Tuesday, August 25, 2015


Last update: August. 25th 2019, in recent progress section 

Hi, 

This is a blog about building a Matt Layden's Paradox sailboat, 20% scaled up, and she is rigged with chinese junk rig.

Click on links to the right for the building process.
I have chosen the Paradox because some of it's main features - it's shallow draft while still being reasonably seaworthy; easy handling the sails and rudder from inside; having a cabin to sleep at night... not to mention that all active on internet Paradox owners are happy with their boats. Due to it's small size and simple rigging it is also affordable to build.  

This was the plan


This is how it turned out

The designer has said that it would be OK to increase the size for 20% without changing material dimensions. And so I have decided to do. This adds a bit of challenge, as the plywood consumption and cutting pattern are all different. But it adds more fun to building process.

I cannot say that I don't like the designed balanced lug sail, but I wanted to try something different. For a long time I played around with a thought about aft mast with 2 stay sails; until I happened to check on junk rig. I had seen it before, I had liked it before; but it looked way too complicated with all those sheets that it has; and the general setup... But the handling turns out to be not more complicated than the Paradox lug sail would be. So, let's try and check out all those 50 advantages of the junk rig... One of which to be that you don't have to put down your coffee cup while reefing the sail ;)


Regards,
Eerik

14 comments:

  1. I have just ordered plans for the paradox boat and thought a little larger would be nice. I was wondering if you could tell me what your rough dimensions for your boat are going to be. Thanks for your time
    Kevin

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    1. Hi Kevin,

      My boat's dimensions will roughly be:
      LOA 16ft 8in or 5.1m; beam 4ft 10in or 1.5m; draft about 11in or .276m; and displacement about 2400lbs or 1088kg. So it is going to be quite a bit heavier...

      Good luck with your build! :)

      Regards,
      Eerik

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  2. hi Kevin,
    firstly, congrats on upsizing the Paradox! i sail a TS16 and cannot imagine even less space in a cabin ......
    i am particularly interested in alternate rigs for Paradox.
    i am wondering with your setup if the center of effort has moved forward?
    though the chine runners are touted as providing 'bite' to windward i have a suspicion that the large rudder also contributes significantly to controlling leeway.
    impressed with quick build!
    Frank

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  3. Apologies for confusion! - i meant to address Eerik, not Kevin.

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  4. Hi Frank,

    Thanks for the kind words!
    Yes, the CE has moved forward just a bit; and to compensate it, I have made the chinerunners a bit shorter on the aft side; and ready to make them longer on the for end, would that be necessary... And again, yes - the big rudder does contribute to leeway control :)
    About half the time I built full time, therefore it went a bit more quickly ;)

    Eerik

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  5. Any further progress on this as I'm interested in building one also extended and junk rigged.

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    1. Hi Nigel, good you asked! Something had happened and the launch page link was not visible. The actual launch is a bit lower, further tests on top. Eerik

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  6. Great. Thx. Really hoping it all works out as planned for you.

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  7. Hi Eerik gr8 work
    I would love to build one as the biggest trailer sailer possible at 2.5m wide.how
    long ? And High ?
    Do you think it would be.

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  8. Eerik. Congratulations on a beautiful boat. I have sent for the plans and want to scale it up 20% also. I note your displacement has increased considerably form the original design (640 kg to 1088 kg). I guess this is partly due to you substituting lead for water ballast. I note you are planning to add more lead ballast. I would prefer to avoid water ballast altogether and just use lead. Do you carry the lead ballast separately and insert it just prior to launching? Also, what is the srea of your junk sail? I would be grateful for your answers. Regards. John - New Zealand

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    1. Hi John

      Displacement is the weight that the boat has when it sits in the water at the designed waterline, so if I increase all the measurements by 20%, then displacement will increase 20% in cube. It has nothing to do with ballast material. I planned to keep my boat in the water throughout the sailing season, using rented car trailer for launching, and a 4 wheeled cart for land handling and trailering. I carried the ballast separately and installed it after launching, but I have bought a trailer now, will rebuild it and plan to keep the ballast installed from now on. Will see how it will work. I carry 240kg of lead ballast; and add some 5L water containers for trimming if needed. Sail area of my junk sail is 14m2.

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. Very nice construction.I watched your vidéos several times.Thank you.Do you know the current adress to order the plans of the paradox 4.6 or the enigma 4.6 ?Thank you in avance for your réponse.Cordially.YC

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    Replies
    1. Hi,
      Sorry for a late reply. There are no plans available for Enigma, the ones that have been built are halfly designed by the builders themselves, according to information they have found on internet. But for Paradox plans you can find information here: http://www.microcruising.com/plans1.htm

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