{"id":785,"date":"2026-05-21T14:46:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yachtersworld.com\/?p=785"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:46:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:46:43","slug":"extraordinary-boats-hapenny-20-risvold-the-little-junk-rig-that-could","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yachtersworld.com\/?p=785","title":{"rendered":"Extraordinary boats: Ha\u2019Penny 20 Risvold \u2013 the little junk rig that could"},"content":{"rendered":"

Circumnavigating in a 20-footer isn\u2019t for everyone, but owner-skipper RW Henson built his remarkable junk rigged micro-voyager for a grand adventure. Sean McNeill reports <\/strong><\/p>\n

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When RW Henson envisioned the ideal boat for his global circumnavigation he knew it needed two basic features \u2013 reliability and simplicity. He wanted a vessel that was bulletproof and self-righting, but it had to be simple to handle.<\/p>\n

At the time he planned a solo circumnavigation and reasoned he needed minimal space, and didn\u2019t want endless controls to worry about. Or through-hull fittings, for that matter.<\/p>\n

The 55-year-old Henson \u2013 a retired firefighter, emergency medical technician, towboat operator and father of two from Barnstable, Massachusetts \u2013 isn\u2019t strictly a lifelong sailor, though he has long been drawn to the water.<\/p>\n

He took junior sailing classes growing up in Newport Beach, California, racing Sabots, but never really enjoyed the competitive programme. He previously co-owned a Drascombe Longboat with a friend, though that was for nothing more ambitious than mess-about sailing. And he is an avid surfer, awaking for dawn patrols to catch the day\u2019s first waves.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Tyler Fields<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As a boy two books spoke to him, planting the seed of a dream of sailing around the world. \u201cIn the late 1970s there was a story in the local paper about Herb Payson and his family sailing around the Pacific Ocean in a leaky old ketch, which later turned into the book Blown Away,\u201d recalls Henson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen in high school in the mid-1980s I read Dove, Robin Lee Graham\u2019s book about being the youngest to sail around the world and I thought, \u2018I\u2019m going to sail around the world one day.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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Extraordinary boats: The Mini Globe Race Globe 5.80<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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\u201cGo small, go cheap, go now,\u201d famously said Lin and Larry Pardy, who sailed for decades aboard small engineless yachts\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n