Summary: Start on top and work your way downwards...

Arne

I really should have written an update at the end of last summer. I feel like I did a lot of work on my boat but now I can only remember three changes to the rig. So, I only have a very small list of updates.

Everything takes so much longer than I expect. It is hard to believe how many years I have been messing around with the same rig. Boats, right?

1. I replaced the fiberglass yard with an aluminum tube.

Under full sail the fiberglass yard would sometimes bend enough to concern me. After dropping even one panel it would pretty much look straight, so, while I felt it was a problem, I was pretty sure it was not not an immediate problem. I put this off for almost a year after I bought the replacement tube since I remember getting the original yard rigged was very difficult. This is one of the few things that actually was easier than I expected. It seems that most of the difficulty was learning how to rig the yard, not doing the actual work. I was able to rig the new spar in something like half the time I expected. I now have the same size tube in place for my yard, all battens and the boom. I hope this means my battens are oversized and not that my yard is undersized. So far I like the new yard. It is easier to hoist the sail because it is lighter, but it is actually slightly more work to drop the sail completely. The new yard is not heavy enough to allow the top panel to fall all the way to the top of the sail bundle. This has not been a serious problem. I can still get the sail all the way down without leaving the cockpit.

2. I replaced my 'rope only' mast lift with a webbing mast lift. The rig seems to rotate more easily or, at least, with less noise from the rope rubbing on the mast. I also rigged this mast lift using a snap shackle so it is less work to rig and de-rig the boat each year.

I have one photo that shows the mast lift and part of the new yard.

3. I trimmed the lines that attach the sail to the boom. This was one of many things that look untidy. It bothered me. I am happy with the improvement.

David wrote:

[...] it seemed to me that the middle of those upper 3 sheeted battens was being pulled more than the battens above and below, which would suggest that the sheetlets are incorrectly set up, and to me, too short. [...]

After trying to convince myself otherwise for a few years now, I finally understand that my upper sheet spans are not long enough. I recently reworked the sheets to use Pilmer style sheeting. With this setup I can now clearly see the thimble on the upper-most sheet span getting jammed into the thimble on the next lowest sheet span.

Unfortunately I cannot make the top span longer. There is not enough boat to mount a block farther back.

So it looks like building a bumkin or an arch or something will be top of the list for the upcoming off-season work.

Right now I think a bumkin is the way for me to go. I am wondering if anyone can suggest an appropriate size, for strength. I do not see any specifics in PJR.

I am thinking about using 2x4 dimensional lumber (Pine / Spruce / Fir) tapered to be about 1" x 1" at the far aft end of the bumkin, and 10% of the bumkin buried into the transom of the boat. Held in place with epoxy and glass, I think this should be strong enough. 

Would anyone like to share their opinion about my plan? It is too big, to small?

Scott wrote:

The small cracks in the plywood of the mast partners do not look so small anymore. I am trying to decide if this needs to be fixed right now before I use the rig or if this can wait until next winter for a repair.

I plan to sand, or grind or plane down the wood to remove the paint and then add 6 oz glass cloth and epoxy. Right now it it is plywood, un-thickened epoxy and paint. It seems like that is not good enough.

The small cracks didn't seem to be any sort of a structural issue this past sailing season. But I am sure it is best to prevent water from coming into contact with wood.

I got item number 1 of about 20 checked off my list for the winter. I am confident that sanding the partners back down until I could see my original construction marks, glassing, cleaning the blush, sanding, applying thickened epoxy to some areas that looked like they might be exposed wood, more sanding, a tack rag, a light wipe with acetone and then 4 coats of paint is a solid repair.

I would like to learn to vacuum bag and use release fabric (peel ply?) for a better finish, but there is only so much time in the day. I would also like to repaint the whole deck after seeing how much better it looks with a new finish.

Good videos Scott. The sail looks good too. I hope soon you will find someone to accompany you in another boat and get some good shots of your boat sailing, from an external viewpoint. You deserve it, for what you have achieved.