192 set-up

[shozbot]

Hi,

I'm new to sailing and bought a 192 late last season. I'm starting to think that my boat has been modified but am not sure since I have nothing to go by. I'm thinking that the mast is not orginal since the sail stop that I bought from D&R marine does not fit. Also, the masthead sheave does not look right either.

Can anyone provide some close up pictures of their boat including mast and rigging or is there one in the area that I could look out? I'm in Connecticut. Boat is moored in Clinton.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[toddco]

Steve,
It might be faster if you take a picture of what you have and then the world can comment on its origin.

Todd

 

[shozbot]

Sure. Will post some pictures. However, today I learned from D&R Marine that my mast is not a DAMCO but a Z-Spar which I'm finding is less common.

 

[shozbot]

Here are some pictures of my boats hardware.

 

[jbulot@yahoo.com]

86 O'Day 192

I have an 86, and while I'm not the original owner, yours looks pretty similar to mine.

 

[Sunbird22358]

O'DAY used several different spar supplier over their history, Z-Spar was one, DWYER (DAMCO) was another, there was also Kenyon, Zephyr, Isomat.
If you need specific parts, check with Rig-Rite.

The Masthead Sheave should be held in by a clevis pin, not a bolt so that is one "modification" made by a previous owner (perhaps the sheave was replaced before?) but everything else looks normal.

 

[shozbot]

Thanks Sunbird! Do you know what size sheave I should have and the size of the mainsheet as well?

 

[Joe11688]

Here are some pictures of my boats hardware.

Steve,
What may have happened is that the mast sheave may have got broken and the PO used a stainless steel bolt for the sheave axle which is perfectly acceptable.
You see,-- the sheave pins on the Z-Spar mast head and the Jib block are pressed into place and once you remove them, they don't stay in place that well.
All the extrusions on these masts were mfg in France and they were assembled in the states. Z-Diffusion was located in Bristol RI back then and they've since folded up.

I ran into the same problem with my Z-Spar mast when my pulley broke and I took my pulley down to D&R Marine and matched it up. Rudy told me that is was OK to use a stainless steel bolt as long as it isn't fully threaded. In fact I needed to insert a stainless steel bushing inside the pulley for the bolt to fit, as the hole was too large. I also had to drill out the hole in the mast head for the bolt to fit.

As far as the sail stop is concerned. A regular sail stop won't fit in the track feed on these masts. These type of sail stops are a pain in the butt anyway. A much easier, cheaper, and better solution is to use a short piece of 3/16" braid line of about 15" long. Tie the center of the braid with a strong twine to the top of your mast winch bracket and use a slipped reef knot to secure the last sail slide in the mast track.

When you reef your mainsail you'll need to untie this braid line and drop the last sail slide out of the mast track and retie the braid under the next sail slide. Then you can reef the sail. Dropping the sail slide out of the track will prevent it from binding. The sail slide can break with all the tension on it.

I'm not sure if the mast winch on the 192 Z-Spar mast is above the track feed like the O'Day 222. If you're not able to use the mast winch to support the sail stop line, you could always use a nylon wire tie and a screw to hold it in place. This also applies to anyone who has a mast without the winch and wants a great dependable sail stop.
Years ago I just used to untie the braid line and stick it in my teeth to hold it while I dropped the sail slide out of the mast. It's easier to just keep the braid line attached to the mast somehow.

Try this because I think that you'll find it a heck of a lot easier and faster than one of those knob type sail stops that you're more than likely to lose over the side anyway.

 

[shozbot]

Thanks Joe for your pictures and for your comments on the masthead sheave as well as the sailstop. I believe that a light goes on the masthead but mine was obviously broken since the holes in the masthead, I think, have broken bolts in it. If I were to get a new masthead from rigrite is that difficult to attach to the mast?

 

[Joe11688]

Thanks Joe for your pictures and for your comments on the masthead sheave as well as the sailstop. I believe that a light goes on the masthead but mine was obviously broken since the holes in the masthead, I think, have broken bolts in it. If I were to get a new masthead from rigrite is that difficult to attach to the mast?

It depends on how you plan on attaching the mast head to the mast. If you're planning on installing an anchor light, you're going to want to be able to get at the wires to the light some day if you ever have a problem in the wiring. To me, it would make no sense to rivet a new mast head in place and have to mess with rivets every time you needed to get at the light wire or the coaxial cable for your antenna.
I would drill out the rivets that are holding the mast head in place with a drill bit just wide enough to remove the flange on each rivet. You could also use a Dremel Tool with a grinder bit to do this.
Later, the mast can be tapped for threads and you could use machine screws to secure it back again.
My mast head has two 5/16" bolts holding it to the mast. The bolts are bent so that they go through the sides of the mast and come up through two holes in the top of the mast head. This makes it pretty easy to get my mast head out to work on wiring.
Your mast head extrusion has a flange that fits into the mast so you could get away with stainless steel machine screws to secure it.

To be honest with you, my mast has a masthead light at the top and I don't even use it. I've probably only used it two or three times since I've owned the boat and I do a lot of overnighters on my boat every week. She doesn't draw much water and I usually anchor in places where most boats aren't going to slam into me at night. I also try to keep the drain on my battery at a minimum. I need power for my autopilot and my VHF radio, and that's it.

One thing you may want to do is add a stainless steel strap just inside the backstay connection for an attachment point for a topping lift and get rid of the pig tail on your backstay which is used for holding your boom up.

 

[shozbot]

Thanks Joe for your continued help. I'm sure its simple but it would be great if you could snap a pix or 2 of your backstay connection.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[shozbot]

Also, are you going to the o'day rendevous in Clinton? I keep my boat in Clinton so I'm already there.

 

[Joe11688]

Thanks Joe for your continued help. I'm sure its simple but it would be great if you could snap a pix or 2 of your backstay connection.

Thanks,

Steve

Steve,
After I bought my traveler and mounted it near my companionway, I had the guy at Rig-Rite remove my triangular plate from my backstay and he talked me into buying a used Johnson Hand-Lock and mounting it under my open turnbuckle on the backstay which turned out to be one of the greatest improvements I've ever made to my boat. The HL is similar to a backstay adjuster but I've always used it to loosen or tighten my forestay for taking my mast down. I never need to touch my side stays when I do this. You can imagine the time that is saved in raising or lowering a mast with one of these gadgets on your backstay. Will it work on other boats? I really don't know. A guy would need to connect his Jib halyard to his forestay chainplate and cleat it off. Then he'd need to loosen his backstay turnbuckle and check to see if there is enough slack in the forestay to remove it. Extra tension on the Jib Halyard may be required to do this especially if the guy has a roll furler connected to it.

The rigger needed to move my open turnbuckle up higher on the backstay in order to make room for the HL.

He had to add a short piece of stay wire with a swadged marine eye fitting on the end which had to connect to the toggle strap under the turnbuckle.
When I want to remove the backstay through the hole in my mast head, I only need to disconnect the HL at the backstay chainplate and unscrew the open turnbuckle from the upper swadged threaded bolt.

In the third pic you can see the bolts and nuts sticking out the top of the mast head. The bolt head on one of them is seen going through the side of the mast. It's actually bent to an "L" shape so that it can go straight up through the mast head to hold it in place.

Where yours has a flange that is riveted on through the side of the mast, you could drill and tap your mast head for small threaded bolts. Always use thread cement on them such as Devcon Lock-Tite or they might vibrate out. Sorry about that last pic. This could be a good time to do neck exercises.