Modifying your boat

[Julian Swindell]

OK I haven't built a Swallow boat, but I spend my winters modifying my BC20. I thought this thread might be of interest for people to share any significant modifications which they have made, which either proved successful, or just proved Matt knew what he was doing in the first place.

So, one serious modification I made, which I have seen on no others and I love, is to fit a boom gallows to support the end of the boom when the sail is lowered. Why did I do it? Several reasons initially:
1-It supports all the spars when I am towing, without having to find and fit the boom crutch (or find you had left it at home...)
2-It supports the boom when the boat is left on her mooring, so it is not swinging about dangling from a topping lift
3-It keeps the boom still on an anchorage, so you don't get all that noise of a boom moving about.

Having built it, I found it have lots of additional uses:
a-It gives a perfect location for lateral navigation lights
b-A hand grip when I am going up and down the stern ladder for a swim
c-Very convenient location for the trailer lighting board
d-Not done yet, but I am going to use it to hold up the aft end of a spray hood extension to form a cockpit tent at some stage.
e-When (not if) I forget to tighten the topping lift before lowering the main, it saves all sorts of embarrassment

It was easy to build. I don't know why everyone doesn't have one. It doesn't interfere with sailing at all. I forget it is even there and many people don't even notice I have got it.

[Tony]

Hi Julian
 
Quick question:

Who supplied your Swimming ladder?  (No good on "Four Sisters" - a double ender - but might be just the job on my Deben Lugger?

[Julian Swindell]

Hi Tony
Simple answer is I can't remember, but it is a standard four step telescopic ladder like this one from Force 4 (they show a three step in the picture). I think I found it quite a bit cheaper from an ebay site. It works very well, seems very strong and has slid up and down easily for three years now. I leave it hanging over the back, with the rungs held up by Velcro, so I can release it from the water. When it is folded over, it lies neatly on the rear deck, but I am sure I could never reach it from the water.
http://www.force4.co.uk/3814/Plastimo-S-S-Telescopic-4-Step-Boarding-Ladder.html

[Tony]

Hi Julian.
That's great, thanks. I've got the measurements from the link and I'll have a look at the Greek "Eval" catalogue to find something similar.
Cheers!

[Peter Taylor]

Hi Julian,

Matt is equipping my boat with a boom gallows (a la Swindell) as part of the modifications for letting me raise and lower the mast easily while on the water for getting under a local bridge. The gallows have already been earmarked as a site for a radar transponder aerial as well as the various uses you list.  If successful the mast modifications may become a standard feature in which case the boom gallows may become a standard option too!

Peter

[Peter Taylor]

 

I don't know why everyone doesn't have one. It doesn't interfere with sailing at all. I forget it is even there and many people don't even notice I have got it.

I thought I'd revive this thread because (a) I agree with Julian as to how useful a boom gallows is; but (b) the stresses I put on the one fitted to my BC20 through raising and lowering the mast (twice on every trip) were such that I've had to strengthen it as shown in the photo. The fittings are Baseline Marine canopy fittings. If needed there's more info on the July page of my Seatern blog... http://www.seatern.org.uk/SeaternDiaries/diary_2014_july.php

[Julian Swindell]

That's an interesting modification which I have thought of myself in the ast. Pleased to see that you have actually done it. I may do similar over the coming winter. My gallows is strong enough for what it does, but I have often thought that it would not stand up to me grabbing it for sudden support.

[Jonathan Stuart]

Julian,

That's an interesting question and I can think of a few modifications that really help us. But the most useful, and simplest, is probably the jib boom's topping lift. I love the self tacking jib but on the BRe it can drop to the side decks when the jib is furled, which causes a significant loss of forestay tension. The jib boom addresses that and means the jib outhaul can be adjusted as required according to sailing conditions.

It's raining heavily here right now so I've written a Library article about this:

http://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/?page_id=1087

[PeterDT]

Jonathan, thank you. I will definitely modify my BRe accordingly. I intent to stick to the jib boom, as i am sure that it is very good for upwind performance.

Peter
BRe