SPINNAKER QUESTION

[mrgnstrn]

how is the halyard run for your (all y'all's) spinnaker?
does it run through a block on a crane at the masthead and external to the mast?
or does it run through a block on a crane and into the sheave on the mast and then inside the mast to the step?
or is it just through the sheave at the masthead, without crane and extra block?

currently i only have one halyard up there, which stays up all the time due to the roller furling. when i called a rigging shop about helping me out with rigging the spin, they told me that it was going to be quite complicated, crane, external block, and external halyard.

any thoughts?
thanks

[Mike Goodwin]

#45 and #105 are both external from the masthead. I keep both ends tied to the bow pulpit on both boats.

[Dan Maliszewski]

Same same on #199 Ariel. Plus a block for the spinnaker pole lift about halfway up the mast, also external. And don't forget the sliding spinnaker pole ring about three feet up from the mast base on it's own track. And the extra sheet blocks WAY back near the stern on rails. And the new cupholders you'll need to contain the additional libations needed when you try to set the 'chute and keep it filled.

[Hull376]

Ditto on 376, external at masthead. Should not be complicated!

[mrgnstrn]

i was planning on just putting a standard bolt-on mast ring for the pole. i have a fiend with the whole "mast-ring on a car on a track and extra rigging and winch to adjust it vertically" but want to keep it simple.

if i was to just put a ring on the mast, how high off the deck? 3', 3.5' 4' etc?

the bastardized thing about my boat is that it has the pole, has the extra turning blocks at the extreme aft of the toe-rail, extra sheets labeled spin-sheets, and for that matter, the darn spinnaker.
but somewhere along the line, the PO must have re-rigged the mast or totally replaced. my other evidence is the fact that there is a used boom vang, but no attachment points on the boom or mast for it. and the spinnaker, sheets, topping lift, pole and everything, but no hardware on the mast to attach it to. it is totally weird and inconsistent.

now to the details of the external halyard blocks:
where did you buy the masthead ring they are attached to? did it come with the boat? any ideas on where to buy one so that this whole rigging thing could be DIY?

much grass.

[Dan Maliszewski]

376 is right - this is not a complicated rig. If it ever quits raining today here in Jersey, I'll try and get some pictures of the rig on Adele M. I'm sure it's just a block shackled to the masthead with a braided halyard..

[mrgnstrn]

it would be really cool and much appreciated if someone could take a closeup of their masthead.

last time i looked up there, i couldn't see anything i could hang a block off of. seriously! but i am going to really closely study it this weekend when i take a trip up the mast.

[ebb]

gee, if Buzz Ballenger would buzz me
to say he'd completed 338s new masthead
fitting with a spinaker bail welded on
I could at least described it in so many words.

Would anybody care to enumerate just
what is the ideal
masthead fitting
for external lines?

The sheeve in the mast is frozen solid.
What other good things would be
handy to have way
up there on the top?

More blocks? a douple sheeve?
Something special about the bail?

[Bill]

We removed and repaired the large masthead sheave by inserting a bronze bearing. There are drawings in the manual. It seems to me that saving that sheave would be a good idea. Other halyards can be (and are) used with blocks attached to the mast below the masthead pulley.

[Tony G]

nine replys and nobody has a picture of a spinaker

[Bill]

To see a spinnaker go to the Gallery fourm and find the WINTER RACING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA thread. There's a spinnaker photo about five or so down.

[Dan Maliszewski]

My avoirdupois inhibits my mast acrobatics these days, but here are a few digital squints at the Adele M's masthead. Although rigged, I do not fly the dreaded spinnaker. Death roll and all that....

[mrgnstrn]

do i have this labeled correctly?

[Dan Maliszewski]

Yes, Captain, except what looks like a spin topping lift block is really that fitting between the jib halyard wire and rope. Here are some more pix..

[Dan Maliszewski]

A little different angle..