Formed in 1979 at the Southampton Boat Show by a group of junk rig enthusiasts, the JRA (Junk Rig Association) is for its members and about their boats and their rigs. We aim to: promote the use of the junk rig by encouraging members to organise 'rallies' and 'junkets' (see About Us) and via our tri-annual Magazine and this site; encourage the development of junk and related rigs, the building or conversion of boats to the junk rig, and the use of vessels with the rig or its derivatives; create an international community of people who've already 'junked' their boat, are thinking of doing so, or are just interested in learning what it's all about.
Chafe is not a particular problem because loads are distributed around the rig. But of course it’s important to check the lines periodically. The most important is the halyard because if it fails the sail won’t work- instead it will fall into the lazy jacks and the sheets will go loose so you’ll have to pull them in. Usually nothing calamitous and a lot less dangerous than a failed stay or shroud. But of course masthead attachments, blocks and shackles should be visually inspected from time to time, in the same way as any sailboat. So no special problems but routine maintenance should not be ignored.
how much have the preconceptions of the western adoptionists about material properties of the various components given way to the an understanding of the nuances of the traditional materials used? I think some of the info on how traditional junks worked is hard to find and much western preconceptions don't apply. E.g., Is standard sailcloth even truly suitable?
You’re right that information on how traditional junks worked is not very accessible, but with more than 60 years of active experimentation by avid enthusiasts there is a good deal of understanding of the modern junk rigs. In some ways, as for the traditional junks, practical experience outweighs scientific understanding, but these boats work well, and they suit the people who sail them. Most are cruising boats, not designed for racing around buoys, so can’t properly be compared with boats which are designed for that purpose. Many of the boats are adapted from Bermudan rigs. As for sail cloth, modern experience suggests that for reasons of economy and effectiveness, and suitability for self-build, different sail cloth options may be chosen for junk rig, but there’s no need to go back to matting or heavy cotton. So modern sailcloth is used, but not necessarily “standard”.
Hi. I am interested in that camber of 10% you talk about, created by hinges. Do yiu have any more picture or video of that? Also, given yhat you have that camber and a jib at the front, is there actually any difference to a bermuda/Marconi rig at all? Seems like you should be able to point well into the wind. Anyways, got any pictures or more info on those hinges in the battens. Close up pictures on the construction?
Hi, we were kindly granted permission to use this video by the nice people at the fourlyons RU-vid channel and there you can see much more. Also, look at the material in www.junkrigassociation.org - we have a lot there open to the public and annual membership is less than €10 if you need more
Hi. A question... Say you added a traditional jib front and a mizzen aft, would that help when trying to go close hauled? Which one would help more and why? Cheers
Some boats do have such an arrangement but sailing best to windward is much more about the overall design of boat and sails and the best arrangement of sails is the one designed to work well with the particular boat. Some of the Colvin designs seem to look and sail very elegantly with a jib, for example.
A question. I'm planning on adding sails to my dinghy and I want to keep it super light weight. I really like the junk sails, but I wonder if those battens or what you call them... Do they need to be heavy? I would like to use carbon fiber rods, but from what I can see you use the weight for the reefing. I can't find videos with smaller boats and junk rig, is there anyone using like light weight aluminium or carbon fiber rods that you know about? The carbon fiber would look amazing I think, but if it doesn't fulfill it's function it's pretty pointless I guess.
You are correct - near instant reefing requires some weight in the yard (especially) and battens. And you also want them to be relatively stiff. Certainly not very bendy. Have a look at these channels ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Cwk23aJMA_o.htmlfeature=shared ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q1lgz3mTeE4.htmlfeature=shared and consider joining the JRA for less than €10 to get access to resources and people who can help.
Beautiful boat. I've been a fan of Dimitri's Jongue de Plaisance designs for a while (I have the site bookmarked), so it's always awesome to see them out there traveling the seas. Watching Kokachin, even when the weather gets a little sporty, I can't help but notice how composed she is. She isn't heeling hard or pounding, and her motion is slow and steady. Comparatively speaking, I've seen plastic boats violently bouncing all over the place in conditions like that. Kokachin must be a real pleasure to sail. I'll be looking at their channel in hopes of seeing more of her travels, and maybe a peek below decks.
The modern reconstruction was led by John Muir of the US Park Service and a search for “Grace Quan” on their website will give some details. But for a really detailed exposition of how these boats were made, look at Muir’s thesis available at archive.org/details/safr_Muir-John_OneOldJunk_125031_access/page/n6/mode/1up
Every boat has its pros and cons - there are more than a handful of these DeForestier junks about and some of them are making significant ocean crossings. So far have not heard of windage as an issue but perhaps if any of the owners are reading this, they may comment.
@@junkrigassociation I've tried lee cloths and found them to affect steering and the amount of sail area that can be carried. I'm not referring to any boat type or model, except referring to sail boats.
Some of the videos are for a wider audience, but we know these “Junk Rigs of …” videos are for a narrower group of enthusiasts. Eventually a database of JR boats would be a “to do”. Thanks for the comment. We don’t have anything more lined up for the next couple of months, though of course we will aim to have a French translation of this video. Overall, the JRA channel is headed for 110,000 views. Small by RU-vid standards but we are less than 700 members, so that 110,000 suggests that we are getting our message to an lot of other sailors. And a few of them will eventually buy, build or convert their own junk rigs. Thanks indeed
@@junkrigassociation I meant only respect. Your association and youtube channel has had a significant impact on many, including myself. It is good to see things done out of passion, rather than solely in the pursuit of profit.
@@dustman96 of course, Just taking the opportunity your comment presents to say a little about what we’re doing with the channel. Appreciate your interest and delighted if it’s useful.
several questions: what did you use for a mast, where did you get it? is the sail area the same as the standard rig, or more, what percentage? and the tabernacle, would be great to see how you constructed it. Back in the 70s i sailed on several j'nks in San Fran, I've had 15 boats, but never fulfilled my desire to have j'nk rig. Presently looking for similar size boat to do just that. thanks take care
Hi. A slightly self-serving suggestion. You’ve so many questions and you are about to convert a boat so why not join the Junk Rig Association and use our forums to put your questions direct to the owner of this boat and many others who have done the same things. It’s less than $10 to join and you’ll have access to enormous amounts of information. In fact, so much that we have had to start developing our own indexing system for the more important stuff. Even without joining you can get a big amount of info from our website. And to be honest, we would love to hear from you about your junk rig experiences. If you sign up, email chair@junkrigassociation.org and we’ll bring you through some of the research tools. We notice from RU-vid that there’s a newly built junk rig scow currently in the SF area, but there’s also a junk in the maritime museum that we’d love to see.
For those with less experience of junk rigs, a nice place to start is the “Beginners Guide” at junkrigassociation.org/Resources/Documents/Arne%20Kverneland%27s%20files/Junk%20Rig%20for%20Beginners.pdf
This very nice video montage was provided to us by our Sailing Secretary and the images are courtesy of various people who attended the event: thanks to all of them. We will shortly have a vidéo presentation on junk rigged boats of Western France, including some of the boats that were at Morbihan and some others. After that we are open to suggestions (and offers of help). There is also a suggestion of a JRA vidéo competition which we will be following up.
Nice to look at or visit and I am glad someone loves to take care of her. I will look for her on the water from my classic glass... with a modern and western style junk rig but hopefully use some of the more important ideas the Chinese people put into the Junk. I love the look of wood, classic style vessels but I am more of a wood butcher than a wood craftsman :(
