Bayraider Mainsail Handling

[Ron Dierolf]

I appreciate all of the advice.  What I think I will do to start with is add a topping lift.  My plan is to mount a padeye on the portside of the mainmast and one on the starboard side.  These will be about six inches below the top of the mainmast and above the highest point of the gaff yoke with the mainsail full up.  A line will be shackled to the portside padeye, run down and through a fairlead at the aft end of the boom, up to a block attached to the starboard side padyeye, and down to a cleat on the mainmast at at about deck level.  When I drop the main I can manually flake the mainsail on the boom while keeping the boom out of the cockpit and out of the way.

My primary question concerns mounting the padeyes on the mainmast.  The hollow section of the mainmast appears to start just below the square top section the mast.  I'd like to mount the padeyes 6 inches below that area but the mast is hollow.  Any advide on mounting the padeyes?  I was thinking of using wood screws and expoxy - permanent, but solid.  I don't want to compromise the integrity of the mast.  However, I want the mount to be solid so it can  take the weight of the gaff and the mainsail.

Has anyone drilled holes in the mast?  Were there any problems?

Thanks to all of you for the information.

Ron

[Peter Cockerton]

One odd thought I have had re the sprit boom. Could you fit a Barton Boom Strut to it:
http://www.bartonmarine.com/html/boom_strut.htm
This would stay in place when you lower the sail as the tension in the foot of the sail would keep it there, so you wouldn't need a topping lift. You would need a goose neck that did not pull out...
The strut would press on one side of the sail on one tack, but the boom does that anyway. You could even fit lazy jacks on the non-boom side, going right under the foot of the sail and up to the boom. The upper part of the sail and the yard might fall into these if you guided them.

Just a thought.

Julian

Just posted another thread on this article to ask for opinions on the Barton Boomstrut, did you ever fit this device, or indeed has anyone else, any opinions on ease of install, does it work, problems etc.

Peter

[Julian Swindell]

Hi Peter
I never fitted the strut. In the end the BayCruiser has been fitted with a conventional boom at the bottom of a Bermudian mainsail. I have lazyjacks to either side, which hold it up and gather the sail. I have wondered about fitting a boom strut just to keep the boom up, but I think I would always use lazy jacks so the strut would be rather superfluous. But it might be a solution for a sprit boom. I don't know that anyone has tried it.

[Tony]

Hi, Ron.

This is a duplicate of a post from some months ago elsewhere on the Forum. I thought it might help - despite the lousy drawing!

(Note: If you dont want to drill holes in your mast, fix a small block up there using a selvagee-type knot. If made with tape rather than cord it wont slip.)
--
Here is the system I use on the lug rigged Four Sisters. It acts as a topping lift, lazy jack and courtesy flag halyard all in one.
Indgredients:
•   one  long bit of string
•   one short bit (you might want 2 short bits and hang the expense),
•   bullnose screwed to the mast head,
•   small snapshackle ,
•   turning block
•   jamb cleat, 
All were rescued from failed projects  - oh – except the bullnose.  I blagged that off Matt when he wasn’t looking.
Method:
1.   Fix the bullnose to the masthead. (You could use a small block- but why get complicated?)
2.   Tie the long bit of string to it and run it down to the snap shackle fixed to the aft end of the boom.
3.   Run it back up, through the bullnose, then down again to the turning block at the base of the mast and finally, aft to the jamb cleat.
On Four Sisters the yard is longer than the boom so that is all that is needed to control it when hoisting or lowering. The string marked ( D) is a highly technical and expensively engineered addition to stop the lowered sail catching the wind or falling off the cabin top into the sea when lowered.
Use the short string(D) to tie a bowline or a rolling hitch around (C) – it shouldn’t  be tightly fixed , it needs to find its own level - then pull forwards until you have made enough of an angle. Then tie it off at the forward end of the boom.  You might want to use tiny snap shackles or stainless steel rings instead of the knots if you cant stay out of the chandlers. For a sprit boom sail use a duplicate (D) string the other side of the sail with its loop or shackle at (A). ( I don’t need to stand the extra expense of this  as the mast is there to catch the sail for me.) 
Come to think of it, on a sprit boom sail it might work better if the (D) strings are fixed to the base of the mast. That way when you remove the sail and boom all the string can be hauled up tight against the mast to stop it getting snarled up when you drop the mast.

Hope this helps.

[Graham W]

I have now installed a double topping lift on my BayRaider, similar to Tony's diagram above but I have so far skimped a little on the string.

My topping lift starts from a lacing eye at the top of the mast on the starboard side, down through a padeye at the end of the boom, back up to a cheek block at the top of the mast on the port side and then down to a cleat at the bottom of the mast. Picture below.

In addition to supporting the boom, it guides the yard down when this is lowered, making it much easier to flake the mainsail on top of the boom and keep the whole mess off the cockpit sole. Scandalising the mainsail is simple.  It might even make mainsail reefing a little less chaotic although I have not tried this yet.

I might eventually go bananas with the string and install lazy jacks.  However, I need to figure out how to attach the string on the port side of the boom where the foot of the mainsail is in the way.

I had a problem keeping the other end of the boom attached to the gooseneck when I was faffing about with the mainsail in strongish winds.  This has been solved for me by Swallow Boats drilling a hole through the boom and gooseneck pin so that a drop nose pin can keep things in order.  This is the same arrangement as on the BayRaider Expedition.  Photo below.

[Peter Cockerton]

Graham

The foot of the mainsail does make it difficult for the lazy jacks on the port side of the boom, i cleat of seperately both sides of the boom lazyjacks to seperate cleats on the mast and each sides attaches to the under side of the boom on small stainless eyes. when sailing the port side can be eased to allow the foot to set properly and also not to disturb the shape of the filled sail, the starboard side eased just for the latter. A seperate topping lift supports the boom when i drop the main, having lazy jacks both sides of the main helps to tame the beast before i put some sail ties on. Once the main is dropped and the tack taken of the reefing hook the lazy jacks can be tensioned against the sail.

I like the topping lift arrangement you describe but as part of the reduction of string down the mast and more to get tangled when raising the mast i now have it permantly fixed two parts up the mast with a snap hook on the other end to clip into an eye on the end of the boom. I'm considering making it a little longer so i can use a clam cleat on the boom which means it's tight and the boom is supported or loose when the main is taking the boom but ready to adjust from near the helming position to take the boom before i drop the main.

What problems does the boom fitting you show overcome, it does look more the business than my spring snap hook and spinnaker bracket i have on my Bayraider.


Peter

[Graham W]

What problems does the boom fitting you show overcome, it does look more the business than my spring snap hook and spinnaker bracket i have on my Bayraider.

Hi Peter,

I found that the stronger the wind when I was trying to set up the mainsail (especially fiddling around with the outhaul), the less the heavy wooden boom wanted to stay attached to the gooseneck, causing much shouting and cursing.  Possibly I was doing things in the wrong sequence.  Anyway, the drop nose pin is a simple way of keeping the front of the boom in order when I am occupied at the other end.

Thanks for your comments on the lazy jacks.  They are a definite added convenience when cruising single-handed and I am not concerned about windage in those circumstances (which is most of the time).  I shall need to make them adjustable if I install them and having separate arrangements for each side is a good idea that I had not considered.  I also want to make sure that I can easily dismantle the whole lot (and any other cruising refinements) when I do Sail Caledonia next year....