Well, there are two very satisfied customers! Both Graham and Paul very satisfied with their re-rigs, and enjoying their sailing. Good to hear it. I think it's sending the right messages to those who are standing on the edge of the junk rig pool, wondering whether to dive in or not. 

Hi Graham and Paul. Terrific to hear of your enthusiasm for junk following your impressive conversions, and cambered at that. Having now got my hernia operation done last week following  a long delay I can't wait to get sailing again, though will have to twiddle my thumbs for six weeks. By when we'll be heading for winter. Oh well, at least we can plan for next season! I've edited the title of this post so it reflects it contents for future searches. Maybe there are some more plus points here for our 50 advantages of junk rig thread, Annie?

I am posting this here as it has a bit of everything in it.  It is neither just a travel post or a technical one.  Arion sailed from Cairns in mid July and is now in the Whitsundays.  I will head further south in a few weeks.  The weather has been superb, I have a good friend on board (we play musical chairs when we move about the cabin!) and it is tempting to stay for the summer, but soon it will be too hot, then the bugs, squalls and cyclones will take the gloss off.  Better to reserve my pleasure for next winter.

Besides, I am having such a fantastic time sailing Arion that I just want to keep going.  The Batwing, as we christened my black cambered sail, is working perfectly now that I have tweaked and tuned it just right. I am not sure what I did, apart from rotate the mast so the mast crane was at the correct 30 degree angle and fiddle with the tension on the HK parrels, but it sets perfectly all the time, even when reefed.  Hoisting is hard work and I intend to replace the rope batten parrels with webbing straps this summer, but everything else is so easy. 

I confidently gybe in 20 knots without a thought.  The trick seems to be to make sure the sail is eased out enough, with the top sheeted batten at 90 degrees to the boat (the yard is then slightly beyond that).  The sheet remains cleated but I grab a bight of it between last block and cleat and haul in the slack with gloved hands.  As the stern passes through the eye of the wind, the pressure comes off the sheet and it is easy to quickly haul in the slack.  Then as the sail goes across, the sheet runs out through my gloved hands, which lightly brakes it.  Because the sheet remains on the cleat, there is no risk of the sail getting forward of amidships.  The gybe is soft and relaxed.

I did a lot of motorsailing to windward, as I came south against the prevailing tradewind, and discovered that the best position for the sail when doing so was to sheet it in as hard as possible.  The boom is not quite amidships.  This allows me to motorsail quite close to the wind in smooth water.  In steep seas I have to crack off to about 40 degrees but in both situations the sail draws nicely and contributes mightily to forward drive.  Arion is a bit fat (like the skipper these days) and will neither sail to windward nor motor well in anything except flat water.  It was exactly the same with the bermudian rig.  However, when motorsailing the boat just powers along.  On a long offshore passage I would just close reach, on which point of sail the boat is fine.

I am convinced we have lost very little to windward compared to the old bermudian rig and in some ways we have gained.  The boat stands up to its sail much better with junk rig, meaning that in fresh winds I can actually carry more sail that I previously did and drive the boat harder.  When you add in the ease of reefing, running (no poling out headsails on the foredeck), gybing and short tacking through an anchorage, I'd have to say the junk rig is a clear winner and the cambered sail has won my affection for all the above reasons.

My health remains precarious, with significant pain levels and occasional dizzy spells, but life is good.  I have been amused to discover that I have more stamina when hauling up the sail or anchor, not to mention climbing hills, than my 27 year old crew, despite his gym-toned body  (he is mortified!), so perhaps I am not in such bad shape as it seems.  I am looking forward to some good cruising in the months ahead, and none of this would have been likely if I had not converted Arion to junk rig.

One of the beauties of this cambered sail is that it works just like a bermudian rig to windward.  Not only is it just as efficient as my old rig, but if I pinch up too much, the panels will start lifting.  I am a bit more efficient with the sail to leeward of the mast but not much.

Fairwinds to you all.