Asmat wrote wrote:

Here's a significant advantage of split junk rigs. My Coromandel, "Emmelene" has a yard angle of 40° and about ⅓ mast balance. The sail simply hangs from the halyard, shaped by gravity. Apart from the sheet and halyard, the only running lines are 3 combined batten parrels/downauls. The yard is held to the mast by a fixed parrel and there is no need for a yard hauling parrel.

Good for you, Asmat, your SJR seems to fit perfectly to your boat.
My reasons for not ‘going SJR’ are these:

• ·         I aim for simplicity in making the sail. My write-ups about making the sails have been aimed on first-timers. Those who have already made a junksail, may well read and learn enough about the SJR to make these, if they want to.
• ·         With a SJR, one is stuck with a fixed mast balance, so there is little room for adjustments in case one doesn’t hit the bull’s eye first time.  On my range of sails, now with yard angles varying between 70 and 55°, the available mast balance between 12 and 30% should make it easy to find a place for the mast(s).
• ·         Finally, I’ve found that on a small boat with sail area below 25sqm, there is no real issue with handling the JR, whatever the mast balance and aspect ratio is. Hoisting and handling the 20sqm, low-balanced sail of my 6.5m Frøken Sørensen, was super easy, and she sailed very well on all legs  -  downwind much thanks to her very deep and balanced rudder.

Arne

Arne wrote:

As for the loved/hated HK parrels; I don’t understand why some have so strong feelings about them. They are after all just short lengths of lines, mostly from offcuts, cost nothing and can do little harm. In some situations, they even help in keeping away those diagonal creases (on some rigs).

I've nothing against Hong Kong parrales, I just fail to see the need for them, since I can get my sails to set well without out them. We did rig Hong Kong panels once on Annie's first sail for her Raven 26 Fantail. We saw that they put tremendous bending loads on the battens and got rid of them. I've not bothered with them since.

Paul T
 

Annie's new sail for example has the standing part of the halyard 10% aft of the middle of the yard. It has one running luff parrale, on batten no. 1 and that's it. No Hong Kong parrales or any other parrales apart from  what I've mentioned and it sets damn near perfectly. I do believe that the way I build my leach and luff contribute to 

Hi Paul,

first of all congratulations for your beautiful sails!  
As usual, the technical treads of the JRA reveal to be a mine of precious informations…but this time one fails to me: how do you build leach and luff ? 

Sharing your knowledge would be really appreciated!

Many thanks 

Mauro

Paul T,
I agree about what you call the foundation lines. In addition, there are a number of optional lines to pick from the menu, like downhauls, different sorts of luff hauling parrels, running tack parrels, Hong Kong parrels, the FUP, etc, etc.
Needs vary with sail design and sailing.

As for the loved/hated HK parrels; I don’t understand why some have so strong feelings about them. They are after all just short lengths of lines, mostly from offcuts, cost nothing and can do little harm. In some situations, they even help in keeping away those diagonal creases (on some rigs).

Pete Hill has probably tried more junkrig versions than all of us combined, and has crossed oceans with them. When he fitted HK parrels to his foresail, he may well have had a reason for it.

https://youtu.be/EPROhW9232M?feature=shared

Arne

YHP and THP needed or not?

The need for or lack of need for different running parrels seems to vary a good deal with the  planform (profile) of the actual sail, and also with how much mast balance the sail is rigged with. In addition, the reefing state at the moment counts.

Since I until recently have been focusing on tall yards and little mast balance, these sails clearly have set better when the parrel pair YHP-THP is set up correctly. These parrels are not so important with a full sail set, but they are quite essential when the sail is deeply reefed, not least in keeping the yard from swinging about in a seaway.
Have a look at the recent photo of Ingeborg’s sail, below, with only three panels set. The combination of the YHP and THP clearly produces the peaking-up moment needed to resist the down-haul effect of the sheets (most noticeable when close-hauled). However, if the sheet goes slack in a gybe of in a rolling sea, some sort of fan-up prevention is useful on a sail with this planform. A keen eye can spot that fan-up preventer line attached to batten no. 2 (from top).

It appears that junk-sails are easier to make set well with lower yard angle and increased mast balance, so if the mast position allows it, I will probably recommend that, these days. The upper limit of mast balance on a one-piece sail has yet to be found, but appears to be near 30%.

As for Hong Kong Parrels; the need for these also appears to vary from sail to sail. On the photo below, the HK parrel on panel 3 is actually quite slack...
I just spotted the sails of Pete and Linda’s schooner Kokachin. The foresail has HK parrels while the mainsail has none of these.

My conclusion is to not be too categorical in the question of running parrels.  
My hard rule is that there are no hard rules...

Cheers,
Arne

(..go to Members album, photo section 8 for full size photo...)