rigging and mast support improvements

B

Brian Hofler

.
Oct 30, 2019
1,021
When looking back at John Neal's comments in The Log of the Mahina about
the strength of his boat, I took note of two things. (I am working
myself on preparing my Vega for extended offshore cruising and therefore
considering what changes may be needed.)

First, Neal (or someone) comments that the weakness of the internal
cabin supports under the mast step were apparently corrected in "later"
models. He had to beef up the support on his Vega because of structural
problems under the mast. Does anyone know if there were in fact
structural changes in how Vegas were built in this respect and what year
that took place? Has anyone else had to strengthen the area beneath the
mast inside the cabin?

Second, Neal says that he replaced the split backstage with two separate
backstays (from the masthead to the existing chainplates) because that
was stronger than a single backstay when running downwind. That seems
logical--anyone else done that or have thoughts about it?

All replies welcomed. By the way, we are now 83 members strong on this
list, presumably mostly Vega owners -- quite a collective expertise.

Tom Lochhaas
Vega 1204 Allegro--
==========================
Tom Lochhaas
3 Central Place
Newburyport, MA 01950
978-462-6311, fax 462-5859
==========================
 
R

reefmagnet

.
May 9, 2011
1,000
Dear Tom,

I am only a dutchman and I got into your group because I was close friend of
the late Sid Rosen, the former american editor.

I have read your questions and I have never heard that the deck was
reinforced in later Vega versions to support the mast sufficiently. In fact
the Vega will look like a banana if you donot take measures. (Of course I
exaggerate).

I reinforced the mast support by installing an additional mahogony beam .
Be sure to glue and glue this beam tightly. Since then the boat is firm
and I can close the door again (just under the mast) easily.

Re split backstay.
I am a little surprised you do not have this yet. Most Vega's in Holland
have a split backstay . It serves to tighten the front and backstay.
There is a pullely system in the triangle of the backstay which allows me
to regulate the tension of the forestay and backstay. I vary this depending
on the wind conditions.(direction and force)
I hope despite my clumsy nautical english to have made my points clear.

Happy sailing ,

Henk Jansen
Naarden Holland

Le Cygne V 1782
 
R

reefmagnet

.
May 9, 2011
1,000
Hello: I'm in the middle of a major refit of Calimera V1071, and since I
already had the head torn apart, went ahead and beefed up the mast beam just
to avoid future problems. I did it as follows: I added stiffness to the
bulkhead by adding marine ply to the forward side. To starboard, the
additional thickness extended to the lower edge of the sink slide and outward
to the tabbing to the hull. Throughbolted at that point. To port, the
furniture was dismantled and the same done inside the hanging locker. I then
added vertical support in the forward cabin, full 1 inch by 2 inch sapele
glued and screwed to the bulkhead. An additional sapele beam was added in
the forward cabin, still leaving space for the masthead wires, etc, to pass
between the beams. It looks like factory, in my opinion. No loss of
overhead clearance and only an inch of "butt clearance" into the head. Some
weight-challenged visitors may need to use a bucket. I wish I had a digital
camera to post some photos.

As far as the twin vs. split backstay, I suggest you read what master rigger
Brion Toss has to say about this. (www.briontoss.com , look in the Miscella).
He generally despises twin backstays. The split stay of the Vega is plenty
strong. By the way, Brion's book, The Rigger's Apprentice, is well worth the
price.

Fair winds, Bill Bach
 
R

reefmagnet

.
May 9, 2011
1,000
Hi Tom,

Great shot of your Allegro on the Good Old Boat site. Mind if I
publish it in the AVA Newsletter? I've embarked on a campaign to get
photos of all the member's boats to publish and you've played right
into my hands d;^)

BTW, I heartily recommend Brion Toss' books and website as an
excellent source. I re-rigged Lealea myself after reading
Toss "Riggers Apprentice", (Plus "This Old Boat" and others)saved a
bundle of money and gained a lot of confidence in the process. After
all, it's not rocket science. If you can measure and cut accurately
it's pretty easy really.

While I'm on the subject I might as well mention tuning the rig after
you've made up new shrouds and stays. Frank Adams, a good friend of
mine and the chief rigger at Ala Wai Marine advised me to set my rig
up loose, since I do not race and because of the Vega mast step
design. This advice squares with my own observations over the years
in that it seems that the Vegas displaying the much talked about mast
step displacement, seem to be the ones that are sailed very hard
(Like the Mahina during Neals trip back up wind) and/or have had
thier rig set up very tight as in for racing. Set your rig up loose
and use the split backstay to relieve tension on the stays (and
downward thrust on the mast step) when you are not sailing. The Vega
rig is plenty strong enough as designed but these boats are all
getting a little long in the tooth so be sure to keep a sharp eye out
for fatigue and corrosion of the chain plates and spreader ends and
bases and of course, use new wire, turnbuckles, toggles etc. New
chainplates are available from Albin Marin. Before you decide to
reinforce the mast step support (Really not a bad idea if you plan on
extensive cruising as I do) consider how much weight you will be
adding with a lot of lumber and fiberglass as some Vega owners have
done. I'm still considering options but Lealea, so far, has not
shown any signs of deflection of the mast step beam.

Aloha,

Chuck Rose
 
R

reefmagnet

.
May 9, 2011
1,000
Hi, Chuck,
Thanks for the message. Sure, you're welcome to use the photo --
actually, I emailed it to you long ago when you first put out a call for
Vega photos, but apparently the message never made it. I don't know
what resolution they used for the photo when they put it on their web
site, but if it doesn't look good when you've downloaded it, let me know
and I'll email you a higher-res original.

I just got Toss's Rigger's Apprentice from my local library to look it
over, and it looks good - now I'll probably order my own copy. Thanks
for your notes on doing your own rigging - I certainly do need to save
the $ as I need various things for the boat. I presume this means you
ordered the stay/shroud wire in bulk and all the fittings and simply did
it all yourself? What kinds of terminals did you use?

Yours is one of several mentions I've seen about the Vega split backstay
that refers to tensioning adjustments, and I just realized my rig must
have been modified by some previous owner. On mine, two wire stay
sections come up from the two stern chainplates to join about 5 feet
above the deck. At this junction is a turnbuckle for the backstay that
rises to the masthead. The backstay can be adjusted but only in the
same way as the shrouds, by adjusting the turnbuckle. Since I'm sure
you don't mean you do this every time you sail, I presume the Vega
originally had a different configuation? Is there a block and tackle or
some such arrangement on the original split part that allows tension
adjustment? I wonder if the advantages of this are such that I should
add that back into the mix when beefing up the standing rigging before
going offshore? I'll check Toss to see if he discusses it?

Thaks for the help!
Tom

Chuck Rose wrote:
 
R

reefmagnet

.
May 9, 2011
1,000
In rehabbing my Vega over the past two years, I reinforced my deck beam
following one of the articles in the Vega Ass'n Manual as a precaution.
Used "companion" 1x6 mahogany piece cut from veneer cover as template. Used
wood fill pieces in wire way void in beam and liberally epoxied and screwed
together Also epoxied and screwed 1x6 reinforcements to the archway jambs...

I really wonder about the necessity of this, however. The only persons who
report mast compression problems are those who seriously stress their
rigging. The only near failure ever reported as far as I know is that of
John Neal in "Log of the Mahina"(really a great read!). Examination of the
interior photo's included in John's book reveal that he removed much of one
side of his bulkhead to install a recessed cabin heater. This more than
driving the boat hard as he did probably caused his beam to fail enough to
require a post shore to prevent collapse.

The Coughlin's, who sailed their Vega around the world without reinforcement
36000mi vs. John's 14000, said they experienced no mast deflection.

The question is who really has actually experienced mast compression? Is it
really all that serious?

Steve Wallace
 
R

reefmagnet

.
May 9, 2011
1,000
Dear Steve,

Yes Steve, years ago I had mast decompression in my Vega.
This is proprably due to the fact that I was doing a lot of racing in her.
This means that the rig has to be rather firm. The door was not closing
anymore, so I had to do something and fixed an additional mast support as
you describe so eloquently below.

Regards,
Henk jansen
Vela Le Cygne 1782
The Netherlands.
 
R

reefmagnet

.
May 9, 2011
1,000
Dear Chuck,
Just received the latest newsletter and was quite excited to read that
you included the photo of my Vega, "Journey". However, it seems that
somewhere between Hawaii and here it fell out of the issue! I assume it
was due to gremlins and hope to see it in a future issue.
Congrats on a great job with the newsletter and I'll try to write
something for it soon.
Bob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom