Bow eye for a Typhoon

[rjnale]

I would like to put a bow eye on my Typhoon daysailer to make getting her on the trailer easier. Has anyone installed one? How thick is the fiberglass on the bow? Did you use a single bolt or U bolt type? What is the proper distance up from the waterline for mounting? I'm planning on using a wood backing plate for reinforcement.
Thanks for any tips.
Rick

[Steve Laume]

I believe this falls firmly into the category that if you have to ask, you need two bolts. I don't even use those little single bolt towing eyes for my dinghy. I would think you want something along these lines: http://search.defender.com/?expression= ... ye&x=7&y=6

You will need to drill your first hole, or at least a pilot hole to figure out how long the bolts need to be. After that you could order the eye to determine the correct spacing for the second hole. I think you will find there is a lot of glass thickness in that area. It will still be a great idea to use a backing plate. I don't think I would use wood for this. Aluminum or bronze are both easy to work with and will have less flex for their thickness as well as excellent rot resistant qualities. You might want to bed the backing plate in epoxy to be sure it is making good contact with the curves of the bow.

If this eye is ever to be used for anchoring or towing then it wants to be close the water line. If you are just using on the trailer then I would think it should line up with the attachment point, Steve.

[Joe CD MS 300]

Rick, I have never tried to pull a Typhoon onto a trailer so take my suggestion with a grain of salt. Since Typhoons have a single cleat near the bow but have chocks both port and starboard at the bow have you tried to make a bridle that runs through both chocks to the cleat with a single attachment point for the trailer winch?

I can guess that if the winch is too low on the trailer it might tend to pull the the bow downward. Could raising the winch on the trailer help with this issue if it is in fact an issue?

Joe

[Alan Stewart]

I have installed bow eyes on multiple small sailboats including Typhoons, Rhodes 19s and Bullseyes, the first decision is whether you can live with potentially "spoiling the aesthetics" of the unadorned bow... in fact this is not really a big deal and well worth it if you trailer regularly or long-distance. Next is determining location, and forget the single-bolt types, you want a s.s. U-bolt. Ideally you should have a straight-on or slightly upward pull to your winch. If the winch location can be adjusted, then a corresponding location for the bow eye ought to be roughly midway up from the waterline. Use the accompanying exterior plate as well as the backing plate inside the hull - a hardwood, metal or abs plastic backing block will suffice to strengthen the installation glued-in-place with epoxy or 3M 5200 adhesive or similar product. Be sure to tape over the gel coat prior to drilling holes to minimize chipping and start the drill in reverse to begin the hole. Good luck - it's an easy job and well worth the effort!