Mast - how many items do you have hanging off?

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cruiserpete
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:20 pm

Mast - how many items do you have hanging off?

Post by cruiserpete »

Hi all,

Just organising the placement of cleats and jammers on my deck and wondered how many items people have hanging off their mast.

Looking over my mast I've got:
Fractional rig Jib halyard (exits mast base to starboard ) running outside the mast from a simple horn cleat up to the block & swivel and back down to raise the Jib

Mast head spinnaker halyard (exits mast base to starboard ) exiting near the bottom of the mast and running inside the mast to a sheave at the very top

Adjustable Topping lift exiting near the bottom (exits mast base to port ) of the mast and running inside the mast to a sheave at the very top

I've also got 4 shrouds & a diamond stay
2x lower mounted just under the spreaders
2x upper shrouds mounted at the jib halyard block (about 7/8th up the mast)
Diamond stay totally independent of the shrouds
Back stay (as mentioned in previous post with weird insulator setup along its length)

Mast head light
Boom of course - the original roller boom but have researched some interesting boom brakes whilst still utilising the roller boom.

I'm about to add:
Mast head VHF antenna (working out best way to terminate at the deck)
Mast head wind direction/speed transducer (working out best way to terminate at the deck)
Masthead LED light (new)

Essentially, I'm interested in what others use on their mast and I'm also thinking of adding a second forestay and a spinnaker/whisker pole topping lift although the spinnaker pole is not essential at the stage.

Any thoughts and/and or comments on your own mast set up?
Last edited by cruiserpete on Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ozzie
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Re: Mast - how many items do you have hanging off?

Post by Ozzie »

I only have the main halyard inside the mast Pete, and the wire core for my mast head light . Everything else is external. Jib is self contained on the furler and I have fitted an extra forestay with its own hound as per my last haulout spiel. Stays etc are standard.

Only advice is watch out for rattling wires in your mast . On a quite night this sounds like a pack of mice playing star wars with a cutlery set inside an aluminium didgeridoo . And makes it impossible to sleep. You can pull halyards tight and that helps but electrical wires are a nuisance . I've heard sticking wire ties and leaving the ends long cushions the noise but if you have a lot of stuff inside your mast this may cause havoc. Next time I replace my light wire I'm going to coat it with sika as I pull it through with the mast laying down on its forward edge so the wire will stick fast to the inside front wall of th mast. I hope.....

Others may have better ideas.
Ozzie
Investigator #143 "SPRITZIG II"

The Mariner - “It’s too strange here. It doesn’t move right." ...
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Dr. Peter
Posts: 377
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:19 am
Location: Zeerust Victoria

Re: Mast - how many items do you have hanging off?

Post by Dr. Peter »

OK,

Single shrouds on each side plus diamond stay.

Forestay is built into furling headsail.

spinnaker halyard - I use mine for a code zero - it exits near the top of the mast and is fed through a block about four inches below the exit (forget the technical name)

Mainsail halyard exits at the top of the mast and near the base.

I have two horn cleats on the bottom of my mast.

I have a boom that allows roller reefing.

I have a fixed length topping lift to hold the boom up when storing the main on the boom. I attach this to the back stay when not required.

The backstay goes to the top of the mast. Its has a 4:1 block arrangement for tensioning. Its loose when I stand the mast and when moored, and tensioned before sailing.

Very simple.
Peter
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no way
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Re: Mast - how many items do you have hanging off?

Post by no way »

You need to make sure that what ever you do the last sheave (ie the one before the sail itself) swivels otherwise the spinnaker oscillating or when shy can easily cause the halyard to jump off and jam next the sheave - big problem. I have a yolk type hound near the masthead with a swivel block - the halyard then enters the mast through a faired slot. The slot is only about 30mm long and 10mm wide and round at both top and bottom ends. With a 12 mm rod you can depress the top end and lift the bottom edge slightly for a smooth feed. All done with a drill and a rat tail file. Holes that close to the masthead are above the loaded areas of the mast.
cruiserpete
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:20 pm

Re: Mast - how many items do you have hanging off?

Post by cruiserpete »

Hi all,

Wow, a 2014 post popping up, got to love Investigator 563's

I did not end up running a spinnaker or roller furling and only ran the jib that was supplied with the Investigator 563.
I sold my lovely I563 before I could move forward on spinnakers and furlers but they were always on the cards.

My intentions were to use the Ronstan dinghy style simple roller furler with the matching swivel at the top and put a stopper in place to stop halyard twist (although not a major concerns, it's amazing how these seemingly impossible events when the wind pipes up, your in a sloppy sea and hey presto the halyard that never twisted...twist, it's always the way. Thus I was intending to put a halyard twist style stopped at the top of the mast as a contingency.

The spinnaker never eventuated so the pole was only used for wing/wing

On a side note, I've noticed my beautifully refurbished but rather sad condition now i563 is still for sale in Devonport, it's tempting to buy her again, but I've already got a Huon Pine Gaff rig clinker dinghy (a $30,000 raffle prize I was absolutely fortunate enough to win )

Sorry I could not add more to this conversation and it's been 3 yachts since I owned my i563 so the memory of fittings and the like have fades somewhat :-(

Cheers,
Pete
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