Cape Dory 30 cutter, masthead sheaves replacement.

[GeorgeH]

Thanks, Keith, Maine and Steve. Your collective advice is very much appreciated. I now know what I need to do and you confirmed my decision to go with an asymmetrical spinnaker. I love this board!

[Keith]

ditto to Steve's comment on leaving it up to long. Last summer I left it up as the winds climbed over 10 to maybe 12 and blew out the seam between the bottom and second panel. Fortunately it was only the seem and cost less then $100 to repair. Lesson learned!!!!

Keith

[Steve Laume]

Leaving a big, down wind, sail up too long can also be relevant in relation to what lies ahead. While race crews are able to carry a spinnaker right up to a turning mark and then quickly dowse the thing, this is not the case while single, or short handling. You want to give yourself some time to get these sails down before anything hard gets too close.

This is another case where a sock comes in very handy. I can release the tack and let the sail flow in behind the main. It is then, pretty fast and easy to pull the sock down over it. At that point the power is gone and I can maneuver the boat without bothering to take it down and stow it. It just hangs there until I have the time to deal with it or redeploy it.

I can't imagine having to rig a spinnaker with a bunch of rubber bands, like they did in the old days, Steve.

[Keith]

As I mentioned earlier in this post my spinnaker bail failed. Upon inspection last fall when the mast was de-stepped. I found that the round potion of the sheared off on one side. It looks like it was a failure of a previous weld so I'm skeptical if I should have it re-welded. I have been truing in vain to find an I dental replacement. All I can find is the bails that mount on top of the mast head. I would also like to go with a larger diameter material since it looks like it has failed at least twice in its 36 year life.

Does anyone know where the original side mount bails can be purchased? Also any suggestion on the top mount bails?

Thanks,

Keith

[Maine_Buzzard]

The U shaped bails like mine seem to have gone by the wayside. Anyone making a mast now welds a top cap on a tapered section and builds a different mount for the bail.

Keith, is your mast the same bolt pattern as mine? I could duplicate the sideplates of what I have and send it down to you for welding. I probably have enough scrap stainless 316 here to make it.

[Keith]

Hey Maine,

Thanks for the offer but my plates are fine it is the bail rod that failed. see pic. If you look close you can see that it was previously welded by a PO. Since it seem that this type is no longer made. I'm going to try to get a local welder to put a new bail rod on a bit larger diameter would be prudent I think.



Keith

[grluecke]

My plan is to use a RigRite part, thanks Keith, for the the link:

http://www.rigrite.com/Spars/SparParts/ ... er%20Bails

$89 + S&H

The rod on this is 3/16", Keith, what is the diameter on that rod? I'll post pix when I am done, but on the CD 30K, there is a big enough flat spot on the top of the masthead fitting to screw this in. I have some other junk on top from PO that needs to be removed.

You can see the width of the masthead is 1 3/4", you can also see a leftover stainless bolt with a broken extractor stuck in it, so we'll see how much interference I end up with...

SpinnakerBail2.jpg

20140823_185848OldStuffRemove.jpg

20140828_125235.jpg

[Keith]

Hi Craig,

Mine, the failed one in the picture above is 1/4 inch dia. I think that yours is actually 5/16 not 3/16 as you mentioned. Which would make it 25% larger dia then mine. I had been eying the RigRite ones also but was thinking of going with the 3/8 dia (50% larger dia) which also has a tighter bolt pattern (7/8 between screws) which I think will fit better on our CD mast head. It also mentions that it was made for spartan mast heads.

I'll let you know if I go with welding the failed one or the RigRite 3/8 and send some pics as well

Keith

[Adamhagan]

For the tack, I drilled a hole in my, rather substantial, Windline bow roller and added a block. I run a long line with a snap shackle through the bow block. This allows me to clip the shackle to the life line when I am sorting out the sail and then clip it to the tack. The other end is taken back to the bow cleat. Once the sail is at full hoist I can pull the tack forward and recleat it. The reverse is true when dousing.
So my two and a half cents says to practice safe sail handling and put a sock on it, Steve.

Steve, any chance you have a photo of where you drilled the tack attachment and an image of your setup?

Thanks,

Adam

[Maine_Buzzard]

I added a padeye offset from the bow roller. Works great, you need to bend over the pulpit to attach or detach. A twin shackle arrangement would help here.