I bought a 1969 Islander 34 at bargain price because others thought the boat was coming apart at the seams. The reality was inadequate support for the lower shroud chainplates. With only the deck as anchor, the plates distorted the deck near the gunnel and caused the toerail to pull out of the channel. I have seen the easy remedy, which is to use outboard chainplates, but they are unsightly on such a graceful hull, so that's not happening. I am considering moving them inboard to the side of the cabin, but am unsure whether that will provide enough lateral support of the mast. Fore and aft support should not be affected, though cabin portlight locations will require the plates to move slightly forward. Any input? Another design flaw is the mild steel support under the compression post that rusted out and collapsed slowly as puzzled owners compensated for loose rigging by adding shims to the top of the mast step on deck. I have removed what was left of the steel and am replacing it with a heavy glass verticle tube.
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You will have to
transfer the shroud loads to the hull by some means. There are several that work, Outboard chain plates are obvious but you ruled those out, so, the next method would be to weld a matching lug on the inside of the plates for the lowers and install a long link down to a point on the inside of the hull where you have glassed in an anchor lug. I don't think I would move the lowers closer to the mast. The load on the shroud is the ratio of the height of attachment to the distance from the mast. Another method of attachment would use a much larger anchor plate to distribute the load more. My Islander 30 has the wide deck with the port lights outside of the walkway. I choose to use out board chainplates and am quite pleased with them.
transfer the shroud loads to the hull by some means. There are several that work, Outboard chain plates are obvious but you ruled those out, so, the next method would be to weld a matching lug on the inside of the plates for the lowers and install a long link down to a point on the inside of the hull where you have glassed in an anchor lug. I don't think I would move the lowers closer to the mast. The load on the shroud is the ratio of the height of attachment to the distance from the mast. Another method of attachment would use a much larger anchor plate to distribute the load more. My Islander 30 has the wide deck with the port lights outside of the walkway. I choose to use out board chainplates and am quite pleased with them.
Got it.
OK, considering glassing a mahogany block to the inside of the hull and additionally bolting the chainplate on the inside of the block and through the hull, using a SS carriage bolt to minimize impact on appearance of the hull. ??
OK, considering glassing a mahogany block to the inside of the hull and additionally bolting the chainplate on the inside of the block and through the hull, using a SS carriage bolt to minimize impact on appearance of the hull. ??
I think that
you should consider a strong link to the hull so that the deck isn't carrying the stress of the shrouds. I have mine set up so that if I am sailing hard the lee shrouds are slightly slack. With the emphasis on slightly. Larry Pardey made a good point: when you are weathering a storm it is not a good time to start wondering if that or this is strong enough.
you should consider a strong link to the hull so that the deck isn't carrying the stress of the shrouds. I have mine set up so that if I am sailing hard the lee shrouds are slightly slack. With the emphasis on slightly. Larry Pardey made a good point: when you are weathering a storm it is not a good time to start wondering if that or this is strong enough.
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