INVESTIGATOR 563

Hi Folks, as already posted i picked up my "new " I563 #004 " from Sydney the other day and am in the process of getting sorted. The mast has THREE sets of shrouds coming off it. One fitted just under a swept back Spreader, a second one at the forestay hound and a third at the masthead. The top Two go through the spreader tip and meet up at the chain plate using a triangular piece of s/s plate and share that position. The third and lowest one which is lighter gauge is a bit of a mystery. I haven't attempted to put mast up yet so it's still a bit of a tangle from the delivery but I thought ide seek your advise before trying. I'm puzzled by THREE SHROUDS and only ONE DEE BOLT ( chain plate position ) Is anybody able to shed any light on the issue. It just seems a bit overkill to me but I'm new and ide appreciate any feedback.

The standard rig set up for the boat is that its a 7/8 rig with diamond stays.
The forestay, and port and stb stays come from the hound at approx 7/8 way up mast.
To support the mast below the hound there is a set of diamond stays. That is a diamond shape is formed by the stays coming from a tang just below the hound (from memory the tang is attached by the bolt going thru the hound at the top) over two short spreaders and back into the mast at another tang about a meter up from the deck. The idea of the diamond is the control sideways bend below the hound and to allow the bit above the hound to lay off to leeward as the mast bends forward in the middle. That's the simple geometry. No idea what masthead forestay is for unless its totally separate at bow to allow for some sort of roller reefed "extra"

Thanks for that. My previous boat (explorer 16 ) had the setup you have described.I think I will bring it back to the original arrangement. I'm not racing, just cruising about and not very far although I am on Port Phillip Bay so I want simplicity and safety. Is it possible to set it up so I have jib on furler and storm jib on seperate forestay ? The existing forestay seems to be a double setup with furler and although I have seen diagrams of it from the 80's I can't get my head around it . When I finally get the mast up perhaps all will be revealed. I think the convienience of a furler for the working jib with the ability to get it in and quickly deploy the storm jib would suit me. Thanks again.

This sounds like a bit of a modification, or maybe was an earlier design. The standard is just the one pair of shrouds, starting from the hounds off the side of the tang for the forestay. (See pic) . The diamond stays are connected just a little below this point. IMHO the mast is so heavy, that they are not all that necessary.

Looks like someone added a top shroud system using either modified, or the original diamond stay spreader. Not a bad idea as it provides some redundancy. The next step would be to add new extra chainplates, but they did not go that far. I am guessing that the extra set might be extra lowers,one pair forward of the top shrouds, and the other pair aft. However, again, if they are still using the U bolt chainplate, there is not a lot of advantage.

Thanks for the information. I noticed that it also has an extra forestay at the mast head as well and it appears to terminate to a reinforced fitting on the top of the pulpit. Would it be safe to remove all this clutter and simply use the original shrouds WITHOUT putting in diamond stays ?? I just want the rig to be as simple as possible without compromising safety.

Phil wrote:Thanks for the information. I noticed that it also has an extra forestay at the mast head as well and it appears to terminate to a reinforced fitting on the top of the pulpit.

The lower shrouds may be check stays.

Thanks Steve, I'll Google that one !