Solar arch / Davits on a ketch

[Peregrine1983]

Hi All,

Curious if any of you out there have done a solar arch/davits on your ketch rig.

I’ve been talking to Atlantic Towers in New Jersey about their pre-fab, DIY sch 80 aluminum arches, but they have only done one on a Pearson 424 without a mizzenmast.

I’m curious to see how it would (or hopefully wouldn’t) interact with our mizzen boom and sheet.

Any info or suggestions are much appreciated!

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Hi All,

Curious if any of you out there have done a solar arch/davits on your ketch rig.

I’ve been talking to Atlantic Towers in New Jersey about their pre-fab, DIY sch 80 aluminum arches, but they have only done one on a Pearson 424 without a mizzenmast.

I’m curious to see how it would (or hopefully wouldn’t) interact with our mizzen boom and sheet.

Any info or suggestions are much appreciated!

For starters what boat do you have, how much does the boom hang over the stern and where is your sheeting located? All these will dictate what you will be able to fit in.


We've looked/discussed davits for our ketch, while an arch just wouldn't work at all for our boat. Due to our boom length and stern freeboard, we didn't think the davits would be worth the effort. Your set up maybe better though.
With our CC and a hard bimini we have lots of space for panels. We have 2 hard panels (270W) mounted on top of the bimini. More soft panels (200W) are soon to be mounted on the main cabin top and possibly more removable panels 200-300W will be placed on the flush foredeck while at anchor.
For your boat, you may want to be creative where you place them and don't need the arch or davits for mounting.

[Peregrine1983]

Thanks Bill. She's a Pearson 424. The mizzen boom hangs over the stern by at least two feet, so the arch would have to sit under the boom and be angled back enough so it's aft of the mizzen sheet blocks.

We currently have soft panels (360w) on top of the bimini, which I would like to do away with and replace with hard panels on the new arch.

I would like to be able to hoist the dinghy, motor on, onto this arch - total is currently about 200 pounds, but would like the ability to hoist more.

[Bill O]

Did a quick search and found this Pearson 365 ketch that had an arch davit set up. https://www.boats.com/sailing-boats/...ketch-7457916/


Is this what you are trying to achieve?

[Peregrine1983]

Nice find. Thanks. Yes. We have essentially the same boat, just enlarged. I'm guessing that's a custom job. It's quite possible the Atlantic Towers DIY arch would work, but I'm skeptical. I'll have to head to the boat to measure and compare with their drawings.

[IslandInfedel]

Wonder how that looks in large seas?

[Peregrine1983]

Probably a lot like all the hundreds of other cruising ketches out there with solar arches. The dinghy would not be on the davits in large seas, obviously.

[Svsumurun]

Our 365 is basically the same boat , and we have the factory davits on ours ... haven't mounted solar yet on it, but it's on the list. We did add braces to the davits to stiffen them up , but works fine. They are lower than what you are used to seeing, but I can tell you it takes pretty crazy Lake Erie waves ( when the sane people aren't out there) to make the dink hit the water - but it has happened

Do you have little bracket looking things on your two middle sternrails on the outside? Those are where the factory davits fit in.

Let me know if you want pictures, or more info

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Nice find. Thanks. Yes. We have essentially the same boat, just enlarged. I'm guessing that's a custom job. It's quite possible the Atlantic Towers DIY arch would work, but I'm skeptical. I'll have to head to the boat to measure and compare with their drawings.

It looked like it was still an active "for sale". Possibly contact the owner and ask what he did/where he had it made. Maybe he still has a sketch.

[Svsumurun]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Did a quick search and found this Pearson 365 ketch that had an arch davit set up. https://www.boats.com/sailing-boats/...ketch-7457916/


Is this what you are trying to achieve?

And that whole stern rail/davit/arch setup is all custom... lots of $$$$$ I would guess !

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by Svsumurun

Do you have little bracket looking things on your two middle sternrails on the outside? Those are where the factory davits for in.

Thanks Svsumurun! That's super helpful. I do not have brackets on the sternrail, but we do have that beefy stern rail. I always assumed it was that beefy to support something. We have backing plates (the bolts through one are visible in the bottom right of this picture) on the transom. I am not sure what they were for.

[Svsumurun]

I'll get you some pictures of our setup .. outboard is in the same place so you won't have to move it !
They would be pretty easy to replicate , as you don't have the brackets , I wouldn't look for a factory set , as the only thing that makes them special is the mounting pins .. I would just find/make a set that you could adapt to work the same way

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by Svsumurun

I'll get you some pictures of our setup .. outboard is in the same place so you won't have to move it !
They would be pretty easy to replicate , as you don't have the brackets , I wouldn't look for a factory set , as the only thing that makes them special is the mounting pins .. I would just find/make a set that you could adapt to work the same way

Thank you! I'm surprised I haven't been able to find more pics of 424's on the internet with davits and solar. Finding a few 365's though with davits and solar now that I'm googling.

[LLCoolDave]

Hope these help. It's a friend's 424. They do keep the mizzen boom to the side.

[DeValency]

Peregrine - I think it may be a difficult task to have both dinghy davits, arch and solar, given the fact your mizzen boom is about 1' past the stern. May be too many compromises. I can see the pictures above here but it looks like the boom is higher than 2' above deck - looks like 4', but maybe this is what you have.

The davits and mounts, all custom made should be much stronger to elevate above and behind the boom, this distance with the dinghy hanged will add a significant load on your stern. - Guess you do not plan to cruise with the dinghy hanged there. Maybe you can compromise on a structure to hold the solar panels only, or have the panels installed (and tilted as needed) from the railing on both sides.

I went through the same process - all custom made stainless and very expensive. However, my boat is a cutter, yet, with the center cockpit, I didn't want to install the solar arch above the aft deck, as it will limit the movement at that great space. You can see it in the picture here.