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42 CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2015

Mike Richey sails

Jester in 1984

JUNK RIG

PROS & CONS

Junk rig is thought to date back to about

300AD, when it propelled Chinese craft with

sails of woven bamboo fortified by battens of

bamboo or pine. It has been in use in China ever

since, although it has also been appreciated by

yachtsmen over the years, not least Joshua

Slocum, who chose a three-masted junk rig for

his 35ft (11m) ‘canoe’ Liberdade, in which he

sailed 5,500 miles in 1888. Slocum considered it

“the most convenient boat rig in the entire

world”. The real champion in the western

world, however, was Blondie Hasler, who

commissioned the heavily-modified, junk-rigged

Nordic Folkboat Jester in 1953 and sailed her in

the first OSTAR in 1960. Other notable junk rig

sailors have included Bill King (Galway Blazer)

and the ascetic Roger Taylor, who sails his

junk-rigged Corribee Mingming to extreme

northern latitudes. It’s also known as ‘Chinese

lug rig’ and generally thought to be the preserve

of cranks. It is, in fact, a singular rig with great

qualities, particularly to the short-handed

cruising sailor, and is overlooked only by the

ignorant. The ‘bible’ on the subject is Practical

Junk Rig by HG Hasler and JK McLeod.

Pros

1 Very easy raising, lowering and reefing

2 Soft gybing due to the sail area before the mast

3 No flogging as the sail is rigid

4 No standing rigging, meaning no whistling

in the shrouds, and greater simplicity

5 Great all-round visibility

6 Good ability off the wind or before it without

the need for extra downwind sails

Cons

1 More expensive and complex to build/retrofit

2 Not great to windward in light airs

3 To some, the unusual appearance

ROGER LEAN-VERCOE/PPL

CB323 Leaf of Bristol 6 pages.indd 42 24/03/2015 14:09