SPREADERS

[SHANECFF]

I HAVE AN 85 COM-PAC19 AND I HAVE TO INSTALL THE SPREADERS ANY INFORMATION WOULD BE HELPFUL. I'M ASSUMING THAT THEY INSTALL ON THE LOWER SHROUDS PICTURES MIGHT HELP ME THANKS.

SHANECFF

[crbakdesign]

Shane,

You want to install the spreaders on the upper shrouds.  I'm not at the boat, so I can't give you the height off hand, but it is around eight or nine feet off the deck.  Make sure to add spreader booties to safeguard the foresail while you're at it. 

Look around the gallery and in the 19 section, you should be able to find an example.

[steve brown]

Shane, Your mast should have the original mounting holes for the spreaders. Com-Pac/Hutchins has a manual and parts list for the 19 that is very hepful. Make sure you get everything lined up and adjusted  correctly. Regards, Steve

[SHANECFF]

Hutchins Co had told me to attach at the lower shrouds. I'll try that first and get back to you guys. Thanks and happy sailing.

Shane

[Craig Weis]

As one can see in the pics in the gallery section, my lower standing rigging is attached to the point where the spreaders attach to the mast. And the spreaders hold the outer [upper] standing rigging out to reduce the compression load on the mast. [See another post titled 'Spreaders'] by skip. Now we are talking about a C-P 19 here. It may be different for a C-P 16.

[multimedia_smith]

Hey Skip,
The 16 does not come with lower shrouds... however, I noticed that when I had the main reefed the mast would bend appreciably since the forces were mostly on its mid and lower portion.  I made these for those conditions.  I should leave them on all the time as they don't interfere with setup or takedown.
here's a pic... (listed in the gallery as "Heavy air jib temporary lower shrouds")

http://www.com-pacowners.com/gallery2/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=10114&pos=-810

My daughter and I went out yesterday and it was blowing in the high teens to lower 20s.  I used my new deep reef main at its first point of minus three and a half feet... with the 110, it was perfectly balanced and in control ( no water over the rail).  I did neglect to install the "lowers" since the last couple of times out the conditions were light.  I definitely missed having the extra lateral strength on the mast.  I had to slack off the main to lessen the mast deflection and couldn't point as high as I can with the lowers in place.  You can see by the illustration that I attached them at the spreaders with the addition of a tang and through bolts.

We had a great time surfing back downwind...

Best Regards

Dale

[JohnS]

The spreader base attaches to the mast at the point where the lower shrouds attach to the mast. The spreaders then hold out the cap shrouds to which they should be securely attached. The spreaders should exactly bisect the angle made by the cap shroud passing over the spreader tip. This way the load on the spreader is in compression only with no shear element. You don't want spreader droop, you could lose your rig.