"Junk rigs are not fast, and cannot sail into the wind"

This attitude to the junk rig around the world is not uncommon. To begin with the junk rig was developed 2000 years ago as a commercial rig that worked well and made money for its’ users, otherwise it would have been scrapped by the Chinese very quickly.

The Chinese appear to have constructed it by using materials that provided the best and most economic results. The many variations of the rig were developed to suit the particular sailing areas, such as rivers, lakes, inshore and offshore waters. In the same way the hull variations in shape and size were developed for the cargoes they carried and water and weather conditions in which they were used.

The junk rig can be successfully applied to any type of boat as has been done to inflatables, dinghies, racing yachts, cruising yachts, motor fishing vessels and larger commercial craft. The rig will enable a boat to sail as well to windward as the ‘HULL" will allow. Junk rigged racing yacht hulls usually achieve 35° to windward and efficient cruising hulls 45°.

However what often happens is that the rig is fitted on a load carrying hull for long distance cruising and these hulls are very seaworthy and comfortable to live on, but not sparkling performers when it comes to sailing. When making comparisons one must also remember that many Bermudan rigged hulls do not always perform well to windward, by which I mean they do not sail closer than 50° in spite of what many people like to say. This is because the Bermudan rig has to be sailed efficiently to produce good results, but the junk rig can be sailed in quite a relaxed manner and produce good results, even with sails 20 years old.

When off the wind the junk rig is very efficient, with its large sail area high up and battens that boom out the sail. So you will find a Bermudan rigged boat of equal size will have to hoist a spinnaker (a racing sail!) to keep up with a junk rigged boat of the same length. In addition the unstayed mast of the junk will also accept a Ghoster or cruising shute, to add to the misery of the overtaken Bermudan rigged boat owner when off the wind.

When it comes to choosing the best hull for a junk rig, as I have said, the rig works well on any hull shape. But to achieve the best performance from the rig, the hull should be of shallow draft and light displacement, and you will be able to explore shallow waters, lakes, canals and rivers as well, and may even win races! However compromises have to be made towards other types of sailing and the rig with it's ability to be very easily handled has proved to be very rewarding on all types of hull.

The junk rig has been fitted to Catamarans and Trimarans. But as usually the unstayed mast is supported from the keel of a boat, the rig is better suited to Trimarans or displacement hulled Catamarans. However, deck stepped junk masts are not uncommon and can be used on multi-hulls, although the junk rig is comparatively heavy, when compared to the Bermudan rig and multi-hulls depend on a good power to weight ratio for their overall efficiency, so materials such as carbon fibre have been used to reduce the weight of the spars.

The materials used for building junk rigs are various with masts, yards boom and battens being made of solid timber, hollow timber, alloy tube, steel tube, glass fibre tube, carbon fibre tube and of course bamboo. The sails are usually of Dacron polyester, but can be of acrylic, cotton, canvas, polyethylene or even old flour bags!

Boats up to 30’ overall usually have one sail, 30’ - 40’ two sails, as a ketch or schooner, over 40’ three sails and so on up to the 400’ craft as the Chinese used. But there are many successful exceptions to this general rule and no evidence to prove that a rig with any number of masts is more efficient than another.

You can obtain information to enable you to design and build a junk rig yourself or you can have the rig designed professionally. The Junk Rig Association Fact Sheets will give you the names and addresses of designers, sources of information and suppliers of equipment. To get experience of sailing the junk rig you can contact members of the J.R.A. and the members list will tell you where they are and what boats they sail. You can attend J.R.A. rallies when sailing is provided in various sizes of boats from 9’ - 50’.

You can also obtain professional tuition from a company who design and supply junk rigs. In conclusion it can be said that an efficient boat is sailed by an efficient crew, and the crew’s efficiency is governed by their condition. The crew's condition in the junk rigged boat, that has the quietest rig and gives the most relaxed motion, when compared to any other boat, plus the easiest handling (all from the cockpit), will stand a better chance of being less tired and will be more relaxed, so able to enjoy their sailing and cruising more than with other rigs.

Hon. Secretary.