Chainplates & Spreaders

[Gregg]

Hey everybody,

Just had my chain plates and spreader made by the metal shop that is just around the corner from my house. Both designs I found on this board so, Thank You to those who posted the drawings. Here is a link to the photos, I hope it works.

http://www.messing-about.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10794/thumb_chainplatesphoto.gif

and

http://www.messing-about.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10794/thumb_spreaderphoto.gif

I am worried about the spreader after I found a post where someone split their mast due to the stress of three or four bolts in line. My mast is laminated from 4 pieces. Another post I read suggested that a taller mast solved the problem of the gaff jaws hitting shrouds. I cut a foot off my mast when I made it perhaps I could reattach it at the bottom with mending plates and raise my mast to 16' 1".

Also in the plans for the weekender it appears to use only one wire thimble at the top of the mast for two chain plates at the bottom, is that the way to do it or should I separate them at the top with two thimbles? Thanks in advance everyone.

Gregg

Hope to launch by June?

[capt jake]

I have that same spreader on th top of my mast.  I have had any issues with it and I rig mine pretty tight.  I would suspect you would have problems if you let the attached bolts get loose.

[Gregg]

Thanks, I know many people have spreaders just like this one on their boat.

On your shrouds, how is yours set up? Is there one thimble at the top? Or do you separate them at the spreader with two thimbles?

Thanks,

Gregg 

[capt jake]

I used one shackle to attach both shrouds (per side).

[Barry Pyeatt]

In following the plans, you would use a single line up and down with a thimble in the middle and a wire clamp below the thimble to hold it securely.   This doesn't give you a good straight line but it is secure.  Ideally you would use separate stays with separate thimbles for each, but on a boat the size of the Weekender, it isn't absolutely necessary  and the size of the holes needed to accomodate them is a consideration.  The tension on these stays isn't so great that it is a problem.  Capt. Jake does have good tight tension on his but it is applied by a very tight forestay and it took a lot of "tuning" to get it to the performance level he enjoys. Individual tension adjustments on his stays are not easy to make due to the deadeyes that he uses.   Typically you would use turnbuckles on each stay to tighten them up after raising the mast.  Couple easy twists of each and you are ready to go.

The greatest danger of splitting your mast is in the orientation of the grain when you thru bolt things to it.  If you are going thru the grain rather than with it you are far less likely to have a split occur under extreme stresses.  If you drill the hole oversized, center the bolt with three little strips of wood and then fill the hole with epoxy, you will help to prevent that from occuring.  The epoxy is far stronger than the grain of the wood and will help to make that point stronger.  It will also prevent moisture from wicking along the threads of the bolt in seasonal temp changes.  You can also put a strap around the mast above and below the thru bolts which will help, but it is extra weight aloft that is really not desirable. 

[Dave R1]

When I built my Weekender I added 3 feet to the length of the mast. About 9" of that additional height was used for additional clearance under the boom. I liked not have to duck under the boom when tacking. The rest was used to spread out the hardware aloft. I used softeyes for the shrouds and forestay so there were no holes for tang mounting. I had two holes in the mast, one at the level of the softeyes for a eyebolt that was long enough to form a crane for the throat halyard block. There was another eyebolt farther up for the peak halyard block. This gave a better lead for the peak halyard and I rigged both halyards to the same advantage so it was easy to pull the gaff up horizontally until the slack was out of the luff.

Due to the distance between the jaws and shrouds there was never any conflict there.

FWIW, I also extended the bowsprit to maintain the same foretriangle shape. I ended up putting the jib on a roller furler mounted at the same point as on the plans with the jib halyard block the same height above the deck as called out on the plans. At one time I thought about adding a stays'l and could have because I didn't have the jib on the forestay. I decided there were plenty of lines to manage without adding more. The roller furler was a great addition as it meant there was no need to go forward to raise or strike the sail.

[Gregg]

Thanks everyone for the information. I plan to re-attach the foot I cut off the bottom of the mast and use epoxy in the holes for the spreader. I will post pictures of the boat as soon as I can get her out of the garage.

Thanks again

Gregg