RIGGING THE COM-PAC RAVEN 16

[CADMAN]

I bought my Raven 16 on Ebay about 3weeks ago. Its a 1997 model , but seems to have had very little use. The furling gear and Genoa appear never to have been used and the Main is in almost showroom condition. I live in the UK and this is probably the only Com-Pac 16 in the country.
My problem is that the boat came without rigging instructions, and the previous owner cannot recall ever seeing any. I am aware that the Hutchings Boat Company have a website and that they do have downloadable instructions and handbooks for their boats. Unfortunately, my webbrowser cannot locate the Hutchings website or any of the numerous links to it on this excellent forum.
hence I have been muddleing my way by using common sense, but I still have a few dilemmas.
1. There appears to be a Topping Lift halyard running up through the mast but there is no attachment at the end of the boom for the Shackle on the end of the Topping Lift.
2.How do you prevent the boom from slipping off the Pivot Pin on the mast. If there was a topping lift this might provide enough force to hold the boom on to the pin.
3.When lowering the Mainsail at the end of a trip, is it best to roll it onto the boom or to store it in slabs on top of the boom. Both methods involve disengaging the sliders from the track in the mast.

I will be very gratefull for any help or advice from anyone with experiance of these issues.
many thanks, Barrie

[Billy]

1. not sure what you are discribing. Pictures would help. I didn't know there were any lines IN the mast.

2. either a downhaul or a track stop will correct this. There should be a loop at the base of the boom and a cleat at the base of the mast. run a line from the boom to the cleat and that should hold down the boom. If you don't have these get a sail track stop and place it above the boom.

http://chetcomarine.com/sailtrackstop.aspx


3.by slabs do you mean, "flanking" the main sail? I would do this, not rolling the sail around the boom. Flanking the mainsail should not require removing the slugs from the mast. If you do leave the sail on, then you will need a sail cover to protect it from the sun.

[Salty19]

Cadman, that track stop that Billy speaks of can be used to keep the slugs from falling out of the mast slot. Just put the stop right above the opening for the boom to slide into. 

For #2, a short piece of line attaching from the ring to the cleat at the base of the mast is what you're looking for.  This is called a downhaul. Needed for tensioning the luff too. Can't really tension the mainsail without it.

As for lines in the mast, doesn't sound proper.  The topping lift should run from the mast head (small hole for it to place a knot) to the end of the boom--specifically to the small ring in the chainplate where the mainsheet block attaches.   Then again you have mentioned repeatedly the word 'RAVEN'.  Never heard of that designation before.  What is different about it vs. other CP16's?  Could be rigged differently??

[CADMAN]

Thankyou Billy and Salty19. I guess I didn't explain myself very well.
Ive now discovered the track stop which on my boat is a bent piece of steel rod with a flatted end. You poke it into the track slot then turn it so that the flats prevent it falling out. That is in theory, but unfortunately the hole drilled in the mast to receive the rod has been drilled out of line with the slot so that it is difficult to insert. never mind, that's something I can fix.
On my boat it looks as though there is no provision for a topping lift to support the end of the boom when dropping the sails. consequently when the mainsail is lowered the outboard end of the boom drops until it rests on the cockpit seat. I could rig up somesort of topping lift using the jib halyard attached to a loop tied round the end of the boom, but this is a bodge. I really cannot see what the designers intention was, unless he intended the boom complete with sail to be removed from the mast after every trip.
The Raven, I understand from the limited literature that came with the boat was the last of the CP16s and had some advanced performance features. I'm not sure what these features are because I haven't managed to go sailing yet. However I do believe that the standard CP16 did have a topping lift.
My boat has two halyards running inside the mast and emerging from two hole near the top of the mast.One of these is coloured green and the other is red. Both are about the same length, about twice the length of the mast. I assume that one of these is the jib halyard and the other may be for the spinnaker.I have a furling Genoa fitted instead of a jib so that this halliard's is free to be used as the topping lift.

[Billy]

CADMAN,

How do you attach your main sheet to the boom? Just attach an additional line to that and then run it to the top of the mast.

Here is a photo of how my topping lift attaches to my boom. it is a 19 though not a 16.



you can see I have a chainplate(?)  that turns. But I don't see why you couldn't attach the topping lift to the shackle that the mainsheet block is attached to (in the bottom left of the photo).

If your 16 is a newer one then I imagine it has a swing keel (centerboard) that most of the 16s do not have.

Also, if you are not using a spinnaker you could use the extra halyard as the topping lift. However I would imagine there is a place to attach at the top of the mast.

A topping lift is really a simple thing and is not an exact science. get creative! And if you wanted to you could just add a boom kicker. But personally I prefer a topping lift.

Here is a photo of the top of my mast (again this is a 19 not a 16) so you can see how the topping lift and halyards are ran.


I hope this helps.

Oh! one other solution to not having a topping lift, NEVER drop the mainsail. Of coarse this means you can never stop sailing, but I don't see a problem there!

[wes]

Billy - did you install your all-round (anchor) light on the masthead yourself? My 19 doesn't have one and I've been looking around for a suitable model that isn't hugely out of proportion for the 19. Many of the ones I've seen are 5" or 6" tall, and I really don't want Bella to look like a streetlight pole .

- Wes

[Billy]

Com-Pac installed it about a year ago. I'm pretty sure that is what is going on the new boats (Eclipse). Give the factory a call and I'm sure they can put one just like it in the mail for you.

[RCAN]

Cadman,

I have a 1976 Com Pac 16 and never got a handbook with it. However, I did get my hands on an old book about trailer sailing written by the owner of two Com Pac boats, a 16 and a 19. He has an excellent chapter on setting up and rigging which fully described for my purposes how to rig my specific boat. He had excellent drawings of the mast, boom and rigging.

The book is " Handbook of Trailer Sailing" by Robert F. Burgess. My copy is a first edition copy righted 1984. I understand it is now on its second edition.

Hope that helps.

Robert

[CADMAN]

RCAN
Thanks for the book referance. I have ordered a copy through Amazon.
I will wait untill my wife is in the right mood before broaching your other suggestion about neverending sailing!
Billy,
Thanks for the photos, but your mast and Boom set up is completely different to that on the CP16 Raven. I dont have the swivelling plate on the end of the boom and the top of the mast is completely different. However I think I can fix a ring about half way along the boom with a fixture for connecting a topping lift, which in my case will be the spinniker halyard.
Being a Trailer Sailer I think the designer's intention was that the boom was removed from the mast complete with sail after every trip. Since I am planning to leave my boat in the sea for 2 or 3 months it would be a bit of a slog to keep rigging it before every trip, hence my interest in rigging up a topping lift.

[Billy]

If there is no place to attach a topping lift (and you definitely want one) I would screw or rivet a fairlead to the top of the mast and another to the back of the boom. Then just run a simple line between the two.

http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/1211-stainless-steel-eye-straps.html

total cost about $10.

I would not leave the sail on the boom when it is not being used. I would take it off and fold it and put it in a bag. If you are going to keep it at a dock or mooring you could leave it on but I would get a sail cover.

Here is a picture of Salty's old 16 and it has the same plate


I would just go buy a plate similar and bolt it to the back of the boom.

[Shawn]

Billy,

Instead of an eye strap on the boom use a Ronstan fairlead V-cleat on the end of the boom and you can then adjust the topping lift height. That is what I use on my 23 and it works very well.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=25057&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10102&subdeptNum=10191&classNum=10239

Shawn

[wes]

Billy - Hutchins has set me up with an anchor light like yours; thanks for the tip. Now I am trying to figure out how to route the cable down into the mast from the masthead. The halyard sheaves take up almost all the room inside and it looks like the chance of halyards rubbing on the electrical cable would be pretty high. How is your cable routed - is there a trick to this?

- Wes

[Billy]

Not sure you are going to like this but the wires on are the outside of the mast head on the starboard side.

I should have posted this pic too



let me know if you go a different rout. This was factory installed and I never noticed it until now. inside would have been better but what are you gonna do.

[wes]

Thanks - that's very helpful. If the factory ran them on the outside, then there probably isn't a better option. It's really tight around those sheaves. I will experiment and see if I can come up with another solution.

- Wes