Vega rig.

[Frank Fowler]

First and foremost a very Happy New Year to all you owners, skippers, crew, (volunteer, impressed, coerced or just bribed !!) and associates.
Can I now invite your collective responce to various queries concerning the Vega rig.

What is the consensus of opinion with regard to mast alignment ?
I purchased 'Alkira' in late 2000 after she had lain ashore for about four years. When she was re-rigged in the latter part of last year I found that in contradiction of all I thought was correct, the mast actually raked forward. There was no way that this condition could be avoided, there was just not enough adjustment in the rigging as supplied.
The problem was rectified by making twin triangular extension plates that attach via clevis pins to either side of the stem fitting and effectively extend the forestay by about 125mm. This arrangement has a spin off advantage in that the plates are attached to the two outermost holes in the bow fitting thus spreading the load on the structural welds.
I must admit that I think the design of the bow fitting is abysmal and intend to modify or redesign / remake the item as soon as possible. As an engineer and after many years involved with mechanical engineering, (ten of them involved with welding stainless steels), I still don't like the idea of rigging loads being carried by the welding alone. Having said that, the incidence of cracking / failure seems extremely low, but I would suggest this area be inspected as often as possible.

Ultimately then my mast was set with about 1% rake and about 50mm of pre-bend. In this condition the boom does not lie parallel to the nominal waterline but falls at quite an angle. This obviously reduces head room in the cockpit and although I am assured its OK by my local 'expert', it just doesn't look right, any comments ? By the way, I think the mainsail is original.

In addition, how can rig tension be set without the recognised instruments to hand, does anybody have an infallable system ?

Lastly, 'Alkira' does suffer slightly from the malady of deck compression at the mast step. It would appear that the remedy for this is to reinforce the load carrying internal woodwork in some way with metal hollow section - comments / suggestions please.

Regards to all.

Frank Fowler, V1775, Liverpool, UK.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

 

[dougpol1]

Hi Frank,

I don't know much about mast rake on the Vega, but I have a suggestion about
your deck compression problem.

I've thought this through so that I'd be prepared to take action if I ever
encountered the problem on "Erendira." My solution was to make a
knee-knocker passage that could be installed under the supporting beam and
between the two vertical posts in the passageway to the V-birth. The bottom
of this support would come in direct contact with the deck or keel. I figure
I'd have the yard construct this out of mahogony, teak, oak, or even pine by
cutting a sizeable oval that would allow passage into the V-birth.

This is a plan that is pretty much in my head, and I haven't attempted to
prove that it works. My chief concern with the idea is if the deck would
support it or if I'd have to lay it directly on the keel. Does the deck come
into contact with the keel?

Also, a while back, I read that an ex-Vega owner, Dave Pomerantz, resolved
the deck compression problem by installing a stainless brace the length of
the overhead beam, which ran down the two vertical beams. You might still be
able to read about this on the Vega website that Dave sponsored:
http://www.targetsoft.com/vega/the_vega.htm. I believe the user ID is Vega,
and the password is tarrynot.

Good Luck,
Steve DeMont
"Erendira"
Vega 2947

 

[stevebirch2002]

Hi Frank

Give me a bell on 01684 568676 and I can tell you all about your little
problems.

regards

Steve Birch
At 12:10 02/01/02 -0000, you wrote:

 

[pelagicasd]

Hi Steve, If your talking about the portion of the cabin sole below the
compression beam it does nor come in contact with the keel. I was able to
easily run some tubing from the watermaker in a cockpit locker to a tank in
the bow by going under it. Yours, Walt. Lyric #120

 

[waltrambs]

Hi Frank, It seems your are setting the rake of the mast on land when it
should be set on the water. A good article on this adjustment was on the
English site. Steve Birch had posted this article from Kemp sails. A 2% rake
on the mast rearward is necessary for intial adjustment. Hope this helps.
Walt S.

 

[bbach1949]

Happy New Year all;
I addressed the mast compression problem as follows: The Vega was designed
to transfer mast compression loads to the main bulkhead and thus to the hull,
not directly to the keel. This is ok, but the bulkhead, crossbeam, and
vertical stiffening posts have proved to be marginal, especially the shear
strength of the post to bulkhead bond. So, I doubled up the lower half of
the bulkhead on the forward side (invisible once put back together) and
sandwiched the hull tabbing between the layers using longer bolts. I added 1
x 2 inch posts forward of the bulkhead that were epoxied and screwed to the
bulkhead, and an additional beam in the forward cabin. All was sapele to
match the original wood. I think it looks like original, and the only place
where clearance suffers is about an inch less room to back onto the head.
This fix seems plenty stout to me, and saves having to have any metal fab
work done. Bill Bach V1071