Chinese Junk Sails to Boston, New York and London

In comparison to its Western equivalent, the Chinese junk looks clumsy, unwieldy and quite bizarre. Take, for example, the Viking longship with its sleek, smooth lines and linear design.  Yet the Chinese junk is one of the most efficient sailing boats ever constructed.  It is not known exactly how long these cleverly built vessels have been around but there are records of junks sailing to India in the ninth century to trade porcelain, tea and other goods.

Chinese merchants also sailed junks to East Africa and Aden in the Persian Gulf.  There are actual written records describing their sea journeys to Somalia and the lucrative ivory, slave and ambergris trade there.

 In 1848 a Chinese junk proved just how strong and efficient the design is, by sailing all the way from China to Boston, New York and to London.

Originally there were about seventy different styles of Chinese junk and some were built for sea-going, while others were designed for river traffic.  The number of masts varies too and it can be anywhere from just one to five, although the most common number is five.  These boats have no keel which is the spine of a boat which runs the full length underneath. It is present in most designs as it gives greater stability, strength and is a way of converting any sideways force on the vessel into a forward pushing force.  Junks have a huge rudder which is set very deep down and acts like a centreboard to reduce the drift.

Junks also had a watertight compartment way back in the ninth century and possibly before, but this was not a feature of Western vessels for hundreds of years.  The lugsail is square in shape and made from a number of matting, or linen panels which are stiffened with bamboo battens. Each panel has its own sheet leading to the main sheet. (A sheet is a movable rope or cable attached to the corner of a sail).  So, by this method, all parts of the sail could be close-hauled, trimmed flat for sailing high to windward, or sailed very close to the wind.  In short they could and still can fine tune that huge sail to take full advantage no matter what the weather conditions were.