arne

PS: Would there be any problems with planting the mast where I have indicated?

Good reasons to go for a single mast, then, Karl. I'd go for as high an AR as is feasible, to keep the rig easy to manage and to keep the heavy mast well back in the boat. It should be possible to keep the batten length down to 5m, but the mast is going to be quite something, about 16m/52ft overall.

Hi Karl.

Just to see how it looks and if I could get the CE right, I plonked a sail with AR=2.10 onto the sailplan. I found that the best place for the mast from that sail’s point of view was a bit forward of the hatch. Hopefully that position can be used without ruining the berths.

I have fitted the sail with close to maximum balance with respect to mast, about 16%. I am quite confident that the sail’s position will not lead to increased weather helm. There will be room for shifting the sail further aft, to 10% or less, if needed ( because of lee helm).

In case the mast cannot sit there, but have to move further aft, I guess my sails cannot be used, unless one goes for a very high AR sail. I think it would be better to use a sail with a low yard, then, which allows a balance of up to 30%, as used on Slieve McGalliard’s Split Junk Rig, SJR.

Just a thought.

Arne

Greetings,

While walking down the main street in Oamaru NZ, I stopped at the library and stumbled upon Annie Hill's book "Voyaging on a small income". I took it home and was devouring every pages for a week. Oh... how different i was just after reading this book... That was back in 2011.
In 2012, back in Europe my wife and I bought a Edel 665 and set out not knowing how to sail nor knowing how long this journey will take. We sailed for 3 years from France to Greece and during all this time we wanted to meet a junk rigged boat but have never seen one. The only option was to convert ours. The Edel has the lifelines pretty low on deck and many time we just wished to have a junk rig to avoid crawling and taking forever to reef. The med being so unpredictable we always reefed when we were sure the conditions were well settled.

 When we put the boat on the hard in 2015 our plan was to go home, save up and convert our boat the next season. It took us longer than expected and when we had enough money we decided to sell our boat and invest in a bigger one instead.

We've opted for a Nicholson 32 last spring and worked on her during the summer. We'd like to keep the boat for many years to come and this time we will convert her to JR. I'd like to experiment with Taylor's Mingming2 type of sail where every panel is separated from the other one. I guess it is easier to sew, require less space and it must be less daunting to handle each panel independently rather than the one big sail. It is just an idea and I'd like to know what you guys think about it. My wife doesn't care about the type of junk rig as long as we don't go on deck to reef and that she will be able to handle the sail by herself. I am thinking of a single mast but will this be much harder for her? Perhaps I should mention that the boat will be our home and the plan is to cross Biscay and the Atlantic.