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Fixing a spinnaker rope clutch to the mast


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Whats the approved method?

I'm thinking drill the mast, fit the appropriate rivnuts, fix to the rivnuts using 316 hardware.

Stainless or ali rivnuts?  Wide flange, or standard?  Blind, or through-threaded?

Or am I doing this wrong?

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1 hour ago, aardvarkash10 said:

Whats the approved method?

I'm thinking drill the mast, fit the appropriate rivnuts, fix to the rivnuts using 316 hardware.

Stainless or ali rivnuts?  Wide flange, or standard?  Blind, or through-threaded?

Or am I doing this wrong?

better to drill and tap for the appropriate size machine screw.

Apply an anti seize coating to the screws - Tefgel is the best stuff

Isolate the fitting from the mast - cut a piece of plastic to size from the top of an ice cream container and place between mast and fitting

done!

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7 minutes ago, harrytom said:

This is a spinnaker hoist?? fixing to mast.Hmm run rope through a pulley back to a clucth near cabin top/cockpit.Easier to release in a hurry. 

Exactly what I was thinking.

Tradition (ie, port rounding Olympic courses) dictates that spinnaker lines run to starboard, while others lead to port. 

But why anyone would want to end a kite halyard on a mast, especially short handed, is beyond me.

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probably not the only clutch, i have always had two,  when racing or cruising it just makes it easier.  bowperson can hoist from the mast and the  the halyard is jammed with no input from the cockpit.  once finished pull the halyard through the aft jammer and release the one at the mast. Then the cockpit can control the drop.  The key is getting the one on the mast at the right height,  needs to be high to it can be hoisted easily,  but not too high it is hard to unjam.  I have mine just over 7ft off the deck so it is a stretch to open.

Drill and tap, try and avoid bits sticking into the mast as they will just catch other ropes

helpful hint, never release at the mast prior to confirming halyard is jammed on the cockpit jammer,  especially when the boat is travelling at 15kn plus,  things end badly

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Thanks for that everyone.  Its nice getting the wisdom of experience.

1 hour ago, madyottie said:

Tradition (ie, port rounding Olympic courses) dictates that spinnaker lines run to starboard, while others lead to port. 

 

Yeah, fabulous, but the mast is set up with the spinnaker halyard on the port-side.  I can still run it down to a block, through a turning block on the forward cabin top (there is a reinforced location there for a set of turning blocks), and then back to the cabin top port side.

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24 minutes ago, Young Entertainer said:

I have mine just over 7ft off the deck so it is a stretch to open.

The sheave exit from the mast is at about 5', so even with the clutch directly under it, the max height from the deck would be about 4.5' or 1.5m.  We aren't racing though, so I don't think the difference is critical is it?

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as I recall you have the spinnaker in a sock, so I take the counter view for short handed cruising it is easier to work from the mast, just have a block at the base of the mast that can swivel forward so you can run the halyard thru one hand and gather the sock'd spinnaker with the other

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10 minutes ago, marinheiro said:

as I recall you have the spinnaker in a sock,

We hope so.  It works static (no wind and tied up at the mooring) so yet to get used in anger Trials in real life first week of September.  But thanks for the option - it still leaves us free to triple the boat expenditure later by taking everything to the cockpit (just been sitting in the spa discussing that with the Captain.  She supports the cockpit controls, but vetoes the budget)

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8 hours ago, madyottie said:

But why anyone would want to end a kite halyard on a mast, especially short handed, is beyond me.

So you can deal with the halyard while you are on the foredeck?  How else are you going to hoist and retrieve without running backwards and forwards?

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7 hours ago, Dtwo said:

How else are you going to hoist and retrieve without running backwards and forwards?

From the cockpit works for me, you can do the same with a sock. You need to go forward to use the sock but you can still drop to the cockpit if necessary, much safer.

Set everything up then come back and hoist, you can adjust sheets if necessary too.

If you drop into cockpit you don't have to go forward at all until its safe to do so. Done it many times over 25 up to 35, never a problem. Its the hoist that's the bit that goes wrong.

 I used to drop forward if it was really light, halyard over the back was enough to control it. 

Andy Evans book is worth a read http://sfbaysss.org/resource/doc/SinglehandedTipsThirdEdition2.pdf

If you are struggling to control a spinnaker on the drop your wind angle is wrong, it should collapse behind the main and stay there. Letter box to be sure but you don't need to.

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Even single handed the mast works for me, a lot depends on the boat, conditions, size of the gear and wind strength. AA I presume you are two handed cruising? Then the mast is a good place because its so much easier to hoist by pulling downwards, if its fresh enough its very difficult to hoist the last metre or 3 if you dont have a speedy hoist. For the drop have a long tail on the halyard so you can control from the cockpit, I have a block at the mast base now but previously just led it under the reefing horn, someone goes forward releases the clutch, the cockpit person controls the drop while the bow gathers it in. Single handed its a bit trickier, if its light i prefer a windward drop otherwise you should be sailing deep and have the kite sheeted in behind the main to collapse it, burp about 1/3 of the halyard and it should suck in to the boat then start pulling it all in, nothing is ever neat. That singlehanded tips PDF is good but his boat is an Olsen 30, light, low loads and small kite, just keep that in mind that some of the techniques may need adjustment for your boat.

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we will never be single-handed unless one of us drops dead aboard (becoming a possibility).

We sail pretty conservatively - the Big Billowing Hanky will only ever be up and out in perfect conditions.  

Thanks for the continuing input everyone - its educational reading the different methods and different experiences and makes me think about what is actually happening as you do this stuff.

Can someone explain letterbox to me?

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It's pretty much a standard drop but you grab the sheet or lazy brace, feed it through the slot between the loose footed main and boom. Hence the analogy of "posting the kite through the letterbox" You are essentially pulling a fully collapsed kite into the boat and down the hatch safely from the hatch without putting someone on the heaving foredeck. Its a good conservative drop but it involves a bit of unclipping the gear and tidying up if you are racing- for cruising that doesnt matter as much.

 

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