Spreader Tips

[casual]

Upon unstepping my Mast I,encountered Spreader Cap's that were screwed onto the spreaders.These Cap's secured the upper wire's and prevented movement of the wire's.When restepping the tip's were left loose to accomodate tuning.Now I,have to go up the mast to secure the cap's.Did I,miss something? Is there a way to secure these cap's prior to restepping the mast?I,had help from a Professional rigger and he seemed to think this was how it is.I,beleive the mast is a Seldon appx 25 yrs old.
Any and all advice will be welcome since I,have never encountered anything like this before.
Thank's to all

[SaucySailoress]

I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about... the only spreader caps I have come across are rubber ends which help reduce wear on the sail when it brushes the spreaders, and they don't screw on, they sort of clip on...

Have you got a picture??

[sailvayu]

You can adjust these on the hard by having someone pull the shrouds taught while you tighten the tips. They may move a bit when you tune things but you can try to compensate for this when you tighten them.

[Goblinfog]

Just put my mast back up. Spoke to my rigger friend Kevin from Kemah. Screwed on nice and snug, but not enough to restrict the movement of the stay as it's being drawn tight while tuning. Use red colored Locktight on screws. Mine are a simple stainless flatbar with 2 screwholes.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by casual

Upon unstepping my Mast I,encountered Spreader Cap's that were screwed onto the spreaders.These Cap's secured the upper wire's and prevented movement of the wire's.When restepping the tip's were left loose to accomodate tuning.Now I,have to go up the mast to secure the cap's.Did I,miss something? Is there a way to secure these cap's prior to restepping the mast?I,had help from a Professional rigger and he seemed to think this was how it is.I,beleive the mast is a Seldon appx 25 yrs old.
Any and all advice will be welcome since I,have never encountered anything like this before.
Thank's to all

Spreader tip "locks" are designed to hold the spreaders in position when to leeward and the yacht hard on the wind, which tends to slacken the tension on the leeward shrouds as the windward shrouds stretch (somewhat) under loading. Initially, the caps should be left somewhat loose to allow the spreaders to be moved up or down as the rig is tuned so as to bisect the angle between the upper and lower portion of the shroud and then locked in place. This is a somewhat iterative process and may take two or more trips up to the spreaders to get everything "just so". Racers are usually more dilligent about the process than cruisers as evidenced by the frequency with which one can observe spreaders akimbo and uneven on "cruising" or daysailed boats in marinas compared with yachts commonly raced. A properly trimmed/tuned rig can make a significant difference in a yacht's performance so is no less important on a cruising yacht than a racing yacht, particulalrly where passage times are/can be extended.

FWIW...

[casual]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

Spreader tip "locks" are designed to hold the spreaders in position when to leeward and the yacht hard on the wind, which tends to slacken the tension on the leeward shrouds as the windward shrouds stretch (somewhat) under loading. Initially, the caps should be left somewhat loose to allow the spreaders to be moved up or down as the rig is tuned so as to bisect the angle between the upper and lower portion of the shroud and then locked in place. This is a somewhat iterative process and may take two or more trips up to the spreaders to get everything "just so". Racers are usually more dilligent about the process than cruisers as evidenced by the frequency with which one can observe spreaders akimbo and uneven on "cruising" or daysailed boats in marinas compared with yachts commonly raced. A properly trimmed/tuned rig can make a significant difference in a yacht's performance so is no less important on a cruising yacht than a racing yacht, particulalrly where passage times are/can be extended.

FWIW...

Thanks all I,have never encountered this arrangement before.In priou boat's the wire was alway's free to move thru the spreader end.I,left the screws loose and am fearful of loseing the caps en route home.You suggest leaving them a little loose so the wire can move secured with loctite?I,got a lot of cleaning to do Tefgel the heck out of them.

[Goblinfog]

casual, the # is 1-281-334-7849, his name is Kevin. He'll be more that happy to help you.