16' Restoration... How do I rig this lady?

[christophermoorkelly]

I've spent the last year restoring this odd 16' racer. It seems like she's something of a custom kit build. Similar to a Pirate, Comet, Lightening, etc, but not quite. Anyway, I'm struggling to figure out the exact way to re-rig. Just working with the standing rigging for now, I'm sure I'll have questions about the running rigging later. Please forgive a novice's ignorance.

The sails are from a Hampton One (even have the logo), but those only have one set of spreaders. I have two. For mine, it seems like the stabilizers (diamond stay? jumper stay?) run from the top of the mast, over the top spreaders, through the bottom spreaders near the mast, and then attach. The mast is a bit forward of the two sets of chainplates.

I could go on about what I don't know and what I've tried (and I've been reading), but at this point really just looking for someone who knows what to do.

Notes: image is from the top of the mast down, forward side. One of the spreaders broke off on one of my test setups. Repairs underway.

 

[rgranger]

Nice looking boat. Should be a lot of fun once you get it all sorted out.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say your main sail has only one spreader.

Regarding your shrouds. It looks like you have to sets of chain plates on the side deck. On boats I have owned with two shrouds, the lower shroud has attached to the aft set of chain plates and the upper shroud to the forward. You can confirm if this is true for you by seeing which set will reach each chain plate.

 

[rgranger]

... on some rigs (notably the B & R rig) there is no back stay. The lower shrouds are slighly aft of the mast base and serve to keep the mast from falling forward. Yours might be rigged the same way but it is hard to tell from the pics. I don't see a back stay in your photo. If your aft chain plate is aft of the mast, you might have a B&R-like rig.

 

[christophermoorkelly]

Interesting. I sort of figured the high shroud would go to the aft chainplates. And, I meant that the Hampton One only has a single pair of spreaders while I have two. Also, both chainplates are aft of the mast step/tabernacle. Tried to get a better picture.

So now I'm wondering if the lower spreaders should be swept back to align with the forward chainplates. The way I aligned the bevels was so they would be perpendicular to the mast, but if they swept aft, then the high shrouds could possibly align with the forward plates. And the low shrouds would reach back to the aft plates. Seems like yeah, some sort of B&R rig. Hadn't read about them before.

Definitely no back stay.

 

[kloudie1]

I can see that a topping lift and mainsheet/traveler probably need to be rigged to help support the mast. When the main sail is on, it will tension the mast aft as a backstay would.. Don't sail it under headsail alone unless the topping lift and mainsheet is tensioned..
She is a beauty! The spreaders probably should be allowed to pivot aft, probably not rigidly fixed, so that the stays line up correctly..

 

[shemandr]

Is the configuration of the mast and shrouds shown on the driveway the way the boat came to you? If so, then why not use the chain plate in line with the mast for the uppers and the chain plate aft of the mast for the lowers (Like rgranger said). The lowers would keep the mast from falling forward - I think.
What about a forestay? I don't really see any provision for one like a tang on the mast head or near it facing forward. Is there another wire there? Is the wire flat against the mast long enough to be a forestay? If it is the forestay, that might explain the double spreaders. That would be a pretty extreme fractional rig and more support for the upper mast would be necessary. Normally jumper struts would be the way to do that. But maybe the diamond shrouds serve that function. I don't think I've ever seen a 16' boat with a double spreader rig!
But why? It's more complicated than it needs to be.
What about the sail(s)? I would expect a large main that would go up to that tunnel in the upper mast. In my forestay speculation there couldn't be much of a jib. Measure the foot of the jib if it exists and compare it to the distance from the bow to the mast. Does this mythical jib have a wire sewn into its luff? Sometimes that is the forestay. On the other hand you would need a furler for that setup.
I don't see ant mainsail track or provision for halyards.
It is an odd duck rig to me. It raises more questions than I have answers for.

 

[christophermoorkelly]

Odd duck rig indeed! The forestay is indeed there, it attaches right near the upper spreaders. Both sails seem to be right off the Hampton One, logo and all. I dug her out of some guy's yard and have been at it ever since.

I haven't made any modifications, since this rig is pretty foreign to me (obviously). The plan is to recreate whatever is there and then make any necessary mods over the winter. The Hampton One sails are definitely oversized for this boat. I ran the numbers and the CLR and CoE are pretty much right on top of each other too. She might sail like a wild mustang. Little unnerving, as I had to scarf the mast back together. It had obviously snapped before, but was poorly mended. Basically a router cut and wood strips plugged in, all wrapped in fiberglass. Rotted right out. Here are some more images:

 

[shemandr]

Nice job on the scarf! And the other wood work. In image_6968 the mast shows mildly sweptback spreaders. In which case I might reverse my Rx about which chainplates to use. With sweptback spreaders, the "Cap" shrouds usually run from aft of the mast to higher on the mast. The best suggestion would be to see what the length of the shrouds tells you.

 

[rgranger]

The best suggestion would be to see what the length of the shrouds tells you.

Get a 12 pack of good beer and draft a few neighbors to hold the mast up while you play with the shrouds.

 

[rgranger]

That looks like a really fun boat. I bet you will be able to get her to surf on a run....

 

[christophermoorkelly]

I'll see who I can scrounge up for another test fit. Good catch on the swept back low spreaders. I'll replicate that and see what shrouds line up. I have new wire rope ready to go once I figure it all out. And the boom is half varnished... if only the weather would work with me for a change.

I haven't even thought about the running rigging yet. It's been a year since I started... so close, yet still so much to do...