Shroud backing plate

Jun 14, 2007
183
Hunter 45cc Florida
Has anyone removed the backing plate on the inside of the boat that secures the shroud. Mine need to be replaced. I am trying to find out if I can just unbolt the plate and remove or will the shroud pop out of the hull. I do plan on securing the shroud with the jib halyard just in case
 

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
24,663
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
@Slipin Away backing plates and chain plates are removed when needed. A general idea is the rigger will take up the strain of the shroud/stay with a halyard so that the mast is stable. Preferably do the work on a calm day. Then release the shroud tension (having pre-marked the turnbuckle so the shroud can be retentioned), and then remove the backing plate and chain plate.

That is the basics. Each boat may have additional issues. This is true from small to big boats. The bigger the boat the more complex can be the process. Pictures and a description of your boat can help us understand what may be your specific challenge.
 
Sep 24, 2018
4,613
Catalina 30 MKIII Chicago
I just pulled my backstay yesterday. Connect a halyard or two to hold the mast up, loosen the turnbuckle, apply more tension to the halyard if needed, remove stay, backing plate, etcp
 
Feb 26, 2004
23,405
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Shrouds are different than backstays and forestays. I've been servicing my shrouds (waterproofing the thru deck chainplates) on our masthead sloop for decades without any additional support from halyards, I do one chainplate at a time by loosening the turnbuckle as PM says.

Hunter rigging may be vastly different than Catalina masthead sloop rigging. His Hunter may not even have a backstay.
 
Jan 11, 2014
14,078
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
There's a lot of variables, deck vs keel stepped, backstay or no backstay, single chainplate vs multiple chain plates.

When not under load from sails mast can be remarkably stable with minimal tension on the shrouds and stays. If the shrouds are attached to their own chain plate, i.e., 3 chainplates per side one each for forward, aft, and cap shrouds, then as @Stu Jackson notes one shroud at a time can be disconnected without using a halyard to stabilize the mast.

On the other hand, if all the shrouds attach to a single chainplate, as is the case on my boat. It would be necessary to use a halyard to stabilize the mast. Although other considerations may be dictate taking the mast down would be a better course of action. My chainplates are secured with 14 bolts each and 4 feet long, with a couple of bends. Because of this I opted to remove the chainplates with the mast down. Even then it took the better part of a day to remove, inspect, clean and reinstall each chainplate. Removal was particularly challenging because of the copious amount of caulk involved and the shape of the chain plate.

The short answer is it is possible to remove the chainplate with the mast up, but each boat model and boat is different. And if some fool used 5200 on your chainplates, it will be a long struggle. For those of us not familiar with the H45CC photos of the chainplates would be helpful in providing more specific advice.

Good Luck.