Bruce Tipton is an accomplished Port Townsend based spar maker. Bruce will build the Sitka Spruce mast, gaff and boom. Bruce will also install as much of the rig as possible before shipping to Galveston. In an effort to document the details as shown on the sail and spar plan drawings I have tried to describe the various components that make up the standing rigging below:
The cap shroud is attached to the mast band that also supports the jib halyard block and the upper peak halyard block. The lower end of the cap shroud is attached to a single chain plate in the same fashion as the lowers. Also on this upper mast band on the aft side next to the upper peak halyard block is the upper end of the topsail and trys’l leader. If this leader line is permanently set it should stand well off the mast. Perhaps it should be on a Pelican hook so it can be set up only when needed?
The sail plan calls for the forestay to bridle to the mast with support from a chock on the aft face of the mast. But since the stays’l halyard block on the forward side of the mast and the throat halyard crane on the aft face of the mast will both be at this same height maybe a mast band that accommodates all three is a good solution? The new bronze gammon iron cum anchor roller assembly is designed to accept the forestay at the deck on its Y shaped fitting just above the inboard end of the bowsprit. If a pelican hook could be a part of the forestay end fitting, it could be easily released and tied back to the mast so that a light air genoa or the asymmetrical spinnacker could be easily tacked through the foretriangle. Mr. Burnett disapproves de-tuning the rig in this fashion.
The head stay is positioned a few feet above the mast band that secures the cap shroud and upper peak halyard block. Since all sails set on the sprit end will be free flying the headstay is only assigned to mast support duties. And its only companion at this altitude is the spinnaker halyard block on a strop so no need for a mast band here. The head stay will attach on a soft eye against a thumb attached to the aft face of the mast; and at the bowsprit end on a bronze turnbuckle pinned to the cranseiron.
The running backstays attach on the port and starboard side of the mast at the lower peak halyard block location. A mast band with 3 or 4 eyes and toggles can stay these and the lower peak halyard block. How to attach the runners on deck is less clear to me. They have to be easily accessed on the inside of the bulwarks so deck mounted pad eyes would serve better than chain plates. The leads should be fair to the self-tailing jib winches but not rely solely on them. They should be on a purchase and secure to a cleat or a cam cleat. I need to sit in the cockpit and take some measurements to see how these lines will fall.
OK I think I got everybody; two aft lowers at the spreader, 2 cap shrouds at the upper peak block in company with the jib halyard, the forestay between the lower peak halyard block and the spreader with the headstay, a pair of runners at the lower peak halyard block and lastly a topsail leader line running from the upper peak halyard block mast band to the main deck.
Materials list:
- Dux for 4 shrouds, forestay, headstay, 2 runner pennants, tops’l leader, sprit stays and luff rope for genoa, jib and yankee head sails.
- Black terminators and deadeyes for shrouds and stays.
- New England V-100 line in black for lashings.
- Bronze opening gaff span saddle.
- Coligo luff line furler.
- Bronze turnbuckles for forestay, headstay and sprit stays.
- Bronze rod for bobstay.
- Three black anodized aluminum (keep it light) mast bands, or just stick with bronze.
- Tufnel blocks-singles, doubles and fiddles.
- Gaff and main boom goosenecks.
- Reef comb and bee blocks for reef pennants.
- Bronze leathered gaff saddle.
- Mast hoops black PVC.
- Boom bale (send existing one).
- Bronze deck pad eyes for running backstays.
- Bronze mast bands.
3 comments:
David, I am less impressed with the synthetic "dux" line system with each reading of the material about it. UV degradation looks like a critical issue as does the collection of mixed metals, aluminium, titanium, etc in the assembly. The rigging on this vessel is not overly heavy when done in the traditional manner. The chainplates which you already own are set up for wire and turnbuckles, a system with long lifespan and easy adjustment and all in the same material, no battery created, litlle corosion potential over time and no UV issues.
Roger on that, Bruce. Since the gaff plan has only two shrouds we should up-size from 1/4" to 9/32".
Well, I completely disagree w/ Bruce and David!
I have opted for the vectran v-100 line (as recommended by Brion Toss, also in PT) for my standing rigging, with Precourt hardware.
Brion's website has a great discussion board (I'm not dissing Bruce at all- I hear good things about him). Similarly, Andrew Schwenk, of Northwest Rigging, Inc., has written about the use of rope rigging, and spoke about it recently at a forum, here in Seattle (I couldn't attend b/c I was standing an 800 lb. steel mast, but I had a dear friend's ears there who gave me a blow-by blow).
I did a lot of research when reaching the decision to get away from 1x19 316 wire and its suceptibility to catastrophic failure due to oxygen starvation- the V-100 has a poly shield for uv protection and I'll add rubber tubing anywhere chaffing might be an issue. Suages, and even staloks, just make me paranoid. I am stowing enough line to rerig entirely while underway, too... instead of having a dynex or vectran emergency shroud kit. I'm not down on stainless steel, I just think the number of fail-points is greater with S.S. and having deadeyes simply provides yet more redundancy.
Between Bruce, Brion, and Andrew all eyeing (pun) rope standing rigging- all three of them very well known around the world for their work- I feel really good about my decision to do a high-tech traditional hybrid mod on my boat. I would caution you against roller furling, however (even though I can see it already installed)... not for all the reasons of "jambing" I have recited to me, though- but because it is the #1 cause of dismasting. But that's just my 2 cents worth.
BTW- beautiful rehab. Sea Star is gorgeous.
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