FP Lucia 40 spinnaker rigging

[SailBlue]

Need to fix a padeye at each bow for the tack of an asymmetrical spinnaker in my FP Lucia 40. What size padeye to use? Is the tip area of the bow reinforced already for the expected forces, or extra reinforcement is necessary ?

[Tin Tin]

Have you tried the FP Owners Facebook page?

[The Yacht Rigger]

It's most likely not appropriately reinforced enough, I'd recommend as large a backing plate as you can practiclaly fit in there, preferably mounted with some kind of structural epoxy behind it to spread the load evenly, we like west system 610 for its practicality. Backing plates in aluminum, stainless, or G10 will work. Rounded corners are a good idea.

Check that area of the deck for how it's connected to the hulls, don't want a Parlay Revival Lagoon 450 situation on your hands where the upper deck peels up from the hulls.

[catsketcher]

I'm with Yacht rigger on this one - get up there and esnure that the sides of the hull are tabbed with glass to the deck, glue alone is not good enough for point loads and Parlay Revival has me spooked about production cat bow decks.

It is not a tricky job technically but access could be difficult. A small angle grinder or even an file sander could get the gelcoat and paint off the corner angke so you can cove and glass with 2 layers of 440gm 100mm wide double bias tape. Glue in a G10 backing plate afterwards and you will be fine to install a padeye. I would use epoxy because I like it - no one is going to see the job and epoxy will have better adhesion.

This is the type of tool I use for hard to access places - just get a cheap powered one instead of a high quality cordless one.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-26...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Tupaia]

Not sure about the configuration on a Lucia, FP have a way of hiding the a-frame connections, but consider using the cross beam attachments rather than fixing to the hull. A stainless hoop from the anchor connections underneath or even a long soft shackle suitably protected against chafe.

[Boatfreak]

On my Athena 38, I just use a long shackle over the 16mm bolt that attaches the forward crossbeam to the bracket on the hull, I fix a block to that shackle for the guy, theres no problem with chaffe. I can't remember if I need a second shacke to clear the crossbeam. I've been doing it for six years, but we don't use the spinnaker much in the Med.

[SailBlue]

Thank you all for the replies, really appreciate the time taken to share thoughts. Images of the Parlay Revival are enough to make me scrap the idea of fixing padeyes to the bows! I will go along the ideas by Tupaia and Boatfreak, connecting to the cross beam or anchor connection.