David Tyler wrote:I favour two equal size sails, where practicable, for convenience when sailmaking, carrying spare battens, and running wing and wing.
I'd like to offer a very timid opinion here. Timid because my experience has been almost entirely with a well-balanced single-masted rig (which I like very much). I have also liked the idea of two equal-sized junk sails for a two-masted rig, first seen I believe on John and Laura Campbell's boat and later on
Badger, but my research has led me to wonder about this. A number of voyagers have mentioned the difficulty of getting the sails to set wing and wing (or wing and wong, as Annie so amusingly put it) when rolling along at sea (see
Brazil and Beyond, by Annie Hill). They also had difficulty in running with just the foresail set, developing weather helm. Mike Ellison suggested this may have been due to the large mast and sail being right in the bows and depressing them, causing the boat to want to round up, particularly with boats that have fine bows. More successful was to run with the mainsail squared off and the foresail sheeted in tight, often reefed. The standard Hasler Mcleod schooner rig, with a large main and a small foresail may be more effective in this configuration, giving a larger sail area in the main for driving. The mainmast is also further forward, which must help balance and the foresail in the bows both lighter and having less downward thrust. I have sailed briefly on a schooner with this configuration and it seemed to work well. The foremast, although short and carrying a small sail, was still very stout and this allows it to be used effectively as a storm sail. The small area of the foresail in this configuration, particularly when reefed in gale-force conditions, seems to have less of a deleterious effect. I should say, though, that my friend's boat,
Si Hai, is a 28ft Roberts Spray. The bows are so buoyant that an elephant could sit on the foredeck!