My latest invention, a free gift to multihull Owners

[Helia 44]

Hello Friends,
I was injured the last couple weeks (not sailing) strained my back.. Anyway I have been very active here on the Forum (next best thing to sailing is to talk about sailing) heh he.. Anyway I have been putting finishing touches on my Helia 44, this invention, water maker, salt water wash down pump, that sort of thing. By way of saying thanks to you, thought I would share this simple invention:

Feeding out chain and attaching the bridle, a snap shackle that will fit the normal 10mm chain IMO that is not strong enough in a bad blow, and if the chain parts the bridle is strong winds, you could be sailing against the chain... Most Cats run 3/8 chain, 10mm, and the links are too tight to get a massive snap shackle or a regular big shackle on the chain to attach the bridle. You want the some good strength and then share the load a bit between the bridle and chain gypsy with a little slack in the chain. The best way to do it IMO, is a big stainless chain hook. The problem is in feeding it out, running the winch with one hand and trying to feed the bridle out the roller without the chain hook coming off, is a bit tricky. My invention is to have your local stainless shop weld a nut for a stainless thumb screw as a keeper, then just grind it off lightly to look good.. he heh..

I have looked for a stainless chain hook with some kind of keeper, all over marine and commercial trawler shops in Australia. I am sure it is available somewhere, but it tricky to get the keeper long enough to take the chain link at the extreme angle necessary. If you weld the SS nut on the end of the point of the hook you have plenty of room for it to operate at the extreme angle of it loaded... anyway this is what is looks like:



Kind regards, Cruiser/Racer Helia 44

[MBWhite]

Helia,

The image does not show up on my computer, did it attach properly?

[Helia 44]

Sorry, it worked on my Computer, here it is again, hopefully works this time...

[DotDun]

This works very well, IMO....

Mantus Anchors | Mantus Chain Hook

[Helia 44]

OH WELL,

Down under here on this little Island, I am a bit out of touch I guess... Never seen that... Even at Boat Shows, all over...

That is probably the way to go... And I thought I was being cute and an original thinker... heh eh..

[delmarrey]

So what do you do after its all over and the threads are all mashed, cut the screw off?

[Factor]

Or you could use a rolling hitch?

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Factor

Or you could use a rolling hitch?

Or a Dyneema soft shackle, as Evans and others do. Much cheaper than a customized s/s hook or the Mantus job.

Jim

[Helia 44]

Delmarrey,
I got tired of tying it in place so invented this... Tried in place the keeper is out far enough that it does not touch the chain under load...

I thought it was a fun invention, now it gives you all something to poke fun at for my silliness... Helia

[Draikhyan]

Originally Posted by Helia 44

Delmarrey,
I got tired of tying it in place so invented this... Tried in place the keeper is out far enough that it does not touch the chain under load...

I thought it was a fun invention, now it gives you all something to poke fun at for my silliness... Helia

Don't worry about the criticism. Every inventor and artist has to endure it. Don't forget: the world made fun of people like Tesla, Edward Jenner and van Gogh as well. I like your solution. It's simple, strong, cheap and good looking. The simple fact that a company (Mantus) is selling a similar device means that your idea is a good one.

So I think I'll make a few, although I'll probably try to replace the screw by a spring pin.

[jannw]

so, ahh, when it winds up to a 50 knot blow, and it's the middle of the night, and you start dragging, and you go up front to let more chain out ... and your anchor winch can't pull it in any over the wind, so you can't undo the screw ... how do you let out more chain?

just askin!

;-)

[monte]

Thats a problem I'd like a solution to for all bridal attachment types. It's a pain in the ass really. Sometimes people anchor too close and we want to let out a bit more chain, but before we have to pull in 6m to undo the bridal. Sometimes the other boat might be just 10m ahead, so it can be tricky. Also we have experienced boats dragging down on us and being able to let out chain more instantly would be great. Imagine a boat dragged and is sitting on your bow but you can't reverse to clear him...options...cut the bridal?
We use one of the wichard type chain hooks with the spring loaded pin. It's worked well although the pin gets a bit bent out if shape occasionally and needs straightening.
Another issue is chain slack between the windlass and bridle. We usually let out 10m to add weight to keep the bridal low. This works fine but if the chain hook were to break in strong wind it would create a strong force on the windlass and anchor when the slack runs out. We should probably tie off the chain between the windlass and bridal. We have a line and shackle on the cleat for securing it while underway, but I think I'll start securing it there when anchored as well. There would still be a shock load on the anchor though which may be enough to unset it..
Any ideas or others solutions to these problems would be interesting...

[Draikhyan]

So what you would like is a bridal attachment that can remain on the chain when it needs to be moved, can ride among the chain freely when, for instance, a line is pulled and grips the chain again when that line is released?

Creating a chain grabber like that wouldn't be hard to realize on paper. But it would be expensive to create a reliable, easy to use and working model. Unless you have access to a well equipped workshop.

[MBWhite]

Originally Posted by Helia 44

Sorry, it worked on my Computer, here it is again, hopefully works this time...

I like your idea, very clever!

Thanks for posting.

Mark

[Katiusha]

Rob, we use Ultra Chain Grab and are quite happy with it: http://www.quickline.us/chain-grab.html. We attach it on deck before the chain goes through the roller and the chain grab follows with the chain nicely.

We've used it in short waves and swell and the thing doesn't detach from the chain, which is a big plus. We found that other bridal attachment types part from or slip through the chain in the swell, waves, or wind gusts from different directions, which for us is a big minus.


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