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Snotter attachment on aluminum mast?


MisterMoon

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hi ihave hookeed my snotter on a 16" lenght of abs slipped over the mast on my previous coresound 17'. choose abs abt 3/16" thick by2" to 2 1/2"diameter that tubing have to be smaller than your mast, remove abt 1" strip wide strip from tubing,the opening will permit the tubing to go on each side of your mast track ,to do that heat your tubing in water, might need woodeen block to keep it open to slipp over your mast.to hook your snotter lay a 3/8 rope lenghtwise on front tubing ,ma 1 or 2 loop for snotter ajustement, glue the rope with epoxy and fiberglass.your block will pull even on on mast and never come out , you can reduce lenght of tubing 6" to10" ,but it will not be possible to put 16" wooden dowell abt 3/4 diam along side the tubing to protect yor mast track and sail from spritt abrasion dowind. mes 2 cennes hi fern

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As Ray said, I had a snottier fail in the 2010 Everglades Challenge. The block was attached to a pad eye which was attached to the mast via tapped threads, the threads coated with 5200 to cut down on electrolysis. Everything was tight at the start. We were half asleep in chop and a following wind when the gybe occurred, but there had been light winds in chop for many hours and thus jerking on the snottier from time to time.

The emergency solution was to attach the block to the mast with several turns of line. This limited how far I could drop the sail (I had a track), but worked well and showed little wear in the final 60 or 70 miles of the race.

The long term solution was to attach a boom bail to the mast so that the pull on the screws would be in shear instead of tension. I like the ides of the rivnuts.

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I like the idea of rivnuts also. I may be the only person foolish enough to do this, but all of my fasteners are backed by nuts, which I fished up through the interior of the mast with an 11' long wooden stick and a wrench taped to the end. !!! Took my wife and I about four hours to do all the fasteners on both masts. I wasn't aware of the existence of rivnuts at that time, but now I think that is definitely the way I would go.

Wes

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Doug Cameron said

The block was attached to a pad eye which was attached to the mast via tapped threads

Could I ask you to clarify this statement, as terminology varies a little around the world.

To me, here in Australia, a pad eye generally means a larger square, round or oblong fitting with at least 4 attachment holes. A simple 2 attachment stainless fitting is generally called a saddle. I believe eye strap is often used to describe the same double attachment fitting in the US.

As I have a pad eye, bent to match the curve of the mast with 4 attachment points, I'd like to know if we are talking about the same thing and if it is likely to fail. It wraps around the mast a little more than a quarter diameter so takes a lot of the force in shear on 2 of the 4 screws.

Did you mean a fitting with 2 attachments?

Thanks

Peter HK

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  • 3 months later...

After consulting with the Gougeon brothers, I fabricated a padeye from Honduras mahogany, and glued (bonded) it to the aluminum mast with G-flex epoxy. The aluminum was prepped first with the West System etch kit. According to the tech rep at Gougeon, they do this routinely for mast hardware on boats much larger than my CS17. The tensile adhesion numbers for G-flex are impressive.

If removal is required later, a grinder makes short work of it.

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Nope, one piece of wood curved vertically, with a horizontal hole bored in it, sharp edges eased, then coated with epoxy/aluminum powder.

A picture would be really great if you can. Thanks,

Also, the solution Paul (post #16) suggested can be improved slightly by turning the eyestraps 90-degrees to his picture so that the line load is NOT at the top of the saddle but stays low in the opening against the mast surface - tranferring the load to more shear than tension. Evey little bit will help.

Cheers,

TomH

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Before deciding on the bonding route, I was also sold on the concept of ss rivnuts, but like you, was unable to find a source for a small quantity. It occurred to me that they are primarily used in aviation, so I contacted an aviation mechanic I know at the small local airport. He can get them, but talked me out of it. According to him, in aluminum, it's very common for the rivnuts to lose their grip, and spin when removing the machine screws. In his experience, it's not unusual for it to happen on the first attempted extraction.

If you still want to use them, try a small, local aviation source.

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If you google Blind Bolt, go to their site, and view the video. It may be just the ticket. Also I just mounted a ladder / lumber rack on my truck that uses sleeves that become permanent once set, and they are solid. They require the use of a thread setter. Second time I've used that product that receives rough service, and no failures to date. Those came from an outfit called Pro Hoist.

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A new idea. As per the original post, you want something that will prevent the screws holding an eye strap in place from pulling out? Why not a wooden backing block? A short (maybe 6 inch) block of nothing more than a 1" x 2", set it on it's edge and allow it to slide down the inside of the mast to it's desired position......line it up and screw it into place. To make it really bomb proof, pre-drill the holes and back fill them with epoxy, with waxed screws in place to form the threads. Once set, back the screws out, then install inside the mast. When it arrives at it's final resting place, you just run machine screws into it. Will not.....cannot pull out and no potential for corrosion.

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