How technical is rigging and sailing a Johnson 18?
It is very simple to rig in ten steps: • Walk the mast back, put the pin through the mast step and mast base. • The shrouds can be left attached at all times and need not be readjusted. • Attach the swivel at the head of the jib to the mast, and lift the mast vertical. • The mast and all it’s rigging, plus the jib, weighs about thirty pounds (14kg), so it doesn’t take an Olympic weightlifter. • Now hook up the tack of the jib to the roller furler. • Attach the boom to the gooseneck on the mast. • Bend on the mainsail. • Tie on the jib sheets. • Tie on the spinnaker halyard and sheets. • Attach the rudter and tiller. You’re done… ready to hoist sail and go! The only “tuning” to be done on the Johnson 18’s standing rigging is adjusting the tension on the upper and lower shrouds. Mast rake is fixed by the jib luff wire. Jib luff tension can be adjusted at the tack, although many owners just leave it as the sailmaker set it. There are only three sails- no “heavy air jibs” or “wave jibs”
