Bow pulpit modification to install Profurl drum?

[kito]

It got up in the mid 50's today in NC and suppose to get to the high 60's this weekend. I took a look at my project 79 H30 boat today to get ready for some work this weekend. I discovered that the forestay tang connection is very close to the cross brace on the pulpit where the nav light is connected. This boat came standard with the old Schaeffer cable luff furler and was attached about 5" aft of the forestay on a separate plate which gave clearance from the cross brace. I am just curious what other Hunter Cherubini furler setups are. Sounds like I need to get the ol' angle grinder out and cut out that pulpit cross brace and attach my nav light elsewhere.......CRAP!

 

[Stu Jackson]

Could you also not rephrase your question as:

ProFurl drum height modification to to clear bow pulpit?

My ProFurl came with options to install long link plates to raise the drum. I chose to raise it to have the foot of the sail clear the pulpit.

This could / may work for you.

Good luck.

 

[kito]

Stu, I do have the long links and still not long enough. The links would have to be 2 feet long to clear. This is a problem regardless of the furler type. It IS a pulpit mod and not a furler mod. Just looking for other Cherubini owners that may have installed their own furler or knows what their rigger did to make it work. The forestay is about 2" from the cross brace on the bow rail pulpit at about 14" up from the deck.

 

[Dalliance]

Kito,
You can zoom in on the attached image to see how mine is set up. The cross brace you refer to was removed by the P.O. long ago. I've ordered a new genoa which will have the tack raised about 6 inches from where you see it here to improve visibility and allow the foot of the new sail to clear the rail.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Stu, I do have the long links and still not long enough.

Kito, the ProFurl site says:

The long link plates enable a particular fitting by lifting the manual reefing system. Such a fitting avoids interference with the anchor and reduces the sail chafe on the lifelines. Several sizes are available.

Don't know if you've looked into that.

 

[kito]

Kito,
You can zoom in on the attached image to see how mine is set up. The cross brace you refer to was removed by the P.O. long ago. I've ordered a new genoa which will have the tack raised about 6 inches from where you see it here to improve visibility and allow the foot of the new sail to clear the rail.

Thanks Dalliance. That picture is helpful since my mast is down. I guess I will be cutting that cross brace off tomorrow and see if my long link plates will work or have to cut them lower like yours. It's really tight in that area. I did some searching and read where some actually attached the forestay to the old cable luff connection and eventually pulled the plate up! I need to relocate my bow light like yours too. What kind of bracket is that holding your light?

 

[kito]

Kito, the ProFurl site says:

The long link plates enable a particular fitting by lifting the manual reefing system. Such a fitting avoids interference with the anchor and reduces the sail chafe on the lifelines. Several sizes are available.

Don't know if you've looked into that.

Thanks Stu. I will look at the Profurl site and see my link plate options. It looks like from what Dalliances picture shows that the brace will need to be removed regardless. I will need longer link plates than the long ones that came with my furler. I will have to modify my headsail now

 

[Ed Schenck]

Might be one or two ideas in the "Boat Info" section under Owner's Photos.

 

[SailormanDan]

Here are photos of 2 H27's with furlers . First two are not mine, third one is. I used conduit clamps to hold the light on, I wasn't able to find the AquaSignal bracket anywhere on the internet (it shows up, but when I tried to order it they were all out of stock and couldn't get it). You can see how the light in the first two photos is knocked down from being bumped. If you can weld SS, you could probably re-use the plate/bracket off the cross-brace and weld it to the front of the rail and have a stiff mounting point. We used a sawzall to chop it off and I ground/filed off the rough edges.

In hindsight, I probably would have gone with a furler setup that gets the sail up over the rail, which would have avoided removing the cross-brace and having to re-mount the light. I have even considered taking the sail in and having it shortened, partly to keep it from hanging up on the rail and partly so I can see under it better, although at this point I need to spend my boat bucks on other things.

 

[kito]

Thank you for the pictures. The Profurler uses link plates that attach to the forestay connection. They are about 2" apart so even getting longer plates I will still need to remove the cross brace....no big deal.

 

[Dalliance]

I believe the nav light and bracket are both AquaSignal, but I don't see anything like it in the WM catalog now and that is where I bought it.
We had 70mph winds here yesterday, so I am going to check on the boat this afternoon and will see if I can get any more specific info while I'm there. The shrinkwrap might be a problem though.
I know that I actually put the bracket on upside down to get the light clear of the furler drum. Don't recall right now if the light is right side up or also upside down and I just flipped the red/green lense over.

 

[rardiH36]

I don't have your model, but I also had to remove my boat's pulpit cross brace when I installed my new Profurl several years ago. The new model had a larger diameter drum than the original. So I didn't consider to change the height of the long link plates any different than the previous height.

Turned out that the new larger drum just barely missed the pulpit cross brace when the boat was not sailing, but did bump against it when under sail.

One negative outcome when I cut off the cross brace. The pulpit was originally centered by Hunter with the pulpit already fabricated which included the cross brace. When I cut it off, the foward part of the pulpit immediately sprung to port (or maybe it was to starboard -- can't remember anymore) by several inches. So now the drun bumped up against the side of the pulpit when under a port tack. (Or maybe it was on the starboard tack-- can't remember anymore.)

After staring at the situation for a few days, I decided to remount the pulpit in a slightly different position along the toe rail to which it is mounted to. This solved the problem.

Just thought to mention that cutting the cross brace might cause some uninteded collateral damage.

 

[kito]

Thanks for the info Rardi. It's hard to see for sure if my B29l Profurl furler will hit the crossbrace or not since my mast is down. I assembled the drum and long links and was going to hook it up but my boat uses all 3/8" clevis pins on all the rigging and my furler pin is 1/2" I just held it in place at the same angle as the forestay tang and it looks like it may clear the brace. But like you, it may hit under sail. I guess cutting my brace off will be a last minute decision when I get her launched.

 

[Dalliance]

Here is a photo I took today on the foredeck under the shrink-wrap. You can see the cross brace weld mark on the starboard side and the tape covering the one on the port side - which was actually a fairly large opening in the side of the rail tube that I want keep water out of. It's amazing how long a piece of electrical tape will last outdoors. I had completely forgotten about that quick fix from 5 or 6 years ago - another item for the to do list. Anyway, the cross brace appears to have been just very slightly forward of the torque tube above the drum. Mine is a Harken furler, I know nothing about your Profurl furler, and we know that Hunter changed things from year to year. Different furler designs and and/or an inch or two variance in the position of the cross brace could mean a different situation for you. I think it's wise that you wait and see if cutting out the cross brace is actually necessary.
The nav light is the AquaSignal Series 25 Classic with rail bracket #25900-5. The bracket is upside down, but not the light. AquaSignal has discontinued that bracket, but you might find one on eBay.

 

[kito]

Thanks for taking time to snap a picture Dalliance. It helps a lot. I am thinking now that my drum and link plates might clear. My links are about 8" longer than yours. I also bought new nav and stern lights from Marinebeam. They are series 25 style with LEDS. I will be ordering a couple of those rail brackets today. Thanks again.