What's On Your Spreaders ?

[sabray]

Been working through the rig. As I was lashing in the new stays Im thinking there aint a whole lot here to keep this spreader in place. I used what I have been taught a hose clamp below and s.s. rigging wire. Now looking at it Im thinking a second piece of amsteel attached at the out board end of the spreader going up to the mast at near 40 degrees would be easy and smart the spreaders could not then move down and collapse. Lots of discussion about double hose clamps on hoses but never have I seen this week point ewally discussed. Im going to add the line. have you looked at your spreaders. Im guessing but here seems to be a week spot in many rigs. Good to check anyway that they haven't slipped.

[Stillraining]

I have thought of this issue as well...good idea!

[daddle]

Adding more diagonals? Yuk. Are you sure the spreaders are so poorly attached that they might slip? Their worst enemy is someone pulling a jammed sail thru them.

Tightly seized with wire works well enough for boats with loose spreaders. Maybe put a little 5200 under the wire if you think it might slip.

Or intermittent rod rigging

[sabray]

I was thinking there is one hell of a lot of force and the spreader is stopped by seizing wire and a hose clamp. Thats typical So in a bad case if I dipped the thing would that stop the spreader from moving tword the deck. Im guessing no. So I think a small piece of amsteel at the outer end bolted upward tword the mast is an easy safety piece.If you go walk around the yards you'll find at least one boat with an odd angle on the spreader. It has lasted this long but it seems week which was my point. Is it a bad connection no but let that hit the water which would take one hell of a blow and yeah it could go south. Wouldn't that small piece maybe 8' of line be better then a hose clamp? Any way thats what I was thinking. You are thinking of a down side which Im not sure I get other then yuck. I don't like yuck what happens when I do this that makes birds puke and friends say yuck.

[barnakiel]

?

I would think the spreader stays in place no matter what, as long as it is placed at the proper angles and the stay remains tight.

Where am I wrong?

barnie

[IdoraKeeper]

I have often wondered not only about how the interface with the stay(s) is assembled but what happens when the rig works under load? There has to be a spot that rubs as the wire loads and unloads. I need to get up there and change out the lights and check whats going on. Any body got a pix of how it looks when it's correct?

Todd

[Stillraining]

Pretty much a figure 8 then once around the stay..keep repeating till you have 5 or 6 wraps above and below.

Ill try to find a picture of mine for you.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

?
I would think the spreader stays in place no matter what, as long as it is placed at the proper angles and the stay remains tight.

Where am I wrong?

A few years back I was racing on a fairly new boat--less than six months old--where the cap shroud jumped out of the upper spreader and the mast snapped in half.

Did the spreader stay in place? Yes. Did that prevent dismasting? No.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Bash

A few years back I was racing on a fairly new boat--less than six months old--where the cap shroud jumped out of the upper spreader and the mast snapped in half.

Did the spreader stay in place? Yes. Did that prevent dismasting? No.

The stay cannot jump out as the cap goes around it and then into the spreader foil.

I bet you had:
- a spreader with a cut only (open to the outboard side), and
- slack rigging.

None recommended.

But I am sure things are different on boats with more classical rig - short stiff masts, galvanized rigging, wooden spreaders, etc..

b.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

The stay cannot jump out as the cap goes around it and then into the spreader foil.

That's the way it is on my rig, certainly, but such was not the case on the Junneau that lost its stick. And this boat had been built somewhere around 2002, if memory serves. Forty(ish) feet? We were sailing downwind on starboard tack, and it was the starboard cap shroud that jumped, so I don't think that loose rigging was the cause. Of course it's possible that the shroud could have popped out on the upwind leg and we never noticed it, but I think that's unlikely. I was trimming the main, on that particular race, and I would certainly have noticed an out-of-column mast.

The point is, as you've already suggested: visit/inspect the spreaders frequently.