an almost cunning plan...

There's a J-29 up in the frozen north that I've been thinking about quite a bit. For those unacquainted with the design it looks something like this...

It, like most of it's J-Boat brethren, is a boat designed and built to be competitive so you may be wondering why the hell am I looking at it?

Well, you might say, I have a sorta/kinda cunning plan for a boat of this ilk.

For starters there's not much of an interior so it would be very easy to do a new performance cruising interior and as long as we're installing a neat little galley we might take the opportunity to do a new mast step while we're at it.

A new VolksCruiserish rig spelled junk or lug would make for a neat testbed and as there are quite a few J-29s about it owned by folks who'd enjoy sailing against a J-29 with a different (some might call it freakish) rig it would be an awesome educational endeavor and I'd enjoy it.

As the boat in question is selling for not very much I'd expect to be able to the needful mods and suchlike to keep the finished boat a kiss less than $10.5K.

The only issue that keeps me from jumping on a plane cash in hand to get is the fact that the J-29 has almost six feet of draft and that's not going to work for my cruising plans.

So it does go.

That said if draft is not a deal breaker for you the J-29 is a pretty great candidate for a performance VolksCruiser and you might want to keep an eye out for a good deal on one.

 

in search of a simple rig...

Sailboat rigs are a problematic conundrum where VolksCruisers are concerned. For starters, most rigs on classic plastic boats have rigs that have evolved from designs for racing. They’re over-complicated, prone to failure, and expensive, which is not the sort of rig you want when voyaging on a budget.

Adapting rigs to be simpler, more affordable, and less expensive is no simple task, which may cause an extended stay in a room with padded walls. While it can be done, the easier route is where you build a new rig.

While there are many varied rigs to consider, I’ll just mention four.

The various permutations of the lug rig are a good place to start. In particular, I’ll opine that the balanced lug rig is a great voyaging rig. It’s as simple as you can get and uses hardly any hardware. On our Bolger Jessie Cooper, it only needed two lines (halyard and sheet), required no winches and only one block. The sail was powerful, easily pushing Loose Moose above hull speed. Better yet, the entire rig was repairable with materials available anywhere.

Then there’s the junk rig, which is really just a balanced lug with a lot of battens and cordage added to the equation. It’s not as powerful as the balanced lug, but it’s easier to reef, which is the principal attraction for most of the junk aficionados I know.

The gaff rig is more complicated than the various lug rigs, but it’s a simple and powerful low stress rig based on old-tech that has a lot of advantages.

Last, I’ll throw the Simplicity rig into the hat. It’s simple, powerful, and even looks like what people actually expect a modern sailboat rig to look like. It’s what we have on “So It Goes” and it makes sense in the world of evolved rig designs of the simple sort..

 

The big issue with simple voyaging rigs is that they seldom exist on boats that are for sale. If you want one, you’ll have to build it yourself.

Of course, if you’re like me and cheap, you’ll find the idea of either hassling with the sale of the existing rig or throwing the rig away to be counter-productive to your mental health. Which is why, for me at least, the perfect boat to buy is one unencumbered by rig and rigging.

The thing is, any of the aforementioned rigs are easy to build, won’t cost a lot of money compared to “modern” mast/sails, and they are easier to maintain in the long haul. They’re also less prone to failure, which makes all the difference in the world.

and in the best rig for a VolkCruiser department...

Yann Quenet showing off a balanced lug roller reefing set up.

a whole lot of bang for the buck...

I may have mentioned before how much I like Phil Bolger's Jessie Cooper design. If you are looking for a VolksCruising design that gives you maximum bang for minimum bucks that is buildable in a short time frame, you'd have a difficult time finding better...

That said, it's not exactly an easy boat for most people to understand being just that bit further out of the box design-wise, so there is a WTF or two for anyone checking it out.

For instance, both the mainmast and mizzen are off center, there's only one dagger board (off center as well), and the boat only draws a foot. To say those attributes drive some people batshit crazy is something of an understatement.

The fact is, we built our Jessie Cooper for a special short term purpose. We had no thoughts of keeping it long term so we built it as a temporary boat. I'll be the first to admit that I was as surprised as anyone when it turned out to sail incredibly well and, as a result, made me rethink everything I took as gospel where boat design is concerned.

Those off-center masts were non-problematic; never causing us to sail in circles as some opinionated dockwalkers said they would and, more to the point, they were actually advantageous in making a small boat's interior much bigger than it had any right to be. The lug rig (also something that made some people froth at the mouth) was powerful and although the sail on the mast on the bad tack distorted the sail shape, the difference in drive between the good/bad tack was not enough to actually measure a positive or negative difference in drive or tack angle to windward.

Pretty much the same could be said for the off-center daggerboard... While I'm sure there was a tiny difference to windward and, just possibly a kiss more leeward drift on one tack, I  never actually found it problematic enough to be able to measure said difference. I've come to believe that a dozen or so square inches of lateral resistance is well within the mind's subconscious ability to self-correct as you trim sails and steer your course to the point that it really is a no-brainer.

As far as the one foot draft goes, once you've experienced the varied joys of real shoal draft cruising you'll never want to go back to anything else.

Some more on what I'd change if I were to build a Jessie Cooper with the addition of some hindsight soonish...

What I'm thinking about...

One problem with sailboats used for cruising is they're all pretty much designed for weekend and vacation use rather than serious cruising. Which, when you think of it, makes all kinds of sense because that's how 95% of people who buy boats will use them.

Of course, for the 5% that are going to use sailboats for extended cruising and suchlike we sorta/kinda have some problems...

One of the reasons so many people cruise in bigger than needful boats is the simple fact that what passes for a normal sailboat design ignores good stowage and weight distribution in favor of more berths and and wasted space. That said, moving up to a bigger and more expensive boat to get more stowage is still somewhat problematic as bigger comes with a lot of wasted space. as a big part of the mix.

Which, I suppose, brings us right back around to the whole need/want thing.

One design, by Tad Roberts, I've seriously been considering building is his Laura Cove 28 because it covers most of the stuff on my need list...

It's already pretty close to what I want...

But more about that later...

Some good news...

Did you know you can now buy plans for the Skrowl and other neat designs from the Yann Quenet stable?

You still here?

Where's Spock when you need him...

Logic is a funny thing...

Especially when it's connected with boats. For instance, a friend recently wrote about changing a gaff cat rigged boat into a junk schooner. His reasons for such a conversion were listed as the single sail was too big to be easily handled, possibly better balance of the schooner rig, and the ease of reefing the junk sails.

I sorta/kinda agree... It's logical in fact.

The problem is, it's logical in a sorta/kinda way.

Take the smaller sized sails of the schooner rig in place of the big gaff rig sail. If you were replacing it with a reasonable facsimile schooner rig it would work in your favor. However, if you were replacing it with two smaller junk sails you'd more than likely find yourself with two sails that each weigh as much or more as the bigger gaff cat sail. The big single sail would make it easier to handle and weigh less than two smaller sails. Me, being cheap and all, I tend to focus on the fact that you'll also wind up more than doubling the cost of your rig...

Which is not to say I don't really like the junk rig or think it makes all kinds of sense. It is a great rig. The problem comes in when you don't think a rig through to it's logical conclusion. Keep in mind that anything you do in terms of boat design/redesign is always going to be a compromise and have a downside somewhere in the mix. Most people's boat logic tend to exclude the compromise and downside part and include a lot of rose colored views.

Another issue is that the schooner rig is going to play havoc with the boats interior, result in some expensive modifications, and actually add to the boats complexity and make it more difficult to balance rather than easier... sadly without a gain in performance for your trouble and expense.

So, we're kind of left with the "junk rig is easier to reef" advantage but there are any number of ways to make the single big gaff easier to reef or alternative rigs that would cost less and work better in the situation...

So, what would logic dictate?

Anyone who knows me knows I really like the junk rig, though I do admit to thinking that the western balanced lug rig is way better on nearly every point (but, that's a conversation we can have later) and I think it makes all kinds of sense especially when you're starting with a boat that is a new build or requires a rig to be replaced.

Which sorta/kinda brings us around to the fifth rule of VolksCruisng...

                                          Don't fix it if it ain't broke.

and somewhere progress is being made...

Like a lot of folks I've been keeping a weather eye on the progress being made on the Skrowl 4.34...

For instance, I know for a fact Dave Z has had something of a eureka moment when he came across the design and, I expect, it's going to be an influence on future Trilo boats...

As for me, I'm less interested in the construction and design of the hull and just waiting for how the continued evolution and refinement of  Yann Quenet's take on the balanced lug goes. It's pretty obvious to me that at last someone is on the right track on bringing the balanced lug into the current century. About time too...

a simple, effective, and versatile rig...

An excellent article about what just might be the closest thing to a perfect VolksCruiser rig...

Well, will you look at this...

Tad Roberts kicking some serious ass...

You can read more about it here!

Some short list musing...

Remember I talked to Tad Roberts recently and how he's working on a new series of frugal Future Cruisers in 28 - 54 foot...

The 28-foot Future Cruiser is everything a couple needs but, I expect, most folks would be more interested in the 34 or 38 foot versions. Personally I expect the 38 footer would be on my short list (all those guitars have to go somewhere) but I'll admit that the concept of a really simple 54-foot design along these lines has me some kind of interested... That said, in the 38-foot Future Cruiser I'd more than likely make some changes (which is half the advantage of building your own boat as nothing is set in stone as long as you're willing to accept the possibility of getting it wrong)!

What changes would I make? Well for one, I'd look seriously at bringing out the coachroof to the hull sides as I've always wanted a flush deck boat (White Squall, the one-off CAL 40 is, and has always been, in my top five favorite boats) and the added strength would be no bad thing. I like the rig as drawn but I can't help thinking that a high aspect balanced lug schooner with jib would seriously rock the house and surprise a whole lot of folks on a performance level... That said, just as it is, it is some seriously awesome boat! But, nothing goes on the short list till I've seen what Mr Roberts has in mind for the 54-foot Future Cruiser! For those who want a glimpse at the wonderfulness that is White Squall...