Lavezzi 40: Screecher ?

[Le Doume]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

Hi again guys,

I'm now going to take the plunge and order a screecher.
As my boat does not have a bowsprit I will need to buy a factory one or manufacture one.
Has anyone had any experiance or opinions on non factory bowsprites.
Also what furlers are best?
I noted that a few of you are not happy with your factory furlers.

Hi Dragon Lady,
I have seen at least 2 FP's with non factory proders , one was a retractable pole sliding inside a tube mounted under the crossbeam ( a Lavezzi) the other was a permanently mounted proder ( A Mahe) , both had cables connected to the inside of the bows, a good rigger should be able to make one for you as I do not think that you would be able to buy a " genuine" one from FP.
I have replaced my " original " furler which was a drum furler by a Facnor continuous line furler , it works great and the Facnor distributor in Sydney ( Michael Rope ) made the line for me with the stanchion blocks fitted to the line so the install was really easy .
Cheers
Happy sailing

:thumb :

[DtM]

Saw you yesterday on Pittwater.

I would always use a continuous line furler for a screecher. Send me a PM for a contact.

Certainly the usual furler the factory provides is way too small to carry all the furling line if you use anything bigger thatn 4mm VB cord!!

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

Hi again guys,

I'm now going to take the plunge and order a screecher.
As my boat does not have a bowsprit I will need to buy a factory one or manufacture one.

Horrors! A sprit on an Etchels?

Let me say it again: Horrors!

[Pirate Pete]

Hi Dragon lady
We used our screecher on our Belize for the Pacific trip from Tahiti to Brisbane. Worked really well in conditions up to 20kts and to a maximum of 120 TWA. The screecher is mounted on an after market retractable prodder and using a furling drum which I have had no problems with.
There were many days when the wind was more aft and I wished i also had a symmetrical spinnaker for such occasions. We now have a 130sqm 0.9oz symmetrical spinnaker to complete the sail wardrobe so now we can sail deeper to 165 TWA. Each clew has a brace line and sheet attached, and each brace line goes through a block on the bows. Very easy to control from the four cockpit winches.

Cheers
Pete

[Le Doume]

Originally Posted by Bash

Horrors! A sprit on an Etchels?

Let me say it again: Horrors!

Hi buddy ,
Time to wake up or get off the turp , this is for a Catamaran ( have a look in the dictionary if you are not sure what a Catamaran is )

Happy Sailing

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Le Doume

Hi buddy ,
Time to wake up or get off the turp , this is for a Catamaran ( have a look in the dictionary if you are not sure what a Catamaran is )

Happy Sailing

Now thats Bash you are talking to.

[threadkiller]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

Hi again guys,

I'm now going to take the plunge and order a screecher.
As my boat does not have a bowsprit I will need to buy a factory one or manufacture one.
Has anyone had any experiance or opinions on non factory bowsprites.
Also what furlers are best?
I noted that a few of you are not happy with your factory furlers.

We have a 5' sprit on our Lagoon 410, mfg by Forespar. It articulates to port, away from the bow roller, so no extra marina fees. It attaches by regular spin pole fittings, has 2 padeyes for stays near waterline on inside of both hulls.
The screecher is by North Sails.

I wouldn't own a cruising cat without one.

[Dragon Lady]

Originally Posted by threadkiller

We have a 5' sprit on our Lagoon 410, mfg by Forespar. It articulates to port, away from the bow roller, so no extra marina fees. It attaches by regular spin pole fittings, has 2 padeyes for stays near waterline on inside of both hulls.
The screecher is by North Sails.

I wouldn't own a cruising cat without one.

Any chance of some Pics?
It sounds just like what I'm after.

[Dragon Lady]

Originally Posted by downunder

Now thats Bash you are talking to.

Oh yeah!
My eggshell doesn't need a sprit as the bow and sterns are so long.
Norths wanted to make a nice aysso for me a while ago but I went for a narrow reacher spinnaker instead, but now I'm temped to get one!

[careka]

Originally Posted by Wayward Wind

Please share your experiences with the continuous line furler. Is it easy for single-handed use?

YES. just rig it right, with tension from a jumper cord then its very good.

[Inanna]

Already found a solution for your (custom) bowsprit? I had to build my own after reading the nightmare to get it from FP.

[laforge24]

I have just done an atlantic crossing on a FPlavezzi with such a Gennaker(we call it)
It was put on a 50cm bowsprit with attachments to the bows, made of a light material,
and it gave the cat great speed in low winds, I used it singlehanded without problems.
Fabulous addition. TWO WARNINGS however, or is it three?
Even at low winds the force on the attachments is high, we ripped one out of one hull and replaced it with big plates behind it and still could see the hull move with the wind !!
Don t leave it out went the speed goes comfortably up, it is not made to do that(looking at it s
fixations etc. ) becomes more difficult to get in AlONE.
When the wind increases risk of de-furling so you have to get it down, NOW that is not an
easy thing ALONE, especially if you didn t get it in already and it starts to un-furl.
Sounds worrying,,,, NO it s a great sail, just get in intime

[Inanna]

Laforge24: thanks for sharing your experience. I glued with epoxi and laminated with fg a 40x50cm 1/2" plywood before attaching, suspecting the sides of the hulls could yield. With 20 knts (truedownwind) i went down and tried to feel if the hulls are working too much on the attachments, so far no news. I am not sure I would try my handcraft in an Atlantic crossing though! Any damage to the hull where yours ripped out?

[laforge24]

Three neat holes where the bolts had been ripped out and some hair cracks
that s why would put stainless steel rounded plates , 12cm, in and out !
I am going to glue a reinforcement that would fix the inner to the outer hull,
ps when it ripped out we were making water so stopped in bermuda for this repair
still enjoyed this sail on the crossing

[Dragon Lady]

Thanks for your input guys.
I'll take your advice on the reenforcing in the hulls.
I've just taken delivery of a Seldon catamaran bow sprit kit.

On question, is how long should I make the pole?
It comes 1.5 metres long but is designed to be cut to length.
The factory sprits are 1.0 metre long and the Seldon supplier advised me to stay conservative and cut it to 1.0 metre.
We all know how conservative FP is with their sail plans so I was thinking of taking it to 1.2 metres but after reading some of your posts I'm not sure now.