Spreaders Angle

[Fred Melick]

I have been told that the angle on my spreaders is not correct. Mine are angled down a little. I have been told that they should be at right angles to the mast or slightly angled upward. Any feed back would be great and also how the angle can be changed if needed. Fred

 

[S299_Dave]

I was always told ...

that you should make the spreaders intersect the shrould with an equal angle abobe and below the shrould. (sp?)

 

[Capn Dave]

Yep Dave Got it

right and Fred they should never be below 90 degrees to the mast.Check your shroud tension they might be on the loose side. The leeward shrouds should be just slightly loose in about 20 knots of wind.Tack back and forth and adjust as necessary. The fron shrouds should also have a little more tension on them than the rear. After doing all of the above lay down and sight up the mast to make sure it's still straight. Oh go up the mast and knock the spreaders back up before you do the other stuff.This is the short abridged instructions to give you the concept.Fair WindsCap'n Dave

 

[Cap'n Ron]

Spreader header!

Hi Fred, Do not sail that yacht!At the very least grab a riggers book, "The complete Riggers Apprentice" by Brian Toss is a good one and he talks about spreader angle too.Cap'n Dave has it right, except, the leeward shrouds should not have ANY movement 'loose'. Mast does want to be straight on a cruising yacht anyways,Don't sail untill you are sure of that rig, I have been dismasted three times, and it is a dangerous act...no time to move, and they usually fall with the wind direction.

 

[Stephen Parfet]

Spreader attachment

This recommendation is based upon my experience with the spar on my 1980 30T. If your spreaders are angled down, you may have a problem with the mast attachment mechanism. This forged boomerang shaped piece of metal fits through an internal channel mast fitting and has a slight upward angle. (Your spreaders could not physically angle down if this type of mechanism is installed properly.) If this attachment piece fell out the last time the spreaders were removed, it may have been reinstalled upside down. If that happened, there is a chance the internal fitting was not engaged(which slides up and down inside the spar) You may have a big problem.