Speedwell of Hong Kong

Back to the basic junk sail

Author: Shirlz

A few years ago, while I was sailing in the Rio de la Plata delta, it became obvious that some serious sail maintenance was due. My old PVC sail had lasted well for 6 years but the gusty winds and Pamperos that happen quite frequently in that area had taken their toll.

Luckily for me, I was able to borrow a Sailrite sewing machine from Pete Hill who was also in Buenos Aires at the time and I found a relatively clean and shady patch of concrete on the dock at Puerto Piratas in San Isidro, where I was able to lay out and sew a new sail. The friendly local stray dogs were keen to see what I was up to but their muddy pawprints were easy enough to clean off later.

At that time there had been a lot of discussion on the Junk Rig Association web site about the wonderfully improved performance to windward that could be achieved by adding some shape to the individual panels of the junk sail. Each panel billowing out and providing some much needed aerodynamic power. It looked and sounded impressive and I was keen to give it a try.

I decided to provide the extra volume for the somewhat euphemistically named ‘cambered’ or, to my eye more accurately, ‘baggy’ panels, by inserting a lens-shaped piece of fabric along each batten position. This time round I chose to use acrylic cloth rather than PVC which made the sewing much easier. A couple of fittings and adjustments were necessary before I eventually achieved a usable sail. I have to confess to being a trifle disappointed by the new creased and baggy appearance. But there was a noticeable improvement in windward performance so I reluctantly chose to let it be and spent a couple of years sailing up the coasts of Uruguay, Brazil and the Guianas.  Always a little embarrassed to display the sloppily baggy sail when raising it in a busy anchorage filled with sleek yachts and also having to put up with the effects of the increased strain on the rig. Lashings which had never given a moment’s trouble before were constantly chafing through. I was forever trying to improve the appearance of the sail by adding a parrel here, a tack line there…

I had come to the point of deciding that when I reached Trinidad I would remove the extra fabric and go back to my beautiful flat sail and suffer the slightly less spritely performance.

Then one fine day while anchored peacefully off Baganara island, the yacht ‘Do It’ arrived with Ruth and Angus on their way back to the UK after an extended circumnavigation. They had a Sailrite machine and were willing to lend it to me!  Bernhard and Sharmilla were happy to let me use some of their floorspace and so I set to work getting the sail down and ripping out what seemed like a few hundred meters of stitching.  The machine performed brilliantly and it only took three days of actual sewing to get it all back together again minus the bagginess. Sharmilla and Bernhard made me take a break for a delicious lunch with them each day and I was tempted to slow down a bit and spend a few more days enjoying the amenities but the Do Its were scheduled to leave in a day or two so I dutifully maintained the pace and within a week of taking the sail off I had it back up and looking the way I wanted. A sail to be proud of again.

It may seem like a regressive step to those who enjoy coaxing the best possible performance from their sails but when I find myself hundreds of miles offshore, alone and in uncertain weather, I prefer to forgo an extra knot or two for the peace of mind that the simpler and more durable flat sail provides.

The calm waters of the Essequibo make the anchorage an ideal place for doing maintenance and I’m hoping to tick off a few more jobs on my long to-do list before heading for Trinidad and putting the newly smoothed out sail to the test.

Tags: Sailrite, San Isidro

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 25th, 2012 at 05:41 and is filed under Cruising, Guyana, Junk Rig. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.