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Junk (Sailing)The Junk is a Chinese sailing vessel. (The English name comes from Malay dgong or jong.) A Junk
A four masted Junk. Sail plan The structure and flexibility of the sails make the junk easy to sail, and reasonably fast since the sails are not square rigged, i.e. they can be angled when sailing upwind. The sail-plan consists of elliptical sails made flat with bamboo inserts, permitting them to sail well on any point of sail. The sails can also be easily reefed and adjusted for fullness, to accommodate various wind strengths. Hull design The rigging is very simple, because bamboo is very strong, and thus fewer ropes are needed. Classic junks were built of teak with multiple water-tight compartments, accessed by separate hatches and ladders: similar in structure to the interior stem of bamboo. The largest junks were built for world exploration in the 1200s, and exceeded 150 meters in length. References History of Chinese junks Other Rigs
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