I wonder is this the origin of pointy sails? According to Brian Platt this Fishing junk was a "fast and weatherly type" rig

Then we come to the rig. The Wing Sail is a fine rig, but few in China would recognise it as a junk/Chinese rig. It arose mainly out of a western sailing tradition around 100 years ago. The only major 'junk feature' in those emerging from the Western junk rig community really is the sheeting of most or all panels along the leech.

Dear John,

This is what I Call good News. Most regattas is done With massproducted boats. The biggest problem is overweight. To earn a CE certification, the manufacturers need to conform With American (!) building standards dictating a minimum thickness of the hull and deck. If my X-99 should be build and certified today, it would weigh in at Close to 3750 kg instead of the 2980 kg it weights today. This is negative to the boats ability to plane and go faster than hull speed. When the customers want more Comfort, all the added items only compounds the problem. I chose the X-99 because of the fast and light hull. The low price they collect was an extra bonus. The most popular class of boats for racing in Sweden and Norway is the Albin Express because that is a one design class being strictly monitored to keep it a one design class. To really boost Development of the Junk Rig, The hulls should be one class, sail aereal given, but saildesign free.

Food for thought.

Regards

Ketil Greve 

Arne

It must be quite frustrating, after all your hard work, research and comprehensive documentation, to find that even some JRA members think that junks can't sail to windward! It reminds me of the confusion that always surrounded advertising and mailing, where clients would ask 'Does mailing  (or advertising) work?' .The answer being, of course, that good advertising/mailing works, but bad doesn't. Good junk designs work, especially on good hull designs. Your comments on the latter topic are also spot on, as usual; Water Bear, with a completely conventional Hasler/McLeod flat junk rig, would occasionally out-sail bermudan boats to windward simply because the hull design was so superior that, in the right wind conditions, the flat junk sail could drive her close to the wind. I look forward with interest to hearing how the new owner will fare with a cambered sail - he might need a safety harness at all times...  With respect to the jib issue, there are, of course, enterprising solutions by JRA members to adding the jib without the problems you mention; Paul McKay's brilliant Aerojunk is a good example, also being an option for a rig where the camber doesn't require the sail to be shaped in construction. I think we just need more and better junks on the water everywhere to start dispelling the myths. But as the saying goes, those that know, know; those that don't, don't matter.

My hunch is that the Hong Kong style junk sail, in particular the mainsail, is a result of this shortage of suitable timber for masts, which Gary points out. I have not seen any JR from China with a bigger sail area set on shorter masts than those mainsails in Hong Kong. These short masts also give a wider angle between shrouds and the masts, so it makes more sense to add shrouds to them.

Besides, the Hong Kong style mainsail is as un-balanced as the gaff cat-rig sails in the US. When sailing close-hauled, the sheet will do its best to bend the mast aft, so it is no surprise that the shrouds seem to be set a bit forward (many catboats had a forestay for the same reason).

Also note the hard-working Hong Kong parrels of these sails  -  they clearly bend the stout battens upwards. I guess these were compromises the sailors were willing to live with to save cost (and weight?) of the main mast. The rigs surely appear to work well.

One of the fine things with wooden masts is that they need not be circular in section. I have had more than one of them made slightly oval with them being 10% thicker in the alongship direction. Now that I make hybrid aluminium-wood masts, I aim for a yield strength twice the  max righting moment of the boat. For serious offshore boats I would aim for a factor of 3. As the boats grow in size, these high strength factors will be more difficult to achieve, so I guess one must be more stress conscious when sailing bigger vessels.

Arne