Forestay divided and moved aft-wards, to clear passage when boarding Maxi 95

G

gorbel

New Member
Joined
4 Feb 2007
Messages
16
Visit site
Hello,

we have been thinking for years abt the problem (in all sailing boats almost) to enter and leave the boat. You have to be an acrobate to fix it in our Maxi 95. The dog definitely cannot do it without much fear and hesitation. Of course you can have a gangway or passerelle normally located in front of the forestay. However they are for humans not dogs.

We changed the pulpit and removed lantern but the forestay still is right in your face when you proceed. And vice versa.

The current idea is to divide a forestay (skipping the furlex) in two parts linked together at height of ca 2 m and fixed to either pulpit or deck on each side. Thus there will be a Triangle of free passage and no hole in deck in middle.

1) Has anyone tried this? What about the stability of mast? There is probably a mathematical way to calculate how far aft the forestays can be fixed with safety margin for maststability.

2) All insights in having a dog boarded are welcome. We have a grosser muensterländer 35-40 kg so lifting is a bad option.

Kind regards ¨
Lars+crew
 
Not a problem most people on this forum have, since we don't usually berth bows-to in the UK.

I reckon a better approach than messing with the forestay would be to mount the gangplank on a (removeable) short arm projecting out sideways a couple of feet aft of the bow. A person could then easily step over the guardrails; for a dog you could have pelican hooks at the forward end of the wires so that you unhook them from the pulpit to give clear access.

Pete
 
prv said:
Not a problem most people on this forum have, since we don't usually berth bows-to in the UK.

I reckon a better approach than messing with the forestay would be to mount the gangplank on a (removeable) short arm projecting out sideways a couple of feet aft of the bow. A person could then easily step over the guardrails; for a dog you could have pelican hooks at the forward end of the wires so that you unhook them from the pulpit to give clear access.

Pete
Click to expand...

The above is the easiest way, by far.

However, if the OP really wants to split his forestay then it has been done but for different reasons. In the past some yachts had dual forestays for peeling headsails with piston hanks (does one peal a headsail, or just a spinnaker). The forestay on the boat I sailed had a plate at the top of the mast where both forestays attached to, then the plate attached to the mast with a single articulated joint, IIRC. Both forestays just connected to the stem head fitting cheeks at deck level. You could easily reverse such a device and have two legs that came down to either side of the bow. I think it would be a kerfuffle compared to Pete’s far simpler idea.

Alternatively you could have the forestay on a highfield lever and just remove it when you get to port leaving the front of your yacht symmetrical. You just have to devise a method of stopping the mast falling backwards and depending on how your mast is rigged, that might be quite easy. I would still go for the pole at the side, easy peasy.
 
Twin forestays would enable you to have twin headsails. One for starboard tack and one for port tack. Or maybe both at the same time. :)
 
gorbel said:
Hello,

we have been thinking for years abt the problem (in all sailing boats almost) to enter and leave the boat. You have to be an acrobate to fix it in our Maxi 95. The dog definitely cannot do it without much fear and hesitation. Of course you can have a gangway or passerelle normally located in front of the forestay. However they are for humans not dogs.
Click to expand...

You could rig a halyard through the end fitting of the spinnaker pole and hoist the dog up and swing him ashore. You'd need one of those doggy lifejackets with a handle on the top.

Rig the pole with guy, downhaul & uphaul.

Run the spinny halyard (hereafter known as the dog halyard) through the end fitting.

Bring the pole aft and haul up on the dog halyard.

Swing the pole up to the forestay (you'd need a large one that overlapped the forestay by quite a bit) then ease the dog halyard.

Repeat the process in reverse for dog boarding.

Could even tie an extra line to said dog for better control.
 
OK in taking this request seriously. Split forestay a bit like a split backstay wouldmean the foot of the jib must be quite high above the split. The spread of the bases of the split forestay would mean that there won't be much gap between the split forestay ends anyway. Twin forestas have the problem that it is difficult to get enough tension on the forestay carrying the jib as the other not in use forestay will take the load. You could move the forestay attachment at the deck aft by quite a lot the down side being the loss of jib area and possible loss of sail area ballance.
Far better to permit bow on mooring and bow access would be to build an extension of the deck foreward but to one side with a gap in the bow rail. You could do this both sides if you want to keep symetry. olewill
 
Last edited:
My trailer sailer had a small bow extension and a gap in the pulpit. You could fix a boarding ladder to it. I have seen that on other boats too. I can't believe you were serious about splitting the forestay so your dog, and you(?) could pass through the gap between.
 
Hello folks, yeah it is a silly idea,n´est pas! There is a solution to every problem so I thought it a good idea to ask all smart-asses on ybw to find the answer. And the answer seems to be mooring stern-to.

I thank you all for your assistance and mockery, had several laughs at myself! Still I think it is an unbelievably bad design to have so small room for the feet of wifes, kids and dogs who have to jump ashore. I would´nt try myself (captain´s privilege)

Have a nice evening

Lars and his crum crew
 
gorbel said:
Hello folks, yeah it is a silly idea,n´est pas! There is a solution to every problem so I thought it a good idea to ask all smart-asses on ybw to find the answer. And the answer seems to be mooring stern-to.

I thank you all for your assistance and mockery, had several laughs at myself! Still I think it is an unbelievably bad design to have so small room for the feet of wifes, kids and dogs who have to jump ashore. I would´nt try myself (captain´s privilege)

Have a nice evening

Lars and his crum crew
Click to expand...
Have you ever wondered why there are no sailboats with a sugar scoop bow - because they are supposed to be sailed..

But this might work, bowsprit/platform with integrated ladder from http://www.batsystem.se/
Two Maxi 95's
Maxi95PT10044BKT73S.jpg

Maxi95HP65BKT72-250S.jpg

Random drawing
GPAT100.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top