Launching "Sassy" COVID-Style...

[P-sail]

Hi again Bruce:

Completely of topic, I have ordered a cheek block, eye strap, and RWO Lance cleats from Binnacle to use for the tack jiffy reef on my SunCat. Going with two line system, leaving existing clew reef hardware. Question: what did you use to attach cleats etc. to your boom? Stainless self tapping screws?

Thanks in advance,

[Andre]

I've always just used aluminum pop rivets on my PC and HC. Their shear strength is in the couple of hundred pounds range which should be adequate, less corrosion issues, easy to install and easy to remove if you need to. In one case (HC 2nd reef horn cleat) I chose to epoxy a piece of the mandrel back into the holes as a reinforcement. I've no idea if that provides much benefit but certainly does no harm. I later discovered that there are pop rivets specifically designed to do just that (can't remember the source or what they're called).

I haven't had a failure  in 16 cumulative years of sailing yet, and even if they pull out there would likely be less damage to the spar.  I might not use them for higher load uses like halyard or mainsheet attachments but they've worked great for me elsewhere.

Andre

[bruce]

Paul, personally I use SS machine screws and tap threads in the spar. I use Tef Gel or thread locker to isolate the metals, but that isn't perfect. If under high load, I will through bolt.

The important thing to remember with dissimilar metals is size matters. SS fasteners in aluminum is acceptable. Aluminum fasteners in larger SS components is a disaster, the aluminum will corrode away quickly. The anode, in this case aluminum, will be sacrificed quickly in the presence of an abundance of the cathode, SS.

Andre is on track. Aluminum fasteners, threaded or rivets, can be better. Be aware, that even between alloys of a similar base metal, you can get galvanic corrosion, and additionally, aluminum will still corrode more than SS in general, due to other factors. SS fasteners are used in aluminum routinely, and are acceptable if precautions are taken.   

[Joseph]

Hi Bruce, Very nice, Great design and craftsmanship, though way beyond my own crafting abilities, I'm afraid. Am I guessing right in assuming that your design makes not possible for the rudder blade to come in contact with the outboard propeller when half-way up and hard to port?

J.

[bruce]

Nothing has changed in the travel of the rudder blade from the stock set up, including the up and down stops. I rarely use the ability to set the rudder at a partially-raised position, the weather helm is profound, but it could be handy when transiting skinny water. Or, like out last sail, when the rudder found bottom when, at most, the chart showed a shallow spot of 13' at LLW in an area of mostly 20'. It was mid tide, so we should have had about 15' over the shallow spot, if that's what we hit. It felt like bottom, and not a wreck, but the water was not clear enough to see. Raising the rudder freed us, and we gladly sailed on, scratching our heads.

With the motor and rudder fully deployed or fully retracted, the prop and rudder play nice. With the motor down, if I raise the rudder partially, the prop could hit the rudder. That would be the same if I used opposing uphaul and downhaul lines on the rudder, another traditional set up. The potential for contact with the prop is worse with electric outboards because the prop diameter is typically larger than those on gas outboards. The motor bulb and prop on the Torqeedo 1103 are especially large. One could always mount the motor further outboard on the adjustable mount, or remount the adjustable mount entirely, if necessary.

Renae and I have compared notes, and I believe he found that the offset to port from the centerline for the factory motor mount was the same on the SC as the PC.