Gary Pick wrote:
The THP could use more travel and I can remedy this by moving the 2nd batten further forward.

While I was working on Fantail, I was wondering whether to fit the new-style THP, but when I went sailing decided I was perfectly happy with the sail as it is now.  Apart from the luff-hauling parrel.  It's the only heavily-loaded line on the boat and I don't like it.  Maybe I'll fiddle with standing parrels again, but I don't have too much hope that they'll work.

I guess it was that lovely wooden mast, the yard and boom that fooled me.  I can see the battens are alloy now on closer inspection.  You could paint them brown!  Gybing still makes me a little nervous too but I will share my observations with you.  I square the sail out as much as possible - because of some twist in the leech, the boom does not go out as far as the yard.  I was nervous to let it out too far initially because PJR warns about compression loads on the battens if you go past 90 degrees, but now I keep easing the sheet until the top sheeted batten is fully athwartships, which means the yard is well and truly eased.  This means that the sail wont gybe until you are sailing considerably by the lee and that makes the gybe a little softer.  it also means an accidental gybe while running is unlikely unless there is an extreme and sudden shift in wind angle (which happened to me once under the old rig in the Whitsundays and nearly killed me).  My main problem with gybing the junk sail all standing was that the sheet whipped across and once grabbed my windvane, another time the autopilot, both escaped without serious damage but I was lucky.  It could be my neck next!  So now I do a controlled gybe.  I wear a pair of sailing gloves, hold the tiller with my knees and haul in as much sheet as I can, flaking it down between my feet on the cockpit floor.  Then, as the boom passes over my head, I let the sheet run out through my gloved hands (which stops it getting a wrap around something like the engine gear lever!).  I find this still quite soft, the friction in the sheet running out brakes the boom a little without it slamming and everything seems to be under control.  I have gybed like this in 20 knots several times without mishap.  Once I have two - three panels reefed down the process seems a lot less intimidating, as long as I have a lashing on the leech to stop a fan up.  I reef early when sailing downwind as the sail is so efficient I just do not need to drive the boat as hard as I did under the bermudian rig.  I always drop two panels when off the wind if the wind is 15 knots, three panels if it is 20 knots.  With the wind forward of the beam I can carry full sail in 15 knots, one panel reefed at 20.  I remember Annie Hill saying that junk rig was the opposite in this regard to bermudian (as in so many other ways), in that you had to shake reefs OUT when you came on the wind.

Early days yet.  I was all over the place at first.  My throat hauling parrel, or upper luff parrel is like Arne's, it goes from the yard around the mast to the third batten down from the top then to the deck.  I also have led the tail of the yard hauling parrel to the front of the yard before it comes to the deck, as Paul Fay suggests.  This allows them to work in tandem, otherwise they are in opposition to each other.  I think Arne sets up his throat hauling parrel before tensioning the yard hauling parrel.  The Paul Fay system allows me to keep tension on the yard, stopping it from banging around when I am in an ocean swell, then setting up the throat hauling parrel later.  When I haul on it the entire sail moves aft and hangs down nicely with very little load on the HK parrels.  My Paul Fay style fixed luff parrels on the parallel battens give me positive stagger when I lower the sail (each one is a bit shorter than the one below it). But I am still fiddling too, learning something new every time I sail.  Still, I have now reached the stage where I am comfortable with the sail and satisfied with the way it sets and performs (took 6 months of sailing once or twice a week).  I am not good with new things but I had to relearn an awful lot about sail trim and setting up the rig!  I love the look of your rig, that lovely wooden mast and the bamboo battens.  My alloy rig has a good weight to strength ratio but it is a bit cold and unlovely.  Yours looks like a work of art.

Graham I think from the look of it there is a twist in the halyard stopping from hoisting that extra bit. I think the mast could have another 500mm longer. I have fitted a Luff hauling parrel running from the fore end of the yard round the mast and through a block on the 4th batten from the top, which proved useless. I will redo it Arne style, I'm also wondering if I need to move the sling point further aft on the yard? I try Arne's LHP first and if that doesn't peak up the yard then I will try a TLP.
My halyard runs back to the cockpit to a jam cleat which doesn't grip tight enough on the Poly line I'm using so to stop it slipping I taking a few turns around the winch then running a loop under the halyard and back onto the winch. I also don't have a main sheet cleat so I was running a slip knot around the standing part. May not get another sail in this week end but I'll get to fiddle with the rig, while Kerry tackles the peeling
varnish...assuming no rain.

I priced a decent battery for the engine today and was quoted $180-$190. Tonight I had two phone calls offering me work this week so it looks like I will have the battery this week. With luck I will get in another sail on Sunday. I'll take gloves.:)