Jeff
Lots of options. The only one that is no good is the one that doesn't work.
CD 36 Staysail boom
Moderator: Jim Walsh
-
- Posts: 3621
- Joined: Oct 6th, '08, 07:30
- Location: S/V Far Reach: CD 36 #61 www.farreachvoayges.net www.farreachvoyages.com
-
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Jul 14th, '13, 22:00
- Location: S/V Benediction, CD 30C #341
Re: CD 36 Staysail boom
John,John Stone wrote:I removed my staysail boom though that is probably not much help to you as I have a longer bowsprit and moved the tack of the staysail forward. Nonetheless, there are all kinds of advantages to removing the boom, most of which Russell covered. My leads will be positioned outboard of the cabin top, on the side deck but right next to the cabin top, and run to secondary winches I installed along the cockpit coaming just forward of the primary winches. Normally, as a general rule, you want a staysail to sheet 2-3 degrees less than the sheeting angle of the jib. You can determine that location with a plan view diagram of the CD 36 and a protractor. You don't have to have adjustable leads on a T track. You can use a fixed lead and adjust the leads through the use of an adjustable tack pendant on the staysail. Shortening the pendant equals moving the leads forward and raising does the opposite. The advantage is you don't have to drill a whole series of holes in your deck and you have a much smaller obstruction to trip over. It's an option to consider.
After having sailed my Cape Dory 30 for the past two and a half years, two things that I really dislike and planning to modify this year are the staysail boom and the pedestal steering in the cockpit (why any manufacturer would a wheel on a boat less than 35 ft is beyond me). I was planning to add two foot tracks on either side of the cabin top but then I came across your idea of an adjustable tack pendant which makes a lot of sense from a simplicity standpoint and by reducing the number of holes in the deck/cabintop. After having used this system for a while, can you comment on how well it has worked out? When cruising do you adjust the pendant by point-of-sail or generally just leave it in one position unless you reef the staysail? Also, I am curious to what the pendant actually looks like and how you adjust it. Any pictures would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, your restoration of Far Reach is truly an inspiration and provides endless study of different ideas/solutions for modifying my own Cape Dory for some longer term cruising!
-
- Posts: 3621
- Joined: Oct 6th, '08, 07:30
- Location: S/V Far Reach: CD 36 #61 www.farreachvoayges.net www.farreachvoyages.com
Re: CD 36 Staysail boom
Hi Tom
I like the staysail set up I have. It has worked very well. I don't have to adjust the pendant. It's a spectra core line--about 5/16" thick. It's tied to the tack of the staysail and looped through a snap shackle. It secured with a couple of half hitches. You can adjust the length to get the height correct but once set up does not really need adjusting. I'll see about sending a picture. There is nothing wrong with putting the staysail sheet lead on the cabin top. I didn't want all the holes up there though and it would not have done that much for the sailing performance. I don't think the boat can sail high enough to warrant that close of a sheeting angle. If it had a fin keel with inboard shrouds maybe so. My staysail has a sheet angle about three degrees closer than the big jib. It seems to work about right.
The sheet lead fitting is just a trumpet shaped flared bronze padeye. Works fine. No moving parts. You can also put a fixed block there if you wanted but I didn't want it flopping back and fourth on the side deck. There are ways around that too. It's just the path I chose. I would not change much. I'd like the stays'l winches to be a wee bit bigger and, in a perfect world, self tailing. But I don't live in a perfect world.
I will say this though. That staysail was a workhorse during our passage from NC to the BVI this past December. When we were beating and close reaching in reinforced trade winds(30 kts) for five days it was the stays'l that did all the work. At times, all I had up was a reefed stays'l and we were still making 5-6 kts.
I agree about the wheel. I think going to the tiller was one of the best things we did. Though I recognize that many sailors are very happy with a wheel.
I like the staysail set up I have. It has worked very well. I don't have to adjust the pendant. It's a spectra core line--about 5/16" thick. It's tied to the tack of the staysail and looped through a snap shackle. It secured with a couple of half hitches. You can adjust the length to get the height correct but once set up does not really need adjusting. I'll see about sending a picture. There is nothing wrong with putting the staysail sheet lead on the cabin top. I didn't want all the holes up there though and it would not have done that much for the sailing performance. I don't think the boat can sail high enough to warrant that close of a sheeting angle. If it had a fin keel with inboard shrouds maybe so. My staysail has a sheet angle about three degrees closer than the big jib. It seems to work about right.
The sheet lead fitting is just a trumpet shaped flared bronze padeye. Works fine. No moving parts. You can also put a fixed block there if you wanted but I didn't want it flopping back and fourth on the side deck. There are ways around that too. It's just the path I chose. I would not change much. I'd like the stays'l winches to be a wee bit bigger and, in a perfect world, self tailing. But I don't live in a perfect world.
I will say this though. That staysail was a workhorse during our passage from NC to the BVI this past December. When we were beating and close reaching in reinforced trade winds(30 kts) for five days it was the stays'l that did all the work. At times, all I had up was a reefed stays'l and we were still making 5-6 kts.
I agree about the wheel. I think going to the tiller was one of the best things we did. Though I recognize that many sailors are very happy with a wheel.
-
- Posts: 3621
- Joined: Oct 6th, '08, 07:30
- Location: S/V Far Reach: CD 36 #61 www.farreachvoayges.net www.farreachvoyages.com
Re: CD 36 Staysail boom
One more thing I failed to mention in my response above. Your sail maker can align the reef points in your stays'l so that the leads remain in the same fixed location that it uses when it's not reefed. It just means the reef cringles are not parallel to the foot of the sail but angled slightly upward. Mine works fine.
-
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Jul 14th, '13, 22:00
- Location: S/V Benediction, CD 30C #341
Re: CD 36 Staysail boom
Thanks for the information and rapid response, I really appreciate it!
I will definitely talk to my sailmaker before I position everything to get their opinion on location of a fixed block since I am planning to have at least a new main and staysail cut in the near future. May main reason for wanting to put a block on the cabin top is really just to keep the side decks as clear as possible and I would like to make use of the existing winch on the port side of the cabin top.
I will definitely talk to my sailmaker before I position everything to get their opinion on location of a fixed block since I am planning to have at least a new main and staysail cut in the near future. May main reason for wanting to put a block on the cabin top is really just to keep the side decks as clear as possible and I would like to make use of the existing winch on the port side of the cabin top.