Everything you need to know about modern junk rigs

Sorry that one of you found the 'resolution poor'. There have been nearly 25,000 views of this item and this is the first 'techie' comment.

This looks like an excellent evaluation of a junk rig sail however the resolution is so poor it is illegible.

Re junk rigs lack of power in light winds: while this was true of flat junk sails, modern cambered sails have real powers. The video makes that clear. Also see www.junkrigassociation.org

Re schooner rigged boats as junks. No if the masts have stays. Probably yes if they don't. Stays and cross trees get in the way if the sails. Junk masts usually bend a little to the wind. Generally speaking junkies don't mix western design ideas with Chinese. Junk rig has been around for thousands of years. See www.junkrigassociation.org for more info.

Re battens made of polyethylene. Www.junkrigassociation.org members have used these, eg plastic water pipe. They seem to work fine in light to moderate winds but can bend too much or break or invert in strong winds. All of this is discussed on the site. Cheapest membership is 7 pounds Sterling.

Would it work if the battens were made of polyethylene? The battens might then have stiffness and flexible camber.

Informative - if you are adept at speed-reading.

VERY INFORMATIVE

I have a proa with my own style of modern junk rig with a lot of camber, points to windward as well as most lower tech bermudan rigged boats and is very fast off the wind. It's a great easy to handle and sturdy rig which I hope to try on a large cruiser one day. Its only downside is in light winds when it just doesn't have the power of other rigs.

I had a mast on each hull 31' cat, could sail and tack w/o the rudders, 2 junksail, each 160 sqfeet, sailed to windward 60deg on the wind

Junk masts generally aren't stayed exccept by designer Tom Colvin (search the web), because the sails can sweep round until they're square to the hull. Junk masts run through the deck to the hull, where they're locked to prevent lifting/rotation. Mast positions would need checking. Suggest re-post your query on the Junk Rig Association's website (see video description for the link) for longer and better replies. Thanks.

A question, if I have a schooner rigged boat can I use the existing mast unstayed with a junk sail or must the mast be replaced?

Very interesting stuff. Thank you!

Thanks, very informative and well presented!