spreaders

[sailingdog]

Amayotte-

The mast would be far more likely to suffer a failure if they didn't drill the hole and install a compression post, since the compressive forces placed on the mast by the shrouds and spreaders could kink the mast extrusion and lead to it bending and then failing. And the weakening of the mast caused by the spreaders kinking it is far greater than that of drilling a small hole in it.

[knothead]

Originally Posted by 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

Hi Adam, It's been raining off and on today so I had some extra time.
Looking at your pictures, some thoughts came to me. I hope you don't mind but I drew on your photos.

First, your chainplates and turnbuckles. It appeared to me that most of the shroud turnbuckles on the starboard side were closed almost completely. Is that because the mast was leaning to starboard, (thats what I see in the photo), or are all the shrouds long?

And the chainplate seems light duty to me.

chainplate.jpg

You definitely have some issues with the headstay/ furling gear. But I understand that you haven't finished setting it up.

profurl.jpg

Your starboard spreader is sagging. In needs to be at the correct angle, (usually indicated by the spreader base/bracket), to do it's job effectively.

spreader sag.jpg

The bottom line. In my opinion, your spreaders are probably sufficient the way they are designed. Of course that opinion may change when you provide a close-up of the spreaders.
You have a fairly light rig, if you sail it like it was designed to be sailed you probably won't have a problem with your mast collapsing from spreader compression.

[amayotte]

Right on, thanks for all the information. I have a hard time knowing exactly how stuff should go since I am one of two sailboats on my lake and don't have a whole lot of people to talk with.
My chainplates are reinforced underneath the cabin using long pieces of stainless steal. I will provide some pics later.
I am definitely going to look into what was suggested for the forestay of furling setup...much appreciated.
I think my shrouds are a little long and that is why I have run out of room.

Thanks for all the help,
Adam