Modifying pulpit to attach tack of cruising chute?

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Ric

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Has anybody tried attaching the tack of a cruising chute to a reinforced pulpit?

My (31ft) boat does not have an evident attachment point for the tack of the chute. Due to the big "ears" of my 16kg Delta anchor it is imossible to fix a bowsprit over the bow roller, and I don't want to have to remove the anchor and install a bowsprit every time I want to put up the chute.

The only easy attachment point is on the forward tip of the pulpit. I could weld on a small lug to mount a pulley for the tack - but then I would need to reinforce the entire pulpit (probably) by welding reinforcing struts back to the axle of the bow roller. Anybody pondered and tried a similar exercise?
 
On the few ocasions I fly my cruising chute I run a line from the tack under the bow roller (or the "keep" pin) back to the cockpit and cleat it off.
That way I can run it round a winch and adjust the position of the tack. higher for deep downwind and hard down for on the wind. (as far as possible)

It goes inboard of the pulpit and doesn't normally foul anything.
Suggest that if you can't find a similar anchor point you could shackle a turning block on a short strop somewhere about there.
 
I faced a similar dilemma.

I couldn't seem to find a sensible way forward despite asking riggers and others for their advice. Eventually I came up with the idea of using the second bow anchor roller - that way I could leave the anchor in its usual position on the starboard roller. So, with considerable assistance from another forumite, I have come up with the bespoke bracket that is shown in the pic below. The gennaker pole and fittings are all Selden ( eyewateringly expensive! :eek::eek: ) and are good quality. Because of the length of the extension I needed beyond the bow ring, the pole is 99mm dia.

I very much doubt your pulpit will be strong enough to cope with the vertical and horizontal loads that will be generated, so, as you suggest, substantial reinforcement will be necessary if you do go down this route. Do you have a pic of the bow so we can all see the exact nature of your problem?
 
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No one else has answered so.. You could add a shackle and large single block to the stemhead fitting, surely, above the stock of the anchor and if possible in front of the forestay. Then run a tackdownhaul through and back to a foredeck cleat or am I missing something here?
 
I've had the same problem on 32ft boat. Hope I can describe this OK !! Here goes ... My pulpit is well fixed to deck in 5 places with good reinforcing under the deck and has its for'd stanchion sloping forward amidships ending up well in front of the forestay. ( no pic available at present). I have fitted a block 2/3 up this leg which puts its about 14ins in front of forestay. The tack line from the chute comes through this block and then down and crucially through a snatch block attached firmly to the side of the bow roller and then back to cockpit. So about half the load is probably taken on the lower block and not on the pulpit at all. So far in this 'experiment', which hasnt needed any permanaent mods to the boat, I have not had any noticeable bending of the pulpit so have not tried to reinforce it further in any way.

In effect, the forward pulpit stanchion acts as a short sloping bowsprit to get the chute tack out in front of the forestay. Chute is about 550 sq ft but never used above F4. Cheers Phil
 
Blueboatman said:
No one else has answered so.. You could add a shackle and large single block to the stemhead fitting, surely, above the stock of the anchor and if possible in front of the forestay. Then run a tackdownhaul through and back to a foredeck cleat or am I missing something here?
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Yeah, my answer of almost an hour previously.
 
Re mikemonty Yeah, my answer of almost an hour previously.
That will teach me to open several threads then post...slooowly:o
 


We just attached ours aft, yes aft, of the furler to a pulley on the stem as we have a very pointy pulpit, works well.

Gybing is just a mattere of snuffing the sail, loosening the tack line, unclip the tack line, flip the tack in front of the genoa, clip on the tack line, tighten up the tack line and un snuff. If it's too windy to do that we shouldn't be flying the sail anyway :)
 
NDH said:
We run ours off a block attached to the retaining pin in the 2nd bow roller, never had any problems, tack line back to the cockpit.
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Put the foremost-block on a snap-shackle, then you can reposition it to the middle of the foredeck (or, in my case the opposing pulpit stanchion base) and *also* use it as an aft-led pole downhaul.

If I was really worried about using the roller-retaining pin, and kept the anchor out permanently, I'd get a large soft shackle from Seateach, run that around the roller, then snap the tack-block on top.
 
PTB said:
I've had the same problem on 32ft boat. Hope I can describe this OK !! Here goes ... My pulpit is well fixed to deck in 5 places with good reinforcing under the deck and has its for'd stanchion sloping forward amidships ending up well in front of the forestay. ( no pic available at present). I have fitted a block 2/3 up this leg which puts its about 14ins in front of forestay. The tack line from the chute comes through this block and then down and crucially through a snatch block attached firmly to the side of the bow roller and then back to cockpit. So about half the load is probably taken on the lower block and not on the pulpit at all. So far in this 'experiment', which hasnt needed any permanaent mods to the boat, I have not had any noticeable bending of the pulpit so have not tried to reinforce it further in any way.

In effect, the forward pulpit stanchion acts as a short sloping bowsprit to get the chute tack out in front of the forestay. Chute is about 550 sq ft but never used above F4. Cheers Phil
Click to expand...

Would be interested to see a photo of that.
 
Blueboatman said:
No one else has answered so.. You could add a shackle and large single block to the stemhead fitting, surely, above the stock of the anchor and if possible in front of the forestay. Then run a tackdownhaul through and back to a foredeck cleat or am I missing something here?
Click to expand...

I used to have that system when I had a smaller 10Kg Delta. When I upgraded to a 16Kg Delta, this was no longer possible as the ears of the anchor would foul the tackline. You can possibly see why in this photo.



I have been as a temporary measure attaching a block to the shank of the anchor. The anchor can't lift because of the bow roller arrangement. It does work, but just not very seamanlike.
 
I went down to boat this afternoon to take a better picture:


As you can see, it is not feasible to pass the tack under the bow roller because the line then fouls the pulpit and sometimes the anchor.

The best point to fix a block to avoid fouling would be on the forward tip of the pulpit. However clearly I cannot rely on the pulpit alone to transmit the load from the sail to the hull. I wondered therefore whether I could either weld a bar from the forward tip of the pulpit to the base of the forestay? Or maybe just weld an eye to the pulpit and run a cable back to the base of the forestay? Or, if there are substantial side loads from a chute, reinforce the pulpit with bars attached to the outer axle of the anchor roller?
 
It's up to you, but I think you are making this more complicated than it has to be.
It doesn't matter if the tack line touches the anchor or (if you have it let out for downwind) the inside of the pulpit.

Mine does - and I don't snuff it (can't - no snuffer) to tack. I gybe carefully ensuring the clew and sheets run gently between the furled genny and the luff of the sail.

This is on a contessa 26 with a few inches between forestay/furler anchor point and the tackline turning block/roller.

Apart from this - you would lose a foot or two of tackline length by fixing it on the pulpit and therfore a degree or two of upwind abiliity (unless your cruising chute has a very short luff)
 
Obviously the pulpit would require strenghtning / modification, not to meantion the backing underneath.

In the 1980's Freedom Yachts used the 'Hoyt Gunmount' developed by Gary Hoyt; it was a whole spinnaker pole sliding in a stainless sleeve attached to the pulpit.

I never fancied it re. the loads, and feel much the same about attaching a chute tack to a pulpit; probably OK in light winds.
 
mikemonty said:
It's up to you, but I think you are making this more complicated than it has to be.
It doesn't matter if the tack line touches the anchor or (if you have it let out for downwind) the inside of the pulpit.
Good point - I haven't previously tried running it under the bow roller and up through the inside of the pulpit. I'll give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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