Anonymous wrote:
Howard wrote:
Here is an interesting junk rigged schooner in Baltimore Harbor, from the Utube channel How To Sail Oceans Handling a Gaff Sail (revisited); The Flying Anchor Set
It appears to be fully stayed, and is flying a junk rig of sorts, oddly over balanced, one panel reefed, and a staysail on the mizzen mast, and a jib and staysail on the main mast, a curious boat indeed........... I wonder who owns it? How does one deal with the shrouds with a sail like that?
H.W.
Looks like a Colvin Gazelle to me, where the junk foresail has been replaced by a staysail between the masts plus another fwd of the foremast (usually the Gazelle just has one jib). I would hazard a guess that it sails to windward better than the standard Gazelle junk rig but will be less powerful with the wind aft of the beam. Colvin himself drew different rigs for the Gazelle and other boats, usually gaff schooners.
Is the odd balance just an illusion? It looks in the photo like 1/3 or so forward of the mast......In any case some of he advantages that have drawn me to the junk rig are lost. Elimination of the standing rigging is a HUGE one for me, from a maintenance / reliability standpoint..... hundreds of potential points of failure eliminated, and of course effortless tacking. The ability to fly staysails and jibs could be an asset, but are actual permanent stays necessary to do that? Tacking looks like a production with a junk rig balanced that far forward, and three jibs / staysails to deal with.
My interest is in small catamarans (around 9M).... for a number of reasons, and I like simplicity to the extent that there is a strong appeal to having a single central mast.... fewer of everything, but from a safety standpoint (capsize potential), a biplane rig makes more sense with it's lower aspect ratio. Small light, simple, and minimal maintenance are my mantra. But clearly I'm not in the majority. If you have to sail with a crew, you aren't going to get nearly as much sailing in.
I am however well able to look at a beautiful ship, and admire it........ without wishing it were mine........I learned that from women ;-) ......
H.W.