Anonymous wrote:

Andrew, welcome aboard!
Would it be an idea to have a look at this starter?

Arne

Anonymous wrote:

Welcome aboard, Andrew.  Keep an eye out in your area: Annie and Weaverbird are cruising around the Inner Hebrides at the moment, I think.

I take it you like to remove the mast when you haul the boat for the winter?  I'm building a 26ft boat at the moment, which is going to have a tabernacle. That might be the way for you to go.  If you go to the Members' Area and use the Google search at the top of the text, you can look for the threads on tabernacles.  Or just scroll through the list of topics in the Technical forum.  Best of luck with your conversion - I'm sure and your family will love the rig.

And because it's so easy, you may find you enjoy sailing to windward more!

Welcome Andrew

Sounds like you have most of what you need for sure.

I'm pretty new to the junk rig, just have quick and dirty polytarp sail on a 10' dinghy, at about 70 sq ft it's half again as big as other rigs I've tried and I go out in conditions that I never would have before, both in light wind and heavy weather because I feel safe with it and it ghosts really well.

that link Arne posted for you is a great place to start, the link at the end takes you to a collection of info that every new junkie should know.

advanced sail making info is under Junk Information/public domain files/ Arne's files are on the cambered junk rig which I think he pretty much invented and Slieve's are on the Split junk wich he invented.

Bad news though, the easiest method for finding the so called Center of Effort on a junk sail involves a cardboard model and pins :)

Bill

Hello all,

I'm new to the group and the whole idea has only been in my head for about a week! We have just come back from a 4 day jaunt, sailing clockwise around Mull, in the West of Scotland. We had a most marvellous time, up close with Bottlenose Dolphins, Puffins galore and some real sunshine - which is a treat for us.

I managed to try out my new sewing creation - sold in the US as the "Tacker" which is just a sling that goes around a furled genoa and allows you to fly a proper spinnaker 3' above the deck, without a pole, as if it were an asymetric. We were tanking along at 6 knots and then I realised that the wind was building and I was going to have to get it down somehow. Maggie's not too confident when it starts to roll, so I was faced with the idea of her trying to keep us in a straight line and me rushing forwards to try and stuff the huge kite down the forehatch before we broached! Not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry!

When I got home I was aching all over, especially the hands, from all the rope handling and, in an idle moment, started looking at junk rigs. Funnily enough, the first video I came across was of Barny, the Varne 27. What do we have - a Varne 27! I have to say, it sounds like the perfect solution for us. We often motor when the wind is on the nose, so not too worried about windward performance and the conditions here are so unpredictable, you blink and a squall happens!

I have lots of skills that will help, GRP laminating, woodwork, metalwork, CAD design, welding and most of all sewing ( I make quilts for a pastime!) Nothing in that line scares me.

I recently made a new sprayhood, dodgers, sail cover and genoa sunstrip so I'm loving the idea of making a whole sail!

What I'm not terribly keen on is the whole idea of trial and error, especially with so many tried and tested sailplans and rigs out there. I certainly shy away from cardboard models and pins! Ideally I would like to take a proven design and run with it, is that a bad idea?

The other main issue I have is that I just hate paying £160 to unstep the mast and would love to have a design that will allow me to lower and raise the mast myself. Maybe a 27 footer is just too big to even consider that?

Anyway, there's a perfect place to put a hole in the deck, I think just behind the forward hatch, where the cabin roof starts to slope - enormously strong. I have limited funds, mountains of enthusiasm and lots of engineering experience. Hope that'll do the job.

Cheers

Andrew Holder, Oban.