The junk rig, also known as the Chinese lugsail, Chinese balanced lug sail, or sampan rig, is a type of sail rig in which rigid members, called battens, span the full width of the sail and extend the sail forward of the mast. While relatively uncommon in use among modern production sailboats, the rig's advantages of easier use and lower maintenance for blue-water cruisers have been explored by individuals such as trans-Atlantic racer Herbert "Blondie" Hasler and author Annie Hill.
A schooner (/ˈskuːnər/ SKOO-nər) is a type of sailing vessel defined by its fore-and-aft rig on all of two or more masts and the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. The most common variants are gaff-rigged and staysail schooners, with the topsail schooner carrying a square topsail on the foremast, and Bermuda and junk-rigs being rarities.
A junk (Chinese: 䑸; pinyin: zōng) is a type of Chinese sailing ship characterized by a central rudder, an overhanging flat transom, watertight bulkheads, and a flat-bottomed design. They are also characteristically built using iron nails and clamps. The term applies to many types of small coastal or river ships, usually serving as cargo ships, pleasure boats, or houseboats, but also going up in size up to large ocean-going vessels. There can be significant regional variations in the type of rig and the layout of the vessel.
Chinese junks were originally only fluvial and had square sails, but by the Song dynasty (c. 960 to 1279), they adopted ocean-going technologies acquired from Southeast Asian k'un-lun po trade ships. Tanja sails and fully battened junk rigs were introduced to Chinese junks by the 12th century CE.