Adding a bowsprit

[jssailem]

@letlmt What to do is all about how your going to sail the boat.

With my Montgomery, I designed the sprit out of a 4ft, 2 inch diameter thick wall aluminum pipe. I has a plate made for the bow with a welded sleeve for the pipe. I built a clamp base on the fore deck to lock down the on deck end of the sprit. THe sprit extended about 1.5 feet off the bow. A tack line went from a block in the end of the sprit to the cockpit. This allowed controls of the tack. Sheets were run from the sail clew to friction less rings on the stern. I ran a halyard up the mast through a block on a Ronstan Mast Hound to raise and lower the sail. I had Elliot & Pattison make me an asymmetrical to the specifications of the boat and sprit.
This was for recreational light wind sailing on lakes, and to see if I could do it on a boat that did not have a design for such a sail. It turned out beautiful. Sailed well single handed. Found it easier to gybe than to tack as I just let the sail go forward and then pulled it in on the other side. I used a tiller clutch to manage the helm while I changed the sail.
Here is the first sail with my bow sprit and spinnaker.

 

[letlmt]

Thank you all for your input. I think this project is going to have to be put on the back burner. I do not have the resources to do the work myself and I think the cost of the sprit, top-down furler, and labor from the boat yard would be well over $4,000. Plus I am not sure that I am willing to make such a dramatic change to my new boat, maybe if the boat were used I would have done it.

 

[Slartibartfass]

Thank you all for your input. I think this project is going to have to be put on the back burner. I do not have the resources to do the work myself and I think the cost of the sprit, top-down furler, and labor from the boat yard would be well over $4,000. Plus I am not sure that I am willing to make such a dramatic change to my new boat, maybe if the boat were used I would have done it.

If you ever decide to go forward PM me and we can talk and I can walk you through. It was nerve racking to drill holes and I was planning this for month with various mock ups made of pvc pipe and plenty of measuring..... the work itself is not so difficult. Getting the placement right is the hard part....

 

[Sailavie1]

I built my own folding bowsprit and it worked great for a Code0. I later extended it so I can fly both a Code0 and jib together like a cutter rig. It folds vs retracts and keeps my anchor locker door accessible all the time. This winter I’m covering the S.S. Tubing with a cover for a cleaner look.

 

[RussC]

Thats some hard core fabrication work there Nice job!!
have you found it stable enough side to side without side stays?

 

[Sailavie1]

have you found it stable enough side to side without side stays?

No issues yet. If anything, it’s a bit over built.

 

[odj22sailor]

I went with the C-Sprit. I would consider this to be a more race oriented setup.

 

[AlastairLC]

I think this project is going to have to be put on the back burner

Something to plan for in the future maybe.
In the meantime you might find a used asymmetrical. Fly it from your bow with a sock. The Sail Warehouse has two packages for your boat at $1000. Good luck!

 

[letlmt]

Thanks

 

[Meriachee]

Something to plan for in the future maybe.
In the meantime you might find a used asymmetrical. Fly it from your bow with a sock. The Sail Warehouse has two packages for your boat at $1000. Good luck!

There's no requirement at all to have a sprit. If you don't even have a kite yet, start there, get a sock. The sprit provides two things, it keeps the kite away from the appliances on the boat and sets the stage for top down. The world won't end without a sprit, and if your weather is anything like ours, having a very large piece of nylon is the difference most days between firing up the engine, or not.

 

[letlmt]

I have an asymmetrical spinnaker with an ATN sock on order with the boat.

I was intrigued by the bowsprit because it would hold up the lazy sheet and allow the sail to project more into the wind. Then I found out about the top down furlers which was really interesting because I will be sailing by myself most of the time. However, in the end it all just became too expensive to warrant without proving the spinnaker and sock method to be unworkable. I am also nervous about making such a drastic change to the boat before even taking delivery of it. If it were offered as a factory option, I would have grabbed it in a second.

 

[Meriachee]

Personally I would forget about the lazy sheet thing. With a top down it's actually faster to roll it up, turn, unroll it than to screw around with sheets, main, rudder, and do it without spilling your beer. I got some Marlow line that's a pretty orange and grey colour that weighs absolutely nothing, blew the cordage budget and gets walked around the stick. In zero air, it actually helps the sail stay inflated. Two lengths of it would be the difference between filling the kite or not a lot of the time.

 

[letlmt]

That is a good point, I should get some super light sheets. I like that

 

[Slartibartfass]

Trogear has a 15% off sale: https://trogearusa.com/

 

[jepomer]

I have been experimenting with Selden's GX-7.5 top-down furler and deck-mounted removable bowsprit.

The bowsprit works very well. I did need to move the bow cleats back about six inches for clearance and to allow the proper support locations. Other bowsprit configurations I explored would not allow sufficient clearance of the bow pulpit.

The other problem I had was that the spinnaker headboard was too stiff and too broad interfering with the top-down furling aspect. I have removed a portion of the headboard but may still have to relocate the spinnaker halyard mast block a few inches higher.

 

[Windy City]

I installed a Selden Bow Sprit. I added a Bobstay just for insurance.

 

[AlastairLC]

Ditto.

 

[delling3]

I would agree with a bobstay for a Catalina 30. For a Capri 22, I believe that even the smallest Selden sprit is over-engineered for the loads on a asymmetric spinnaker, and is not needed.

 

[Bill19233]

I have less than a hundred bucks in the sprit I made. I use it with my code 0 and code 3. No holes in the deck, no bob stay (yet), and easily removable. It handles pretty rough treatment.
https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/no-drill-bowsprit.129803/

 

[Sailavie1]

I just finished building a fibreglass cladding over my SS folding bowsprit. It’s a bit unorthodox but she works just fine.