Added 03/06/2004
I am currently setting up our 8.7 for a cruising chute and running a new
halyard. What is the reccomended
line size for this application? I figure the length should be twice the
forestay. Also what type of block should be used at the masthead? Fixed or
swivel? I plan on running the sheets to a snatch block on the toe rail near the
stern then forward to the winch. Sound like a plan? Any suggestions or help
would be greatly appreciated.
Tim K. Irish Moss
Tim, as far as the
masthead block is concerned, iot should b e a swivel block and I’d suggest 3/8" braid for the halyard. The
important question is whether you have a furling genoa or not. If you do, you
should have a crane at the masthead that moves the block about 6" forward
of the forestay so that there will be no chance of wrap-up with the genoa
furler. It would also be a good idea to tie up the halyard to the top of the
pulpit when not in use (again, to avoid wrap-ups). I made my crane of aluminium
T-bar, 2" each side and one foot long. I rebated the vertical part of the
T-bar for the half-length sitting on the mast, drilled six holes for
screws and epoxied and screwed it to the mast top. At the forward end I
installed a U-bolt to which I fastened the swivel bloc. That way my halyard is a
safe distance from the furler top swivel. Dr Dave? suggestion is all right if
you have hanked-on foresails but risky if you have a furler
john
pampero iv
My 8.7 has wire and rope
halyards and I would like to switch to all rope do
you know if I can do
this without refitting the mast head? I have not
climbed to the top yet.
Dan
tim,
I've always used a fixed
block at the masthead, to reduce wraps. I
believe that if you want
to take the halyard aft, it should be a little
longer, say 2
forestays plus twice the distance to the winch.
never
hurts to buy too much
line, you can always use a new dinghy painter! Are
you going to run
assymmetrical? or racey-round? launching
turtles
sometimes require a
little extra halyard, because one sometimes wants to
launch from further aft,
say in the lee of the main, even aft of the
chainplates when short
handed . nothing more ego restructuring than
carefully figuring it
all out, and then buying a brand new, expensive,
and too short halyard!
(except, perhaps when your wife is pointing out
that the light you
positively identified as Upolo Point was actually
Kumukahi!)
cheers
DR Dave
Dan,
I'm not absolutely
certain, but I believe that PSYCHE was rigged with spinnaker gear at one time
Look aloft at the forward part of the chicken head. there could be a semicircular fitting there, looks like a
horseshoe with the bunt forward.
this would be
sparcraft's version of John's crane. if it IS there, all you'd have to do is
attach the pulley!
By the bye..I salute you
on your completion of a difficult delivery from Biloxi to Savannah, mostly
singlehanded in a time of year when most of us were cursing the snow and
recounting British sports cars we had owned!
I really am glad that
PSYCHE ran off with a sailor!
Cheers
DR Dave
My 8.7 has the horseshoe
at the front of the masthead with a swivel
pulley holding a
3/8" halyard. I fly an asymetrical on it although I do
have a track with double
cars on the front of the mast. I use the cars
for whisker poles when
poling out a genny. The boat was rigged this way
when I bought it
although I see no provision for topping lift and no
spinnaker was included
in the sale. I also have only one set of sheet
winches which doesn't
mean a whole lot except that some boats that make
constant use of
spinnakers do have an additional set. So,
I'm not sure
if this boat ever flew a
symetrical chute or not. It has been to Mexico
twice and it could be
the additional halyard was redundancy although it
locates the halyard
forward of the head stay and would make using it as
a jib halyard a bit
cumbersome. Who knows, I guess I'll look at an 8.3
at the club that's set
up for cruising and see what he has at his
masthead.
Mark and Kathi Banks
1977 8.7 # 168
Sashay, my 1978 8.7 was
delivered from the factory with a main and jib halyard. The masthead had 2
sheaves for each halyard in line, 4 sheaves total. Each sheave was as Dr Dave
writes, was for 1/2" line and scored for wire. There are 2 sheaves to share
the halyard load, not one. The load on each sheave is is not doubled as some
have assumed, but it is still more than just the vertical component. I bought
new halyards with wire to rope splices (did not need to change the sheaves) and
ran each halyard over just one sheave and dropped the tails down the mast. I
used exit boxes near the base of the mast and led the tails to the cockpit. Now,
my original sheaves do see a doubling of the vertical component, but in over 23
years I have not had a problem.
At the same time I added
spinnaker gear. I had a friend bend up a stainless elongated "U" rod
that was welded to a plate that was bolted to the top of the masthead so the
closed end of the "U" is forward. Used a non-swiveling block shackeled
to the "U". The "U" piece can be purchased, it also needs to
extend far enough forward to avoid interference between the roller furling genoa
and spinnaker halyard. The block needs to be able to follow the spinnaker
depending if your running or reaching. You dont want a swiveling block as this
can make it even easier than it already is to suffer a spinnaker wrap.
Before you start any
work you really need to do a survey of your masthead to see your current
configuration, who knows how Columbia delivered it, at various times the used
different vendors to supply the rig, also a previous owner might have made some
changes. The owners manual has a rigging list that gives wire and rope sizes,
lenghts etc. A great place to start.
HTH
Bob Kavanaugh