- Cut flat
- He could point high enough to stay off a lee shore in a blow
Well, more than a few people would agree with that one. There are sufficient junk rigged boats sailing around without engines and with flat sails that this point must have been proved. Of course, eventually the blow may be too strong, there may be an onshore current, the sea maybe exceptionally disturbed, etc, etc.
- He advocates a hefty boom, so that "when" all the battens are broken, the boom and masthead still allow sail to be spread. He cautions that this stresses the mast more than usual.
My own approach would be to carry more spare battens :-)
- He survived knockdowns and a rollover without breaking his solid timber mast.
Now that is really interesting. I know someone who is very anti-junk rig and one of the arguments he puts forward, which I have until now never been able to refute, is that a junk rig will lose her sticks in a complete rollover. It's almost worth buying the book to be able to quote it. But on second thoughts, he'd just say the guy is lying!
- He managed to make the boat self-steer by tying-off the tiller with the wind forward of the beam,
Should be possible on most boats, and particularly with junk rig.and eventually with the wind dead astern, but I don't think he ever managed it (without his often-broken windvane) with the wind anywhere between a dead run and a beam reach.
With larger yachts, this is an argument for two sails - much easier to balance the boat.
- He didn't find Dacron worthwhile to use as a sail material, since it wore out in 2 years and cost 10x the price of cotton.
:-)
- He says the worst sailing conditions were in a sloppy calm.
:-)
- He used cheap rope or whatever he found in the garbage.
Bernard Moitessier would be proud of him.
What an interesting bloke. I shall save up my pennies and get hold of a copy, if only so he can keep on sailing!