spreaders

[sailingdog]

Be aware that a lot of the numbers, even those supplied by the manufacturer, were often off by a good amount, and they often changed during a given boat's production run to some degree.

[Sailormann]

I would think that mast designers would take this into account and build them to handle such loads.

They do. Don't panic.

[amayotte]

So the idea of putting a tube in the mast to counter compression forces is more for a peace of mind?
The reason I ask about this is because mine does not have a compression tube and I am a little worried that I will crush the mast in hard wind.
In fact my system is fairly flimsy. It is a floppy system which I want to replace with some rigid spreaders.
Does anyone know of how to determine what type of mast I have in order to properly order new spreaders and brackets.

Thanks,
Adam

[sailingdog]

Amayotte-

It would help if you said what kind of boat you had.

[knothead]

Originally Posted by amayotte

So the idea of putting a tube in the mast to counter compression forces is more for a peace of mind?
The reason I ask about this is because mine does not have a compression tube and I am a little worried that I will crush the mast in hard wind.
In fact my system is fairly flimsy. It is a floppy system which I want to replace with some rigid spreaders.
Does anyone know of how to determine what type of mast I have in order to properly order new spreaders and brackets.

Thanks,
Adam

Hi Adam, There are as many ways to attach spreader to mast as there are mast manufacturers. Some are better than others.
Some have bases that are welded on the outside, some have wraparound brackets, some have a slightly bent solid aluminum bar stock inserted through slots in the side of the mast that the spreaders slip over and are pinned in place with clevis pins.
The manufacturer of your spar probably thought about what they were building. That doesn't mean that they did a great job and it doesn't mean that what was maybe a good setup 10 years ago isn't in need of rebuilding.

I use compression tubes a lot. If I add a boom bail, I'll use a compression tube. Same thing if I am bolting on a set of tangs, but if a spar has in-mast furling, then a compression tube won't work.

It would really help if you could post some photos of the fairly floppy system so we could see what kind of system it is.

[amayotte]

My boat is a Chrysler 26.
The spreaders are tube type and it looks like they are connected using a small bolt.
I don't have enough posts yet to provide links or images...but soon I will.

Thanks for all the help,
Adam

[amayotte]

almost enough posts...

[amayotte]

Here are some images, but there isn't a very good pic of the spreaders.
I will try and send some in a few days.
Picasa Web Albums - Adam - RaisingMast

[knothead]

What's wrong with this picture (installation)?

[amayotte]

Ya I know.
I have just bought the boat and spent the weekend working on getting the mast up.
I had to do it by hand, so it wasn't easy, and once I got it up I was hurrying to hook up the forestay and forgot about the furler. I decided since it was just for the weekend I would leave it the way it is.

Any ideas on what type of mast was used by chrysler and which type of rigid spreaders would work?

The one thing that boggles me a little is that in order to counter compression people drill holes through the mast, at the half way point, and create a weak point in the mast. Doesn't make sense to me.
Oh well, I'm obviously not an engineer.

Thanks again,
Adam