Have 1995 Hunter 26. Want to attach my swivel shackle with spinnaker halyard block to outside of mast about 12 inches above my furler forestay. Should I use a forestay eye, pad eye, or mast hound, or are any of them acceptable to which to attach the swivel shackle? The front of the Hunter mast is about 3.5 inches wide and almost flat (a little beveled to aft on each side of the mast center line).
Spinnaker: Attaching halyard block to mast with pad eye, forestay eye or mast hound
- Thread starter DocLex
- Start date
You really:
1) Don't want to go too much above the hounds.
2) Don't want to have only 2 rivets holding the halyard load to the mast; be that either the 2 from the sheave or 2 from a padeye. Big load. Ideally you would run the halyard down a bit to a halyard restrainer that is secured by 4 SS rivets.
Floating halyard blocks are OK on masthead boats with secure bails at the masthead. Not for fractional boats.
1) Don't want to go too much above the hounds.
2) Don't want to have only 2 rivets holding the halyard load to the mast; be that either the 2 from the sheave or 2 from a padeye. Big load. Ideally you would run the halyard down a bit to a halyard restrainer that is secured by 4 SS rivets.
Floating halyard blocks are OK on masthead boats with secure bails at the masthead. Not for fractional boats.
Tx. Yes last year you told me not to go above 12 inches above the forestay (furler) attachment to secure my block (the mast does NOT have an internal block at this height and, therefore, I'm going for an outside mount). So, are any of my three choices (which would have at least 4 holes for attachment) be OK in your opinion?
Yes. Robustness is the key here. Unlike most sheave loads that pull down (in shear), spin halyards pull outward in tension. Big difference.
The big key is distributing the load with any attachment on the mast. There is a trick instead of riveting. Buy a short stock of thick alum. tubing and cut about a foot long piece. Remove the mast head and attach the turning block by attaching ss bolts thru the mast and the tubing. Make sure to use neoprene or rubber washers so there will be no reaction to dissamaler metals. Apply lock nuts and that should solve that issue. The tubing distributes the load along the mast.
I like Dave's basic idea, here's maybe a better more proven approach.
Keep in mind I think this is a good trick for a REALLY loaded up sections, like babystays or Code-0 halyards. But for a simple spinnaker for a H26 I think a good 4-point halyard restrainer will keep you going.
And in any case use Tef-Gel to protect against dissimilar metal corrosion. Much better and easier then rubber washers.
Instead of a common round tube which will almost never lay perfectly against the inside wall of the mast, call your mast supplier and get a foot-long section of existing extrusion. US-Spars will do this for sure for a few bucks. Cut the back 1/3 of it off, and lightly sand the mast and the inside of the section. Slather it up with 5300 and snap in place. SS rivets in the corners. When the devil glue sets God could not take it apart.
Putting it on the outside solves the nasty problem of reaching down beyond a few inches. No way you get to the hounds on a H26.
Keep in mind I think this is a good trick for a REALLY loaded up sections, like babystays or Code-0 halyards. But for a simple spinnaker for a H26 I think a good 4-point halyard restrainer will keep you going.
And in any case use Tef-Gel to protect against dissimilar metal corrosion. Much better and easier then rubber washers.
Instead of a common round tube which will almost never lay perfectly against the inside wall of the mast, call your mast supplier and get a foot-long section of existing extrusion. US-Spars will do this for sure for a few bucks. Cut the back 1/3 of it off, and lightly sand the mast and the inside of the section. Slather it up with 5300 and snap in place. SS rivets in the corners. When the devil glue sets God could not take it apart.
Putting it on the outside solves the nasty problem of reaching down beyond a few inches. No way you get to the hounds on a H26.
I recently contacted US Spar regarding fittings for installing a spinnaker on my 23.5. Here is part of the response:
..........Use assembly #3032 instead of part #1768. The box should be no
closer than 150mm to the headstay attachment and no higher than 600mm from
the cap shroud attachment............
Your section is different so the part numbers may also be.
Here is their contact info:
Matthias Klemm
Rigging Specialist
phone: 386-462-3760
toll-free: 800-928-0786
cell: 352-222-1442
fax: 386-462-3448
email: rigging@usspars.com
web: www.usspars.com
US Spars Inc
6320 NW 123rd Place
Gainesville, Florida 32653
..........Use assembly #3032 instead of part #1768. The box should be no
closer than 150mm to the headstay attachment and no higher than 600mm from
the cap shroud attachment............
Your section is different so the part numbers may also be.
Here is their contact info:
Matthias Klemm
Rigging Specialist
phone: 386-462-3760
toll-free: 800-928-0786
cell: 352-222-1442
fax: 386-462-3448
email: rigging@usspars.com
web: www.usspars.com
US Spars Inc
6320 NW 123rd Place
Gainesville, Florida 32653
The 1768 part is the halyard sheave for the Z230 mast that the H260 has. I know the recommended 3032 part well, that is the sheave from the larger Z260 mast that my First 260 has. I have one sitting on my desk! They are recommending a simple up-size to handle the spin load. But its still just two rivets. Your choice!
[QUOTE="Jackdaw, post: 1286777, They are recommending a simple up-size to handle the spin load. But its still just two rivets. Your choice![/QUOTE]
These boxes mount inside the mast. The rivets mainly hold it in the mounting position. The castings and mast wall bear the tension loads created by the spinnaker.
These boxes mount inside the mast. The rivets mainly hold it in the mounting position. The castings and mast wall bear the tension loads created by the spinnaker.
Those two parts do not.
The fore-stay box has a lip that does that, but the 3230/1768 sheaves do not. Fully externally mounted, the rivets take 100% of the load. And made of plastic. I'm holding one in my hand right now.
Hoyt-Allen is the only company that I know that makes a lipped halyard box.
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Thanks for that " heads up". Without having researched the recommendation from US Spar I'd assumed they were the same.
I had origonally inquired about part 1051 which does mount inside the mast. I ASSUMED ( you know what that means) the others would mount the same way. My bad. Jackdaw, thanks for correcting me.
I had origonally inquired about part 1051 which does mount inside the mast. I ASSUMED ( you know what that means) the others would mount the same way. My bad. Jackdaw, thanks for correcting me.
All good! As I noted, Holt-Allen is the only company I know that makes boxed spin sheaves for smaller boats. The single rivet simply holds it secure, The lower lip INSIDE the mast hold the load by pressing against the section, not pulling on a rivet.
This looks like it's split so it can be installed from the outside and bolted together after the flanges are slid inside?? I like it and the Holt-Allen which also looks like the flange can be slid in from the outside. The tri-combo box I was looking at US Spar had to be mounted completely from inside but it also was the forestay mount so it had to be completely supported by flanges against the mast.