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"Macavity's" problems in JRA NL 55

  • 17 Dec 2010 23:26
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    Reply # 482162 on 475259
    Deleted user

    After 30 years of cautious deliberation, I was recently staring nervously out of an unexpected window of opportunity that may finally allow me to own my own boat - subject, of course, to finding the right one, somewhere affordable to keep it, within reasonable reach, in a safe-ish cruising ground, etc etc and, of course, Junk Rigged.

    Then I read the 'Macavity article' in Issue 55 of our magazine and went all wobbly. Although, on reflection, I think it was an honest attempt to describe some problems that could arise - in certain circumstances - it did scare the wits out of me and I started to thumb through the ads in Practical Oil-Burner, thinking, well, maybe I had actually left it all too late!

    So, the robust defence of JR by Arne, Annie and others has come as a huge relief. For an interested but inexperienced sailor like me, safety and simplicity are the essential principles of small boat sailing. This is what I was looking for, what I have always believed JR offered and what I particularly found, during the delightful weekend of the rally, in Norway, this August.

    Hopefully, for the moment, my window is still open. But please,  put future Scary Tales in an obscure, password-protected  Forum for Scary Tales, somewhere in the back of this website, to be enjoyed in private by all you hardy, fear-naught matelots!

    Merry Christmas to you all.
  • 07 Dec 2010 22:05
    Quote
    Reply # 476469 on 475259
    Anonymous member

    I hope the readers of Newsletter 55 are not put off by Kate and Francis Phillip’s early experience on Macavity. Chatting to Francis recently it quickly becomes clear that they are finding the joy of the junk rig by returning to basics (and fitted batten parrels).

    For some reason unnecessary complications seem to have crept into some rigs, and have made life difficult. The basic Hasler/ Mcleod rig in Practical Junk Rig is hard to beat for sailing convenience, and when fitted with well cambered panels is hard to beat for performance. The rig has to be kept snug when the wind is light but the sea choppy and that is what the batten parrels do. I have been playing with a new type of batten parrel on Poppy and when I have a little more experience will describe my new setup which seems to be particularly good in those lumpy conditions.

    The rig is excellent, if you stick to the basics.

     

    KISS.

     

    Cheers

    Slieve

    Last modified: 07 Dec 2010 22:05 | Anonymous member
  • 07 Dec 2010 18:24
    Quote
    Reply # 476286 on 475259
    Anonymous member
    Having had the misfortune of dropping a gaff mainsail when the wind rose from F3 to F9 in less than 5 minutes, I will never go to sea in a junk rig without standing parrels on every batten.  McCavity's experiences are one of the reasons why I don't like relying on running luff parrels.  Sure, they control the sail when they are pulled taut, but when they are slack, the sail can bang and crash about and you are now sailing a fully-battened lugger, not a chinese junk.  I can't imagine not having a mast lift, either.

    Arne read the article carefully and identified the problems - I hope the McCavitys get to read this thread.  May I suggest that it is moved to the General Forum - I think his points about essential control lines should be in the public domain.

    One thing that Arne and I both like about junk rig is that it allows you to sail efficiently and safely with one (or two) sail(s) and no foredeck work.  Anything that compromises these virtues in the interests of a little extra speed should not be tolerated.  For someone with David's experience and who enjoys tweaking, it's fine to be able to shift the sail around: for someone new to junk rig, the sail adjustments should be minimal and simple.  Most conventional hulls can alleviate the excessive weather helm that so many talk about, by the simple expedient of reefing.  If they are dragging along a rudder at a 30 degree angle, they will probably go faster with less sail and a rudder in line.
  • 06 Dec 2010 21:05
    Quote
    Reply # 475635 on 475259
    Anonymous member
    Arne Kverneland wrote:

    In the JRA Newsletter 55 Francis Phillips has an article about their Longbow, "Macavity".

    I can see no batten parrels (except at the boom?). This has to lead to lack of control during the hoisting/furling process until the 2-3 luff hauling parrels have been set up.


    My advice:

    Re-install the batten parrels pronto. They cost nothing, they do no harm and they are essential in keeping the sail close to the mast and thus under control. I bet no Chinese junkrigman would go to sea without batten parrels fitted.


    I made the experiment, years ago, of seeing whether batten parrels could be dispensed with. I very soon learned that the absolute minimum requirement was for long parrels at the boom, yard and one or two battens in between. It didn't seem to be necessary to put batten parrels on all battens, if all battens are controlled by running luff parrels, but there is no harm in doing so, as Arne says.
    I'm still a fan of shifting the sail across the mast, for better helm balance - on a boat that needs it. Clearly, "Johanna" doesn't need it, but some boats certainly benefit. "Tystie" was one.
    David.
  • 06 Dec 2010 14:14
    Quote
    Message # 475259
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    In the JRA Newsletter 55 Francis Phillips has an article about their Longbow, "Macavity". This story about their trials and tribulations with their JR is a real horror story and shows what happens when the basic rigging rules about the junk rig are thrown over board. Yesterday I got a worried letter from a JRA member who wondered what happened to the simplicity of the JR. I choose to answer here.

    I have studied the available photos and the text in the article and there appears to be at least two reasons for their problems.

    I can see no batten parrels (except at the boom?). This has to lead to lack of control during the hoisting/furling process until the 2-3 luff hauling parrels have been set up.

    It seems that the mast lift has been replaced by a fore buntline (fore lazy jack). This combined with the lack of batten parrels make the situation much worse. I guess this setup has been chosen to make it easier to shift the sail more forward when sailing downwind. Now, according to Francis, sailmaker Chris Scanes warns against shifting the sail forward because of the batten-slamming, so there you are: A complicated and dangerous setup has been chosen to enable a trimming function of the sail – which shouldn’t be used!

    Lassoes! To tame the wild bundle Francis and Kate learned to use a lasso (no doubt scrambling madly to the fore deck in the process). Goodbye to easy handling, goodbye to seamanship, goodbye to safety...

    My advice:

    Re-install the batten parrels pronto. They cost nothing, they do no harm and they are essential in keeping the sail close to the mast and thus under control. I bet no Chinese junkrigman would go to sea without batten parrels fitted.

    Since it appears that there was no real need for moving the sail forward when sailing downwind, I would also reinstall the mast lift and either keep or drop the fore buntlines (this step is not important).

    With these simple improvements I bet the lasso can be left for what it is meant for; catching reindeers or bulls.

    How could this happen? Was it just a result of the Phillips’s inexperience with the JR or were they actually told by someone to do it that way? Is it a new JRA standard to rig without batten parrels? Have these become "obsolete" or "unmodern".

    My worry is not that people will be put off from going JR after reading Mr Phillips’s story (..I am not a JR missionary or salesman...). My worry is that people are being sent to sea with inferior rigs that can put them into serious trouble.

    Arne

     

    PS Friday, 20101210

    Details in the text above (for instance "goodbye to seamanship") can be misinterpreted to be a critique of the crew’s way of handling "Macavity". It was definitely not meant to be that and I’m sorry if I have insulted Francis and Kate. They had to do what they had to do to tame the wild sail, simple as that. My point, which I stand by, was that the rig was wrongly set up (no batten parrels) and that fitting these was all that would be needed to tame the rig and make it as easily handled as "in the JR brochure".

    PPS, Sat, 20101211

    I should have used the word seaworthiness which points at the boat instead of seamanship which points at the crew; my fault, sorry.

    A.

    Last modified: 06 Dec 2010 14:14 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
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