When considering changing to a rig like the balanced lug or junk, the first issue is that it requires moving the location of the mast. Finding the location is easy, but it can play hell with the interior. Free-standing masts, while not being as tall as the Bermuda rig, are larger in terms of diameter and a 10-inch diameter spar will create bloody havoc with the accommodation.
Which may be an excellent reason to keep your Bermuda rig if it’s still standing with decent rigging and sails.
In the future, I’ll be doing an outline on how to locate the mast, build the mast, and otherwise get you through the new rig process for a more-or-less traditional junk or balanced lug rig.
Here are a couple of things to mull over.
Is the new mast location going to work with the current interior arrangement? If not, peruse accommodations that would work with minimal fuss.
Do you have a place to build a mast?
The current mast on “So It Goes” should have taken me a week to build. The reality was it took a lot longer, and it was a nightmare to build. I was building in a parking lot with zero protection from the elements. I had to stop whenever it rained or seemed like it would rain, which was just about every day. The landlord of the property made the task worse. He really didn’t want me building there, which fostered a very negative workspace. My spar bench was “bumped” regularly in the parking lot, causing me to re-level the bench/molds before getting to the actual work.
I really should have found a better place to build, as it would have saved me both money, aggravation, and with a better built mast to boot.
