First year owner/1986 First 375 - Knucklehead help

[Chris175]

Hello. This boat fell in my lap August 2024 and I was skeptical. I aint skeptical any more! I love it! I spent a mellow season day-sailing w/a few camping trips on the Maine coast. It's fast, responsive, forgiving, easy to manage alone, etc...no news there I'm sure. I only flew a main and headsail and kept things simple. The plan is to lean into it some next season, maybe a few races.

Anyway, repairs and technical matters are not my strength, and maybe y'all can help.

I need to find a new panting-rod assembly, as seen in the pics. I tried Beneteau France and US last Spring, to no avail. Any ideas or alternatives set-ups would be very much appreciated. I had the dam thing in my hand last Spring w/no idea what it was, and have since lost it completely.

Also - what are folks flying off this pad eye? (other pic) It's just behind the anchor locker.

Any help/diagrams/suggestions are really appreciated, and anything else you think a new First owner should know.

Thank you. Chris

 

[jssailem]

How you wish to use it is up to you.

Options might include

1. Terminal end for a jack line from the mast to the padeye.
2. Hard point at the bow for a Harness tether
3. Hard point at the bow for a snubber or securing the bitter end of the anchor rode.
4. You could use it to attach the tack of an Asymmetrical Spinnaker
5. It could be used to attach the tack of a storm sail.

There are a few. I am sure you will come up with others that will meet your sailing needs.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Can you tell who makes the rig itself? It might be possible to get the panting rod directly from them if you can’t get it from Beneteau.

Can you tell in the boat’s interior whether there’s any reinforcement or a backing plate for that padeye? If you can’t see what’s there I would assume you can’t put anything too heavy on it. My guess is that small block was used for something like a spinnaker pole downhaul. It’s in a pretty convenient place for that and that’s a nice light load. I think it could be a good hard point for a jack line or harness tether too.

 

[Chris175]

Thanks much for the responses. Food for thought. I'll check the rig and see if there's a brand. That pad eye looks pretty beefy, I'll take a look underneath.

 

[BigEasy]

Pad eye might be for asymmetrical spinnaker sock control lines.