Bowsprit by Bill
Andy- Among other things that nearly worked, I bought two different diameters of 10-foot steel posts used for chain link fence. I had a woodshop lathe white oak to slide into the smaller post. Then I slid the small-post-with-oak into the larger post. I even bought a third post and had a welder cut it and sleeve it over the second post for more durability. My mistake was probably using only six feet of oak instead of ten. Alas, the contraption didn't bend 90% but more like 30% because of the shortened oak. Mounting it is easy if you just reconfigure the rollers slightly so the bowsprit goes through the prow snugly. I may try it again this season, since it beats paying $1500 for carbon fiber. If you're interested, I put all this up in photos on the HOW site last summer. I'm sure it's in the archives. If not, email me at editor@vagazette.com.
