a little heresy...

I've always liked the gaff rig because it's a stout spar that does not require a lot of tension to stand. There's a lot to be said for that.

While I don't think that Tom Colvin's junk rigs were fully evolved they did make a whole lot of sense.Take his Gazelle for instance.

Minimal stays with the ability to carry a jib makes all kinds of sense to me. The masts are lighter and less expensive than free-standing masts. Mast placement tends to be more normal in the sense that they are less radical where the interior is concerned which is no bad thing when dealing with a classic plastic boat. The fact that a jib is a great aid to balancing the sail plan and helps with windward ability is an added bonus. The Colvin rig makes a lot of sense.

Then again, it would make even more sense if it was brought into the current century.

Yep, I'm well aware that most junk rig aficionados tend to be foresail and standing rig phobic but a well designed junk or lug cutter would make all kinds of sense where a bombproof, powerful, and inexpensive rig is what you want.

With the current available tech it would be easy to build a light spar in plywood (see Reuel Parker's) and since textile rigging has become an available affordable alternative it's within the reach of anyone. Take a little extra effort and serve the rigging and you'll have a rig that will last into the next century.

Might be a bit of heretical thinking you should think about.
 

a cheap rig...

So, let's say the guy selling the skipjack were to lower the price by 33% which would make it a whole lot more attractive...

Obviously a cheap boat has issues and needs stuff fixed, replaced, and upgraded and that costs money and that can get seriously nuts. For instance, it's a given that the sails need replacing as well as the running and standing rigging which will run more than what the boat cost new. All of a sudden that cheap fixer-upper is starting to look real expensive.

A sensible approach to such a dilemma is to put a simpler rig on the boat and dispense with all the stuff you don't actually need because the less you need the less it costs.

Now, I've made no secret that my favorite rig is the balanced lug rig because it is the most bang for the buck. In case you're hazy about what it looks like, here a picture of Tad Robert's Harry 2...

Right away we can see there's NO STANDING RIGGING. That's a huge cost savings as there's no wire/turnbuckles/staloks/tangs/chainplates or other expensive rigging bits... Better yet, there is a lot less to fail so it's safer. There's also a lot less running rigging as a halyard and a sheet is all you really need.

This rig also does not need a lot in the way of expensive deck hardware either. No big winches or vangs (the rig is self-vanging) so you're saving money there as well.

The downsides are you'll have to build your own masts which is actually pretty easy but a great number of folks have a fear/phobia of spar building. It's a bit of a head trip for some folks and, as it is a different rig, there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to actually sailing it.

Just about all of the above can be said for the junk rig which is really the same rig just one that's evolved a little differently and has a lot more running rigging in the mix.

Me, I'm all for the whole less-is-more thing so the western balanced lug makes the most sense to me.

The two books I find indispensable for converting a classic plastic boat to lug rig are "The Chinese Sailing Rig - Design and Build Your Own Junk Rig" by Eric Van Loan and "Practical Junk Rig" by H. G. Hasler and J. K. McLeod. Another couple of needful books that will earn their keep are Thomas Colvin's "Sailmaking: Making Chinese and other sails : Sailing Chinese Junks and Junk-rigged vessels" and "The Sailmaker's Apprentice" by Emiliano Marino.

Then again there's the sharpie...

"Once the departure is made from the true sharpie hull configuration and concept, one is beginning to gild the lily.  Costs soar and the result is   seldom an improvement."

- Tom Colvin

In my mind, the only possible exception for a boat that just might pull off the VolkCruiser concept/budget that you can build yourself is the sharpie and then only if you keep true to concept and simplicity to the Nth degree.

We're talking serious Zen simplicity...

Tom Colvin is a smart guy and his short notes on sharpies are really a must read for anyone considering building one. Or, for that matter, anyone building a boat of any kind...

The advantages of sharpies are varied and many... Short build time, low cost, and a turn of performance that will shock many. Throw in the fact that shoal draft in the sharpie world is something that multihulls can only dream of and you have the makings of a pretty interesting cruising boat.

Having cruised in our Bolger-designed Loose Moose and Loose Moose 2 which only drew 12 & 14 inches respectively, I have to say that drawing 4 1/2 feet in our current boat sometimes seems problematic.

Next we'll be looking at some sharpie design stuff...