Already running into squalls! Building the Ulua pt 2 of many... The Junk Rig

You know the phrase, "the honeymoon is over?" Well, we didn't even get to the dating part of this project before we hit some major challenges. Its like we got in a fight the second time we saw each other. Such is life, right??

So here's the problem. Our garage is 22 feet long. The Ulua is 17'8" long. No problem I though. Well, it turns out it might be a major problem because of all the crap we have. But we press on, ignoring the problem right now like responsible adults. We'll burn that bridge (or stored crap) when we get there.

We're more than halfway done with the lofting. This gloriously beautiful pile of plywood is the beginning of greatness.

At least, that's what I'm telling myself. 

While I wait to do the cutting with my hubby, I spent the morning trying to wrap my head around the sail plan and rigging for the Junk Rig. Historically a traditional sail for Chinese ships, the designer of the Ulua tried it on one of his other outriggers, and he said it worked wonderfully. I've always been a fan of the unusual and I don't really like the lobster claw rig, so I'm going for the junk rig!

I'm going mainly from this page, but this whole website is a HUGE wealth of knowledge on all things boat-building related. I was able to contact the designer of the Ulua and he said the 78 sq ft sail plan on the Duckworks site would be fine for the Ulua.

Then I was silly and I ordered a mast from Ebay. It's 12' aluminum in 3 pieces. It looks like I'll need an extension for the base, but that shouldn't be too difficult to work out.

I thought it might be wise to figure out how much the rigging would cost for the sail, so after much toil I realized I don't know as much as I thought I did. Isn't that always the case. Also, the blog on the Junk Rig makes some assumptions that were hard for a first time boat builder/sail builder to grasp.

So I thought I'd try to clarify a little, assuming I've figured it out correctly!!

To start, I like to get everything all on one page, so I can see it all together, how it would look when sailing. So I made this and tried to color code everything.

This is specifically for the 78 sq ft sail, so the sheetlets are a little different. But this is how I understand it. I don't know if that's helpful or more confusing!! I would read and re-read the Duckworks article, and go to the Junk Rig Forum if you have questions.

The only thing I still don't get is what does the main sheet get clipped to? We'll see. Time for... MORE RESEARCH!!

I tried to itemize the hardware needed for the rigging. When I priced it all out, buying mostly from Amazon and Duckworks, it came out to around $100, not including sail cloth and battens. That's encouraging, at least. For lots of info on cheap sails, check out http://www.polysail.com/. Makes me all warm and fuzzy knowing there's other ridiculously cheap people out there.