Need length of CD30 Cutter club boom and other dimensions

[CD30C]

I have just purchased a Cape Dory 30 Cutter which has been stripped of it's staysail hardware which I would like to replace. I need some dimensions:

1) the length of the club boom. I see in my owner's manual it is 9' 6", but I would like independent confirmation.

2) the location for the chainplate. I assume it goes in front of the hawse pipe, but the reinforcement plate under the deck has been replaced, and the original mounting holes are hidden.

3) Is the chainplate the same as the one for the yankee?

4) I have the original stay, and the fitting attaching it to the mast. I see this is attached with tapping screws. Is this secure?

I appreciate that there is a consensus on this site, that the club boom is a troublemaker. I have the sail, and I would like to try the original configuration the first year in the water, and make up my mind next year. When I try a new recipe, I never change the ingredients until the second time.

Thanks for your help.

Doug

[Maine_Buzzard]

Hi Doug,

The boom is about 100" OAL, and you can see the locations of the cleat and other parts. Yes, the boom would be upside down in these images.

The mount for the boom is after the hawse pipe on mine, and the chain plate is forward. I seem to not have any great foredeck pictures...

The deck fitting is similar to the forestay. The mast tang I thought was through bolted and is a stainless plate sticking through a slot in the mast. I hit my head on it recently, as Guppy is parked with the mast in a cradle and cover bent over it.





Yes, I have all of the parts and can take pictures and measure, but I decided to keep everything on the boat, if a future owner should want to undo any of my "adventures"...

Pardon the silly rotation- Photobucket and Apple keep duking it out when I edit photos. The moving tag is likely two owners previous.

I'll look at the sail thread from earlier- If you have a 150 or a drifter, use that to start and don't invest in new hardware. A Yankee alone is good from 12 - 20kts, and you may join the great unwashed and see that a genoa is enough. The whole cutter thing started with the lack of roller furling before the 80's (IMHO)

[Jim Walsh]

The whole cutter thing started with the lack of roller furling before the 80's (IMHO)

That's just hilarious

[Maine_Buzzard]

Glad someone's awake!

I'll admit to chumming every now and then, but I know better than to troll...

[Maine_Buzzard]

Photos of the mast and deck.

The bent strap once held a pulley. The flat stainless may be a modification, as you can see two screw holes for another bracket.

[CD30C]

Maine_Buzzard, very helpful pictures. Thanks! I have a couple follow up questions:

I am looking at your picture of your bowsprit, and there is an interesting, carpet covered mystery at the edge of the picture. Please explain.

How does the club topping lift work? Is it fixed to the mast and the boom, or is there an adjustment at the boom?

I have the cross-shapped gizmo to attatch the staysail stay to the mast. How are the halyard block, and topping lift attatched to the mast?

Doug

[Maine_Buzzard]

My my, seems you've been eating a lot of spinach... Busy man.

The carpeted 2x4 across the bow carries the weight of the mast, as part of Winter Cover V3.0. I have a cross at the bow, two triangular supports at the mast and traveler, and a rear support across the pushpit. The cabintop supports are triangulated together fore and aft, and the stern support holds the mast about 6' above the cockpit floor (visible in the mast picture). Plastic electrical conduit is bent over at 3 - 4' intervals and dropped into 2x4 brackets to hold them away from the rubrails.
A $60 HM white tarp lasts two years, and does not flop around too much. I'm feeling like I finally have a good handle on the winter cover setup. When it warms up, I drop the mast down to the stern crosstie, take out the A frames and stern support, and have Buck slide the trailer in place...


I never had this set up working, so here's my conjecture. The halyard was on a pulley at the bent bracket below the stainless tang, and would be a topping lift when the staysail is furled. No need for a dedicated topping lift.
Of the three winches on the mast, one must have been the staysail halyard before it was replaced by the far more useful spinnaker bail and shackle at the masthead.

If you don't have a separate bracket, one could run a long shackle (pin) through the stay eye and mast tang, and then hang a pulley off of that. Pick a pin with the same diameter as the existing one.

Off to buy a macerator pump tomorrow. Converting a manual head to electric, via a custom stainless plate, a washdown pump, the port water tank, and a 10gmp sewage pump. No more Groco leaks!

[Steve Laume]

I would not try to run the staysail without a proper topping lift.

The halyard and topping lift are both attached to the mast with single blocks. The staysil halyard goes to a high cleat on the port side of the mast. There is no need for a winch here. You simply raise the sail then take a turn around the cleat and jump the halyard to tension, then cleat it off. My topping lift is attached to the mast at a lower level and goes to a cleat on the starboard side of the mast. The topping lift is essential when raising or lowering the sail to hold the boom up. You would not want the thing banging around the foredeck and smashing into your forward hatch.

When I lower the stayasil, the halyard gets clipped to the bow pulpit and I deal with furling the sail with the boom held off the deck by the topping lift. If you sheet in the staysail enough to put tension on the topping lift it keeps everything from swinging around too much. The topping lift can then be adjusted to raise the boom up high, just leave it in the ready position or tie it off to one of the shrouds.

With the topping lift dedicated to holding the staysail boom I can also use the staysail halyard as an up haul for the spinnaker pole. This works out very well because I never fly the spinnaker and the staysail at the same time but still need to control the staysail boom. I also added a bail at the end of the staysail boom. I keep a short piece of small stuff hanging from this to tie off to the shroud on the port side. This helps to free up the foredeck for anchoring or other activities.

I really like having the staysail on a boom except for the fact that it eliminates the use of the foredeck for any kind of stowage, Steve.

[grluecke]

I am not sure this photo will help much, I don't have dimensions, but it may help you see the general layout on my boat, at least. This was the last ketch built by Cape Dory, I am told, but it is also cutter-rigged.

The previous owner took down the cutter fore-stay and did not use the stay-sail, so to be truthful I'm not sure I even have things set up perfectly.

[Jim Walsh]

This was the last ketch built by Cape Dory, I am told, but it is also cutter-rigged.

I presume you have a double headsail ketch. A cutter having only one mast.

[John R.]

I have been refitting my 83 CD30 cutter. I have tons of images and information regarding the boats. I am pleased to help you with any questions or needs you may have. If you are still in need precise measurements on the factory boom dimensions and factory rigging set up I can furnish those to you. Drop me a note and if you have other questions I would be happy to assist.

John

[John R.]

Photos of the mast and deck.

The bent strap once held a pulley. The flat stainless may be a modification, as you can see two screw holes for another bracket.

You should never leave any voided fastener holes on your mast, booms or spreaders. Use drive rivets to fill them and dip in lanolin, sealant before inserting them.

The chain plate for your baby stay is already in place on the platform. You need to reinstall the boom pedestal where the small wooden block is located.

The pedestal mounting is backed up with two simple strips of 3/16" thick aluminum in the V-berth on the headliner. I would use a plate instead if I was reinstalling. Use Ny-loc nuts on the fasteners. Bed the fitting with pure polysulfide. Seal the fasteners well.

[CD30C]

OK, I think I have all the information with two exceptions:

1) The the hole pattern dimensions (or part number) of the chainplate. I am going to pull the backing plate under the bowsprit so I can see and redrill the original holes, so I may be OK here.

2) I would like to confirm the exact length of the boom. Buzzard, your second picture of the aft end of the boom, is at a bit of an angle, but it looks like it is at 102.5 inches. Subtracting 2" from your first picture, it looks like the boom is 100.5" from cap to cap, and the extrusion itself is about 3/4 less than that, or 99.75" When I lay it out, it looks like there is about 1" clearance between the boom and the mast when it is laying on the forward hatch. Does this sound about right?

Also, at the risk of hijacking my own thread, What wood are your bowsprits made of? Mine is mushy oak.

Doug

[Steve Laume]

It looks like you still have the chain plate in place. The wood plate is covering and using the holes for the pedestal base. Once you have the part in your hand it should be easy to redrill them if necessary.

I doubt the boom length is extremely critical. You could always make it an inch long and recut it if you felt the need. The boom extrusion will cut very easily with a carbide blade in a chop saw. You can't really figure out how it will fit until you have the pedestal in place. I would imagine the boom is pretty close to the mast when it is resting on the hatch because it never really ends up that low and the higher you lift it the more clearance you get.

Raven is a 1984 model and has a teak bow sprit and aluminum reinforcement under the deck. The earlier boats had the oak and steel. It must have been part of the transition from the days of wooden ships and iron men, Steve.

[username]

Amiable is a 1981 30' Cutter (As far as I know the first with an electric drive ) . Last year, I re-installed the pedestal for the club boom. I still have the boom. I'm spending some time trying to figure out what parts I'm missing from what looks like an old Schaeffer wire furler.... where goes the stay, the boom/furler/halyard? I have the big pieces...it's connecting them.

I would like to have the self tacking jib back in action. I Should lay things out and share some photos.