+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Bow Sprit

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Orinda, California
    Posts
    2,311

    Bow Sprit

    Here's some interesting hardware at our dock -- a movable bowsprit that appears to be removable. Why go to all the work Ebb is contemplating, when you can easily add this bit of sail handling hardware. One carbon fiber tube and three clamping fixtures is all it takes . . .
    Attached Images      

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    San Rafael, CA
    Posts
    3,621

    Holy Gollywobblers

    Bill, you find the most frightening things sometimes!!!
    Last edited by ebb; 06-18-2008 at 04:49 AM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    San Rafael, CA
    Posts
    3,621

    carbon bow sprit

    It's 7/7/17 today. A guest is viewing this old post, that's how I get
    back here. There is forward? movement on the little-gull project.

    ARIEL CRS
    Sailmaker suggested we go with a bowsprit, turning the Ariel into
    a cutter rigged sloop. Some time ago built a A-shaped* aluminum
    pipe sprit, that I really liked. But weighs 20lbs without any rigging
    gear. Crunched weights for different woods and styles and found
    that any traditional bowsprit is out of the question for an Ariel.
    * A-style bowsprits are a way to avoid whisker or shroud stays
    needed for single pole side support. That rigging makes an anchor
    roller even more difficult to rig on the bow. Turns out any sprit on
    a cruising Ariel makes it hard to find room for an anchor.

    Thinking cruising, the bow will collect a lot of heavy gear making
    a heavy romantic sprit extra stupid and really dangerous.


    Along comes Trogear Marine Products with their A-Sprits, that
    are designed to fly asymmetric genoas off boats not originally
    created with a sprit. Sprit is attached to the nose of the bow with
    a 1/2" titanium rod thru a permanently epoxied to the boat: 1"
    G-10 tube. It acts as a hinge. The sprit is rigged with Dyneema
    shackles and similar material for block and tackle bobstay. 4-5lbs.

    Decided to install the A-Sprit more traditionally, so that the jib stay
    with furler helps support our deck-stepped mast. Henry, Trogear's
    inventor, came to the Ariel, and while nobody is fool enough to do
    what I thought I wanted, he said the sprit was strong enough for
    the compression loads. Working load: 2 metric tons!!
    Add bronze t'buckle, toggles, rod, for bobstay. 10lbs total?

    Had already planned to have a baby-stay. A clever Wichard mast
    stay fitting attached 18" lower than the shroud tangs. Imagined
    Solent style with highfield lever on the bow fitting. But now, with a
    'three foot sprit' rigged more permanent.
    The outer jib stay, for the asymmetric, can be hard rigged with a
    reefer/furler, but imagine** that it can still be made to hinge up,
    as it is designed, to shrink three feet off the length of the boat.
    (**Problem of course is how to deal with the foil & furler gear AND
    sail if we have to shorten the boat for a marina situation. Unless
    there is a direct way of doing it, knowing me, it'll be hard rigged.)

    Haven't figured out what to do about an anchor roller. The sprit is
    hinged outside the toerail, slightly below, to allow the hinge tube to
    cross side to side just under deck level inside. {Must be extremely
    careful positioning the tube -- we had to do it twice on litlgull!} It's
    positioned about 9-10" aft of the stem, right where anchor rollers
    and chocks are located on deck.

    Rollbar anchors, like Mantus, can't be housed. And if you look in on
    page 11, "New Generation Anchors" here in the Tech Forum, you'll
    find out that today's popular permanently weld-on rollbar anchors
    have serious problems for cruisers. Of course you can crank in any
    anchor as high as it goes, then reach over the pulpit and hand it
    on to the deck... then what?


    Trogear sprit is an amazing sleek work of carbon-tube art. UNcheap.

    YouTube: Trogear Bowsprits - The-A-Sprit
    Can't help but notice those CLOSE double reefer-furler forestays.


    ....aa a a h h h... so e z... wing on wing in the Trades!!
    .
    .
    .
    .
    Last edited by ebb; 03-11-2018 at 01:01 PM.

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts