Some rigging questions

[SailingEcosse]

Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction with these rigging questions, which I'm sure have been answered elsewhere, but which I'm stuggling to find via the search.

Anyway, I'm getting ready to step the mast, new standing and running rigging all ready to go, but I'm adding 2 extra lines to the mast, which has no internal runs, and only two sets of two sheaves at the masthead.
So I added two blocks (front and back) to allow me a topping lift and a spare/spinnaker(?) line.

My questions then:

What rope should go where? e.g. topping and main halyard through the sheeves, with genoa halyard and spare on a block
Or
Main and genoa halyards through the sheeves and then topping and spare through the blocks (which are about 100mm lower down)
Or
something else entirely!

Next question

The forestay and backstay both attach to the mast via 9mmx65mm clevis pins, which are looking a bit on the worn side and which I was going to replace, but i can't seem to find any at these dimensions, so would 8mm be okay for this?
I should add that all the rigging has been made up with 9.5mm swage eye terminals.

Last question
I sized all the rope to be long enough to get led back to the cockpit, but as I'm not going to have time to do all these this season, are there any that would make sense to run to the cockpit first, or would it be best to just leave them all at the mast until I'm ready to do them properly?

Hope this makes sense (something I don't always manage ) and any help is hugely appreciated

Cheers

 

[johnalison]

I think it depends on the geometry of your set-up, and a photo or diagram might help.

It sounds to me as if you would end up with the main halyard and topping-lift crossing over if the main halyard is higher. The same would apply to the spare if used for a spinnaker.

As regards which to have in the cockpit, it should be a matter of how you work the boat. If it were me I would have the main & genoa halyards in the cockpit first, which would make short-handed operation easier, as each sail could be hoisted single-handed (not that it is impossible to do so otherwise).

I can't answer the one about the clevis pin, though if you do some arithmetic you will find the the cross-sectional area of the smaller is an awful lot less.

 

[SailingEcosse]

Hastily produced diagram as below, which I "think" is accurate, but as I don't have a pic handy I'm doing this from memory, does it help any, or just confuse?

if you do some arithmetic you will find the the cross-sectional area of the smaller is an awful lot less.

Understand what you are saying, but the previous rigging was using 6mm clevis pins!
I should add that the wire is 5mm, so I think the ends are over sized slightly, but the rigging company made it to match the old stuff, and my excuse is that I didn't know any better

 

[Fascadale]

I have the same set up at the top of the mast as you seem to have.

I run the main and genoa halyards through the sheaves at the mast head. The topping lift runs through a block shackled to the top stern, the spinny halyard to a block forward. These two blocks hang from the T shaped extension from the top of the mast as shown in your diagram.

It works for me

 

[BAtoo]

If your spare at the front might be used for a spinnaker it must be the highest/outermost so it clears the jib and forstay.

So its as Fascadale suggests.

 

[SailingEcosse]

I have the same set up at the top of the mast as you seem to have.

I run the main and genoa halyards through the sheaves at the mast head. The topping lift runs through a block shackled to the top stern, the spinny halyard to a block forward. These two blocks hang from the T shaped extension from the top of the mast as shown in your diagram.

It works for me

If it works for you it should work for me as well, so thanks, I'll go with that

Can anyone say how close the clevis pin size should be to the swage eye size please?
My swage eyes are 3/8 or 9.5mm, mast wire attachment fittings have 8mm holes, so can I use 8mm clevis pins safely with 9.5mm eye sizes?

 

[johnalison]

Your original post said that the blocks were 100mm, or 4" below the sheaves but the diagram shows them clearing the inner ones, in which case you can do whichever you like, though the above suggestions are probably best.
I'm a bit confused about your clevis pins as you said 9mm. The area of an 8mm pin would be 64/81 times the size or no more than 3/4 times as strong as 9mm, maybe less, but I'm not an engineer.

 

[SailingEcosse]

Your original post said that the blocks were 100mm, or 4" below the sheaves

Yes..sorry, wasn't until I sat down to draw it that I realised that I got it wrong

I'm a bit confused

Me too

The original rigging came in a box which I simply sent off to Z-Spars to replicate, but it turns out that these (originals) had been mated to undersize clevis pins on the mast attachment points, and I've been going crosseyed trying to figure it all out, and also getting the sizes mixed up in the process

So old rigging - rigging eyes = 10mm, clevis pins = 7mm, mast attachment holes = 8mm

New rigging - rigging eyes = 10mm, (my suggested) clevis pin size = 8mm, which matches the mast fittings also at 8mm.

But would it be a better option (presuming enough material/strength in the fitting) to drill out the mast fittings and go to 3/8 clevis pins to suit the rigging eyes?
Or am I safe with 8mm clevis pins for 10mm eyes?

Whew...hope this is a bit more understandable now

Cheers