Trailering With Standing Rigging

[scolil]

When trailering I keep the standing rigging and halyards attached (except the forestay) to make it quicker and easier to set up next time. I tie everything to the mast with bungee cords in an attempt to keep them from flying wildly. Unfortunately this still results in wires everywhere. Some even rub the top of the cabin. Does anyone have any preferred ways for packing their boat up for traveling?Thanks,Scott

 

[Timo42]

Little velcro cable ties

to keep things from rubbing or hanging down, rigging tape on turnbuckles etc there is no way to make it look neat, I just make sure there aren't any tight bends. Tim

 

[Ray]

I've used bungee and light line.

We've towed a lot of miles with both our boats with the mast riding atop the boat. We disconnect the forestay and lower forward shrouds and leave the rest hooked to the boat. I have 3 external halyards which add to the mess. I carefully coil all the stainless lines and bungee them snugly to the mast. The same for all cordage lines. I use light cotton clothes line (approx 3/16")to hold the coils to the mast. I use a lot of bungees and bungee all lines snugly to the mast from the top to bottom. This makes a very neat package.Additonally, remember to support the mast in the middle forward of the companionway. We use fenders for this.Hope this helps,Ray

 

[Joe11688]

Boom bag

I like the boom bag idea! Actually, I have a sail jock on my boom and I leave my sail cover on my boom when I disconnect the goose neck to store the boom with sail inside the cabin for trailering. Sometimes the loose sail falls out of the sail cover if I don't tie it well enough. Maybe I'll just slip my sail bag over my boom at the goose neck and tie it, to solve that problem. I have always used quick shackles and quick pins on my boom Vang, main sheet, and even my fore stay. I use a push button type pin for that. These things really cut down the rigging time. If there's an easy way to do something, I've always managed to find it.

 

[Ray]

To stop the shroud turnbuckles from pinching off

as you raise the mast just use bungees to stand them up. Hook a bungee from the top of the turnbuckle to the cabin handrail and stand it up. No more bent turnbuckles at $50 a pop.Ray

 

[crazy dave condon]

tying down

One thing to do is to add shroud and turnbuckle boot covers to the shrouds all the way to the spreaders. Then I take those lines and roll them up and tie securely to the mast cinching them. Never move and I can send a boat that way to Australia and Canada without any problem. As for the roller furling, lay it down on the deck and simple secure to the stanchions. Bag is a good idea on the furler. As for the lines, secure them around the mast taunt.

 

[Joe11688]

Bungee the turnbuckles

That's a good idea Ray. I do that to my back stay because I not only have an open turnbuckle on it, but also a Johnson Handy-Lock right under it. So I need to keep the stay stretched out with a bungee when I raise my mast. Anything that you can do to prevent them from twisting is always a good preventative measure.Joe

 

[Blake]

Roller furler

I think it is called a luff extrusion? Anyway, it is the piece of plastic that runs the lenght of the luff on a CDI roller furler. It costs over 200$ and if you stap your headsail to the mast like I do on a Mac 26S, it will extend over the bow pulpit about 2 feet, where it will bounce and bob during trailering untill it finally breaks. I replaced mine last year, and got a piece of pvc rain gutter to help support it this year. Crazy Dave suggests laying the rollerfurler on the deck and fastening it to the stanchions. This may work for some boats and in fact is what my PO did. Unfortunatley, on my boat this created stress on near the top of the luff extrusion. When I got the boat it was broken about 2' from the top. I splinted this together with aluninum strips and 3M5200 and got 2 more years out of it. With the CDI, it is important to keep the luff straight, so I will continue to bugie it to the mast.

 

[Blake]

Yes George,

That is exactly what I did. I saw a variation of this where the rain gutter was put on top of the head sail. Looks like it might fit more securely that way while still providing support. I will try both and see which I like better.