Sprit Storage on Mark Threes

[Don Silsbe]

I just finished a weekend cruise with Ted Johanson on his Core Sound mk3.  He stored his sprits in his minivan.  I’m wondering about other people, like Graham.  Where do y’all stow your sprits, when trailering?

[Pete McCrary]

For Chessie I kept the sails bent to the sprits and had sail bags of Sunbrella made for each.  They were easily lashed on the port-side cockpit seat.  The mizzen assembly fit [on the seat] entirely within the cabin bulkhead and the transom.  The bag for the mains’l and sprit was laid out with the luff and forward end of the sprit to aft.  The sail bags were  zippered and tapered for a loose fit and made smaller where the sprit extended beyond the sail’s luff.  Only that part of the mains’l bag extended a little beyond the transom.

 

Earlier I bagged the sails in a lightweight non waterproof material and stowed them in the cabin — with the sprits in a pair of cradles on top of the masts.  I abandoned that when I had to de-rig in rain and stow throughly wet sail bags inside the cabin for road transport.

[Chick Ludwig]

On Summer Breeze, I left the snotter attached and pulled it up tight to the mast, then a lashing around the clew end of the sprit firmly held them to the masts.

[Don Silsbe]

@Chick Ludwig— So, you stowed your sails separately, and rigged all the reef lines every time?  On Avocet, the sails are furled to the sprits, with the reef lines all attached.  Two sail bags go over the entire package.

[Chick Ludwig]

My sails had slides rather than being laced to the mast. I also had the long battens. Sails were kept in "sausage" sail bags. No big deal hooking on reefing lines. I only rigged them on the first reef point. Never had a reason to go to second reef. All lines including reefing lines went to the cockpit.

[Don Silsbe]

@Chick Ludwig— Only the top two battens are full length.  Avocet’s are rolled to the sprits, with the reefs already in.  They are also stored in sausage bags, along with the sprits..  Ted’s sprits take up the full length of the interior of his Sienna.  Since others pull with smaller vehicles, such as Graham’s VW Rabbit, I wondered where they put them. I see no evidence of sprits in the photo I posted of Carlita, for example

[Chick Ludwig]

"Different ships, different long slices." This is a quote from a famous yacht designer from the old days. Does anyone of y'all know who?

[PadrePoint]

My approach with Norma T…

I run a couple ties around both sprits and both masts and the snotters remain attached with the slack taken up. Everything feels firm for modest road travel. I tuck the sails under the side decks and wrap the sheets around each end of the sail bag and flip the fenders over the middle of the bag for a bit more security.  This arrangement is quick and feels adequate for about 50 mph… the drive to local lake. If I need freeway speed the masts and sprits stay in place (with a third cradle fit into the rudder’s gudgeons) and the sails go in the van and everything gets bundled up to avoid flapping lines. 
 

The reef lines of Avocet make it tough to use this approach. Still thinking on this. 

[Steve W]

Here's my solution I stole from Graham. I put my sails in the cabin, and put these two spacers on the masts with the sprits on top. The bungy loops around the whole mess and holds the masts down and keeps the sprits secure.

 

[Don Silsbe]

That's diabolical!  I like it!  (So does the owner of Avocet,  as noted above.)  Thanks.

[Randy Jones]

A friend of mine whipped up the two-piece sprit shown in the attached video for my Belhaven 19.  Significantly more complicated then the previous solution but I rather enjoy it.   I store both sprits inside the cabin.   The carbon fiber fittings are from Duckworks.   

[Don Silsbe]

On 8/17/2022 at 4:25 AM, PadrePoint said:

 

The reef lines of Avocet make it tough to use this approach. Still thinking on this. 
 

My challenge will be to make the reefing lines easily removable, yet preserve Richard’s clever one-sided system.

Note to all: Ted and I are collaborating on modifications to Avocet.  

[Jknight611]

Our mizzen is on a tabernacle (I suppose all the MK3 20s are) and I just lay my sprits on top of the masts protection provided by pipe insulation, with a few bungees holding it in place.  We got tired of the macramé classes untangling the reefing lines after trailering so I made a ventilated cover for the entire mast/sprit assembly when trailering,  long long zipper!  

[PadrePoint]

7 hours ago, Jknight611 said:

so I made a ventilated cover for the entire mast/sprit assembly when trailering,  long long zipper!  

That sounds like an interesting solution. 

[Don Silsbe]

@Jknight611—It sounds like you keep your sprits attached to the mast.  Is that correct?  Do you have any photos?  I’d like to discuss this with you at the messabout.  I’ll bet that Ted Johanson (Padre Point) would like to be in on that, too.

[Jknight611]

Hi Don, sorry for the late reply,  we have been enjoying Kalos! Back home now and I would be glad to post a picture tomorrow of our Core Sound mast assembly.  We can rig in less than 20 minutes with no rush.  The cover just keeps the macramé to a minimum.  Pics tomorrow! 
 

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the Messabout!

[Don Silsbe]

Well, if you were out sailing on Kalos, I can’t grumble.  Looking forward to the photos and to seeing y’all at the Messabout.