Spreaders

[Jack B]

Hi,
When going to windward in my boat (a Pedro 17 with a different rig) I end up with the mast below the spreaders bending to leeward. I know this is due to the spreaders being too high, attaching to a point near the forestay, my boat is a 3/4 fractional rig and with caps, lowers and a backstay. As I see it there are two courses of action 1) moving the spreaders down to half way and attaching a new set of lowers, or 2) to attach a set of lowers to this point, the advantage here being the mast doesn't need to be lowered, a surprisingly hard task as the mast foot is a type whereby one has to lift the foot into a slot. So would method 2 be practical and what advantage would method 1 have over it, except being the norm?
Many thanks Jack

 

[VicS]

I would assume that it should be rigged in the same way as a Seahawk 17 http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=6065

 

[johnphilip]

Not that easy to see on the photo what the rig is but I assume the high spreaders are a set of diamond shaped stays to support the top of the mast. Introducing any further hardware at a lower level is surely likely to foul the genoa or its sheeting?

 

[reeac]

Not that easy to see on the photo what the rig is but I assume the high spreaders are a set of diamond shaped stays to support the top of the mast. Introducing any further hardware at a lower level is surely likely to foul the genoa or its sheeting?

Agree that it's not quite clear from the pic. but I think that I see jumper struts there rather than spreaders. These are to stiffen the upper part of the mast against tension from the mainsail which the fractional rig forestay can't do. Is it simply that the shrouds aren't tight enough?

 

[Jack B]

No they are spreaders, sorry the picture is rather unclear, the spreaders are where the jib attaches to the mast.
Thanks for the replies Jack.

 

[reeac]

No they are spreaders, sorry the picture is rather unclear, the spreaders are where the jib attaches to the mast.
Thanks for the replies Jack.

On my pre-war dayboat the spreaders are halfway up the mast, point out sideways and carry the capstays. The jumper struts are nearer 3/4 way up the mast where the forestay and jib are attached, point out at 45degrees to the for'ard direction and carry stays which run from the masthead out to the outboard end of each strut and then to the halfway point already mentioned.

 

[William_H]

There seems to be some argument over the style of spreaders or are they jumper struts? If it has lower inner or intermediate side stays then these should support the middle of the mast. Often however they will come from chainplates aft of abeam the mast so that the pull is both sideways and aft.
Spreaders doa variety of jobs. In simplistic form usually on mast head rigged boats the spreaders are there to improve the angle of approach to the mast head. (or pull from further out sideways) So spreaders are more concerned with supporting the top of the mast. However there is also a bit of force to the base to centralise the middle of the mast.
Mostly however the intermediate sidestays support the middle of the mast with chain plates near abeam the mast. The fore and aft dimension of the mast being stiiff enough witout fore and aft support. Or on bigger boats intermediate side stays set from aft of abeam the mast to pull middle back and an intermediate forestay to pull the middle forward.
Now if yours is an17ft boat then rigging is not very sophisticated. Common might be like a dinghy.The sidestays usually only go the the hounds ie the top of the forestay. The spreaders are fitted midway between hounds and the deck. Intermediate sidestays from the spreader base may be fitted.
The spreaders may be angled backwards in a robust manner so that they lean on the cap shrouds.Or cause the cap shroud to deviate aft of the straight line. This pressure on the end of the spreader is used to push the middle of the mast forward to counteract the intermediate side stays being set aft of abeam the mast.
So I dunno why the spreaders are so high. Mast toop carrying only the mainsail does not need so much sideways support. It is the load of the forestay that eally needs to be supported. If you have jumper struts as already described. These may or may not be needed by usually are to take the load of a backstay used to tension the forestay without bending the mast.
You ask if additional sidestays would be useful. yes certainly that could be a simple fix. I think from chainplates abeam the mast but might be OK from existing chainplates.
Drill a hole right through the mast and fit a 5mm bolt with tangs outside to take the stays. Fit turnscrews (bottlescrews) at the bottom to enable adjustment.
I think it absurd that it is not easy to drop the mast due to design of mast base. This should be redesigned to take a hinge so it can be lowered backwards.
The new sidestays could then be mounted ona chainplate level with the mast hinge to allow them to stay tight through the traverse of the mast from vertical to horizontal.
A mcGreggor 26 has little int sidestays just for this purpose. good luck olewill