David wrote:
This is one area where the junk rig is not so good. There are a lot of hard heavy spars being the battens, yard and boom, and these are not held that rigidly against the mast, and then there is all the weight in the complete sail package which is quite considerable compared to a bermudan sail.
The first sail we had on Footprints was really bad for banging and crashing against the mast. It just had hard bearing surfaces on the battens, yard, and boom, and with conventional parrels there was always enough slop in the system for the spars to come away slightly from the mast, and then crash back in again. This however was not a problem on the second sail that David Tyler helped me make. He had the great idea of sewing soft cell foam onto all the batten, yard and boom pockets as soft fendering. I also fitted webbing parrels which were long fore and aft and I was able to keep these very tight which kept the battens etc. hard against the mast. Even ocean crossing we had no issues with creaking and groaning and slatting. So what is probably needed is softer cushioning between the mast and sail spars, and maybe a better parrel system to hold the sail bundle closer to the mast.
The other thing though is to stop the sail package moving from side to side and for this you really need to set up a preventer system to hold the sail package in position athwartships.
Regarding stopping and waiting, a windvane probably would not help you a lot there because they need forward motion of the boat to produce the steering force. Even a tiller pilot would struggle in that situation unless the boat is fore reaching at a couple of knots.
One way you could stop and rest for a while is to drop all sail and use a small parachute sea anchor from the bow. These small parachute anchors are very common now in New Zealand where fishers in small powered craft use them for stopping and fishing while in deeper water.
Thank you for taking the time to write and help. This prompted me to check the batten parrels. I thought they were tight on the mast when the sail was completely lowered, and only loose when I had them up higher on the tapered mast. It turns out I was wrong. Several of the batten parrels were loose. I snugged them down by adjusting the rolling hitches that I have holding them in place.
I went out in similar conditions again last night, but with somewhat smaller waves, and the 'bonking' was almost non existent when I let the sheet out. The parrels held the battens tight to the mast and the vinyl padding seemed to keep it quiet.
While looking at the quiet sail I realized that the rolling hitches land on the mast such that the mast can 'push' the hitch and cause it to slip down the standing part of the parrel. I think over the summer my batten parrels have been working themselves loose.
This winter I will work on a better parrel system that uses webbing and an attachment that cannot work itself loose like the rolling hitches.
There is still creaking as the sail rotates. I wonder if I need to use more slippery rope for the YHP and Tack Parrel, or maybe coat those lines in some dry lubricant.
Scott.