Apologies for reviving an ageing topic, but it kind of fits my range of enquiries. Feel free to redirect me to a different thread if you like.
Whilst I have the attention of all the folk whose learned discourses I have been frantically reading, I'd like to ask a few queries related to rig design.
I'm a (brand) new member, although I've been dipping in and out of the JRA site for a while, and trying to make sense of PJR (difficult in Kindle format - paper copy's in the post). I'm in the process of acquiring a bare hull for a Wylo II which has been under construction since the 80s. It has been configured as the junk-rigged version, which suits me perfectly as I've been converted to the benefits of the rig for single-handed cruising (as distinct from my current gaff ketch - a beauty, but can be hard work). I always viewed Nick Skeates' original junk ketch design (and again, feel free to put me right) with a slightly raised eyebrow, as there are a few things which strike me as somewhat unusual - aft-raked masts, different sized lower parallelogram panels (a large lower panel getting progressively smaller further up), and very little clearance between the main and mizzen, which to my eye would dictate a double-sheeting system for the main.
The first item has already been rectified, as the original builder of the hull has already altered the positions of the mast steps to make the masts vertical (with Nick's approval, I noted when looking through old correspondence, and his admission that junk rig is not his area of expertise - an admission which he repeated to me when I met him recently). The second is no big issue to solve by building a sail with equal sized panels. The third has caused me to experiment with a different combination of the two sails' relative areas and positions whilst not moving the mast positions (which although at the current stage of build would not be impossible to change, I'd rather not start cutting out perfectly good steel if I can avoid it.
I have come up with a rig using the standard H&M planform, making the mizzen slightly larger and the main slightly smaller, both at an AR of 2.2, but in order to gain the separation between the sails (using Arne's recommended 1m, which ties in fairly well with the H&M formular), I have had to give the main a balance of 20% chord, which makes for about 17% area. The mizzen has a slightly less extreme balance of 15% chord. As such the CE is virtually coincident with Nick's original on the F&A plane, but a little higher. This is still lower than the gaff cutter's CE but I have to bear in mind the extra weight of two masts, battens etc. I don't want the CE (or C of G ) to be too high as it is the centreboard version, therefore more susceptible to weight aloft, which I intend to mitigate by using hollow masts.
Sorry for the lengthy preamble: my questions are as follows...
1. Would the balance as stated above be considered acceptable in the normal run of JR design?
2. I would like to camber the sails to improve light wind windward performance (having ruled out the split cambered rig as I don't think it would work without moving the masts), although have read Kurt Jon Ulmer's article on his set-up on Mehitabel and am encouraged by his thoughts on flat-cut sails, so am considering a compromise of a fairly light camber (say 6% on the main and 4% on the mizzen) on the parallelogram panels, and flat-cut top panels. What are the readers' thoughts? My ultimate aspirations are towards long-distance cruising, although I'm likely to spend a few years around NW Scotland, my current cruising ground, until I thoroughly prove the boat.
3. What thoughts do people have on the sail on Roger Taylors' Mingming 2, and how it is put together (seperate, cambered, lower panels, each with a loose foot held to the batten with webbing loops? Has anyone heard any reports of how it performs?
As a newby keen to get the best out of his new boat, I'd be glad for any input, without starting a new war of words...