Plastimo roller reefing

[ghostlymoron]

I have recently had a survey on my newly acquired Mirage 28 which is fitted with Plastimo roller reefing. The surveyor condemned the forestay arrangement as the bottom of the roller reefing was attached to the bow fitting with a shackle. He also commented that the forestay was too short and should extend down to the bow fitting. I can't see how this could be achieved as it seems the bottom part of the reefing gear effectively forms part of the forestay. The forestay being attached by a through bolt further up the side plates of the reefing gear.
My question for you forumites is do I need to extend (replace) the forestay and how should the forestay, reefing gear be attached to the bow fitting. I've looked at the Plastimo website for installing the gear and the sketch in their installation instructions are not clear (to me).
Any ideas?

 

[PeteCooper]

On mine the bottom fitting of the Plastimo has two plates with holes along the length. These are attached by a clevis pin to the stem head fitting. The forestay lies between the two plates and terminates on the same pin.

 

[holly1]

I am not sure but I seem to remember my old boat had the same setup I assumed it was normal. I never had a problem with it but was never out in more than F6 . but dont just take my word for it

 

[Cloven]

I've got a pic of the set up as it is on my boat and as described by Pete Cooper above. If you PM me your email address I'll send it to you.

Dave

 

[davidpbo]

On my Jeanneau Tonic the arrangement sound as you describe with the base of the roller reefing side cheeks going to to the stem head fitting using a 10 or 12mm pin.

.

Sorry about the picture quality. Had to zoom in on a much bigger picture.

 

[DavidTav]

I have Plastimo 608s roller reefing on my boat and it works well. The two side plates below the drum are connected to the stemhead fitting by a stainless steel pin. The forestay runs between these plates and is connected with a bottlescrew to the stemhead fitting. It can be awkward to adjust the bottlescrew with this arrangement. I have replaced all my standing rigging this year and I mentioned this to the rigger. He said what he did is to supply a longer than normal stainless pin (about 3 inches) with a split pin at both ends. This arrangement allows the chainplates to be eased apart for bottlescrew adjustment. He made me the pin. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds like it should be succesful. Your arrangement sounds as if maybe the bottlescrew is missing?

 

[johna]

From your description it appears that the twin side plates of the reefing gear are in fact acting as part of the forestay so it is doubtful if the plates have the same load carrying capacity owing to the reduced cross-sectional area at the perforations. The reefing gear is designed to work in parallel with the forestay and take only the sail tension and none of the mast loading.

Certainly when I fitted the 608 on my Sabre the forestay passed straight through with the bottle screw between the side plates. Can't for the life of me remember how I tensioned the bottle screw. I had a one sided pin so may be one of the side plates was eased apart as suggested above. The double pin idea sounds great. I remember having to ease the top edge of the hole through the drum to ensure that it rotated easely and did not foul the connection of the bottle screw to the forestay.

 

[ianwoods]

I have a Plastimo 6o8 with a bottle screw lying between the perforated cheek plates and attatched to the stem head. I looked up the handbook and it clearly shows that it is possible to have the bottle screw attatched to the cheek plates using the provided pin and not attatched to the stem head. My literature is 1992.

 

[l'escargot]

[ QUOTE ]
..it is possible to have the bottle screw attatched to the cheek plates using the provided pin and not attatched to the stem head. My literature is 1992.

[/ QUOTE ]
I have had two both set up the same way. The two cheek plates are secured to the bow fitting by a pin through the bottom holes. The forestay comes down through the drum and is secured by a pin through holes higher in the cheek plate and the swage at the lower end of the forestay. A higher or lower hole is used to get the correct length and then tensioned using the backstay - no bottle screw involved.

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
it clearly shows that it is possible to have the bottle screw attached to the cheek plates using the provided pin and not attached to the stem head

[/ QUOTE ] Although that may be perfectly acceptable in many cases Plastimo reefing is fitted retrospectively to an existing fore-stay and bottle screw. In those cases the fore-stay naturally comes down to the stem head, unless it is shortened, and consequently both fore-stay and perforated plates end up on the same pin.

It has been suggested that the perforated plates may not be strong enough to take the load from the fore-stay and the luff tension but surely as the luff is tensioned with the halyard load is taken off the fore-stay. If you tension the halyard sufficiently all the tension in the fore-stay would be taken by it and only then will the plates start to take more load if the halyard is tightened further. If the breaking strain of the halyard is less than the strength of the plates , and I suspect it will be, the halyard will break before the plates.