William Elliott wrote:

With all this I think I'll leave the rigging as is for now. I was hopping it would be a simple matter of moving the mast forward building partners and a step etc. In the future I will definitely have or refit a JR boat.

I think Arne was suggesting the alterations knowing that you were out of the water.  I'm sure that if you put JR on the existing boat, she would be generally satisfactory and if you found an issue with weather helm, it would simply mean that you would have to reef a bit sooner than you might otherwise choose.  After all, most people don't change the rudders on the boats that they have and seem very pleased with their conversions.

William,

I found the Vanguard 33 on SailboatData.com. She surely has some fine lines. The simplest place to install the mainmast is just in front of the trunk cabin. Here the deck is strong and all you need is a 2 x 2’ plywood backing plate where you are bolting on the (steel) mast partners.

I have one little concern: The integral keel-rudder is fairly short. The rudder, having been tucked quite far forward, may thus have only moderate steering efficiency. I fear that when reaching with a big, broad sloop JR, she may soon run out of rudder. Now, building a second spade-rudder, further aft, would correct this, but would be quite a job. An alternative is to rig her as a JR yawl, that is, with a little mizzen way aft. This mizzen needs only be small, so a triangular sail with a sprit boom would be fine. The biggest advantage with the yawl is that one may offload the rudder by just easing the sheet of the mizzen. A second bonus is that the boat will sit beautifully at anchor with the mizzen set as a riding sail.

I have written some thoughts on this in Chapter 3 (and 4) of “The Cambered Panel Junk Rig”, found here. Maybe you find some of that useful.

Anyway, good luck!
Arne

Hope this finds all well.

I have a short amount of time so I'll be brief.

I have purchased a 65 Pearson Vanguard 33 and currently have her out at a boat yard. We started with bottom paint and now I'm completely refitting her. I have the inside almost completely out and some of the outside prepped for paint (waiting on weather). I am doing all the inside and outside prep on my every other week off so I'm in need of advice, almost turn key instructions if you will. My wife was helping today and said why aren't you replacing the mast and going with a junk rig... duh. But I don't have a lot of time to sort things out. 

Anyone with ideas where to go or whom to consult or hire on changing to a junk rig. I need to get the mast or mast location down now as the interior will be bare by the end of the day tomorrow.

Thanks in advance,

William Elliott