Modern sailing junk , classic aesthetics, plans and construction guides available for the amateur builder

Have your sailing junk built in India, substantial savings can be achieved: The advantages

Amateur builders can choose from several kits which give an excellent start to the project as well as guarantees on the quality of the timbers used

Running rig:

The running rig is made up of two systems: One to hoist the sail (halyard) and one to lower or reef it (halyard and multiple sheets).

The 'multiple sheets' can also be referred to as the mainsheet: it is in fact one single sheet which starts at the reed extension and finishes at the sheet blocks. Traditionally an euphroe would have been used instead of the sheet blocks, but we have found the latter to be more effective.

When reefed, the sail by its own weight, drops quickly between the lazy jacks, the battens stack neatly on top of each other and the sheets can be gathered (no need for reefing points).

The tack line is used to control the centre of gravity of the sail when tacking. It can also make the boat more ardent.

There is no need for
standing rig on the JDPs.

Junk Rig

The terminology varies greatly depending on the source. Here, we have used terms which make the most sense to us. Many variations of junk rig exist. Dimitri has kept most of the characteristics of this system and proposes these drawings to illustrate the principles:

ANSWER: As often is the case, the answer is simple: in ancient times, the Chinese who were nevertheless great inventors, did not have fabrics strong enough to make sails. At other times, the use of fabrics was forbidden by local warlords (perhaps to discourage their citizens from finding out if the grass was greener elsewhere).

There wasn't much left in the back yard except for bamboo which, if intelligently set in the sail, reinforce it dramatically. Faced with this arrangement, the Chinese would easily have figured out how to join these 'booms' with multiple sheets, in order to control the angle of the fall and to reef the sail without having to even change course!

The sail's rake is essential:

But that's not the end of the story and here is an example of pure Chinese finesse. You may be wondering: "why are the masts leaning the wrong way?"

ANSWER: A sail must not be in the way of tacking. Much later, we invented the foc... The Chinese came up with something better: All that is needed is to place the foresail well ahead and to give it a forward rake.

A sailing junk equipped with straight masts may experience difficulty when tacking.

Tacking:

If you let the sail find its own centre of gravity (Fig. 1), you have a sail in its natural state.

But if you add a tack line, you can change the centre of gravity by tightening the latter: The sail is pulled back (Fig. 2) and the boat can start tacking. As soon as the path of the wind is crossed, you can release the tack line and the sail returns to its natural state. The boat can continue on its new course without additional manoeuver.

It is worth noting that the bamboo battens, which the Chinese retained even when they possessed the most beautiful fabrics in the world, provides a most effective reinforcement. This in turn allows us to use lighter fabrics than would be required for western designs. In fact, the sail area is set at its maximum for light weather since reefing by one or more battens is simple and quickly achieved.
(Fig. 3)

It is also worth noting that if the sail suffers minor tears or holes, this will not affect its effectiveness.