No More Fouled Sheets

[EclipseGuy]

The Masttender system is an amazing thing when rigging the Eclipse, but it sure is irritating when tacking through the wind. My headsail sheets often get fouled on the various fittings at the mast hinge.

I have studied what other people have done to prevent this, and I thought about making some sort of boot to cover up the hinge parts and pins. I am not very good at sewing, and I was afraid my hinge boot would end up looking sloppy, and probably not fit well, and in the end my sheets would still get caught on it.

I decided to take a different approach. I thought that keeping the sheets away from the hinge area altogether should work, so I decided to add a couple of pad-eyes to do just that.

I added a nice looking, stainless steel pad-eye to the coach roof just forward of the hatch, I then added a pad-eye to the mast, 6 feet up from the coach roof (where I could reach it). My goal is to run the spinnaker halyard through the mast pad-eye, then over to the coach roof pad eye. Currently I just have a short runner instead of a line that is actually long enough to act as a spinnaker halyard, so I tested my theory by just tying a line between the two pad-eyes for now.

Over the weekend we had everything from light winds to the gustiest blows I have ever sailed the Eclipse in. After 3 days of sailing I did not have a single snag when tacking! I think this is the solution I was looking for!

Here is a picture if how I tied a line between the two pad-eyes:



- John

[EclipseGuy]

I should also mention that while the line is in place between the pad-eyes, I can still open my hatch without issue.

- John

[chas5131]

Good idea. 
Good looking boat.

[Glenn Basore]

Well that seems simple enough!

Thanks, I'm going to try it this Thursday, weather permitting.

Glenn

[Eagleye]

John,
That is a FANATSTIC idea!  Talk about thinking outside of the box!   I have been working on different solutions all summer.  I made a nylon wrap with straps that fastened with Velcro around the mast but, #1 it interfered with the sail slugs and the gooseneck so I had to remove it before lowering the sails and  #2, like you said, it looked pretty ugly.  Lately I have been experimenting with an aluminum band bent around the mast that didn't interfere with the sail slot.   Getting it to fasten in place has started getting complex and I was about ready to scrap that idea also. 
I think the simplicity of this solution is ingenious.  I trailer my Eclipse most of the time so I use the jib halyard every time I step the mast and I'm always looking for a good place to clip the end of the line when sailing.  That solves that problem also.

Bravo, John.
(+ 1 karma)

[Eagleye]

And "Dragonfly" is one awesome looking boat.  I hope to get the "Madame" looking that good again this winter.

[EclipseGuy]

Thanks for the Karma Eagleye!

I spend a lot of time on the forums reading about how other people use and/or modify their sailboats, and I save pictures of ideas that I find so that I may one day implement them myself (if needed). I figure that if I happen to stumble across an idea of my own I should share it.

Luckily there are very few modifications that the Eclipse really needs. It is a pretty darn good boat as it is right from the factory, unlike several other boats I have had in the past.

[EclipseGuy]

Here is a picture of the modification in action. You can see that the sheets are held away from the mast. When I start using the halyard instead of a temporary line I should be able to pull it tighter for a tighter look.

Please excuse the mud on the coachroof. We had been beaching the boats and they tend to get a little muddy when we board them from the beach.

Now I just have to put some sail tape, or a cover, on my shroud turnbuckles to help reduce the drag when I tack while sheeted outside of the shrouds.



- John

[Glenn Basore]

John,

You mention a nice chrome padded eye, what size is it and how long was the threaded end? what did you thread it into?

Glenn

[EclipseGuy]

I used a stainless steel pad-eye on the coach roof. I figured that stainless steel would look higher-end than nylon or plastic, plus it would match the many other stainless steel fittings on the Eclipse and look like it belongs. I used bolts that are thru-bolted and fastened to the underside using cap-nuts, so they match the look of the other fittings from inside the cabin.

Once I completed the installation I don't even notice the pad-eye as being an after market addition. It just looks like it belongs.

Unfortunately I have already taken Dragonfly to storage. It is no longer in my driveway, so I cannot easily take more pictures at the moment.

I can tell you that I used one of these pad-eyes on the coach roof:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=458821&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50045&subdeptNum=50046&classNum=50053#.UGRs703AfuM

I used the Forespar lexan mast pad-eye on the mast because it most closely fit the shape of the mast:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=14597&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50045&subdeptNum=50046&classNum=50053#.UGRuqU3AfuN

Below is an interior shot of Dragonfly. You cannot see the cap nuts from the pad-eye because they are up under the V-berth area, forward of the hatch, but they look just like the many other cap-nuts that are in the cabin for all the other fittings as seen here.

[Glenn Basore]

Thanks for the links, now I know what to look for.

I went sailing Thursday out of Ventura Marina here in California.

I had help to rig my boat but it still took me 45 minutes and I don't think I'm going to improve much on that time, it is what it is!

It was a beautiful day with clear skies, light winds 7 - 10 mph, no white caps or chop an no swells to speak of.

You could look out at the horizon and see the sky and sea meet with only 2 sail boats to be seen. A few commercial fishing boats were heading out of the marina as we were coming back in as it was 5pm.We sailed for about 4.5 hours.

The winds were so light by now we were sailing on the jib alone until we got within a few feet of the docks before furling it and coasting in the rest of the way.

Some time ago I posted about setting my shroud tension and wasn't sure what they should be set at. One of our fellow Com Pac owners stated he was told by Gerry H. "if you don't have any play in them on the lee ward side, then you have them to tight". With that in my head, I began pulling on my shrouds, they weren't loose but they moved a bit that they were not really tight. So, here is my question, at what wind conditions are we talking about to determind if the shrouds are to tight> certainly at 7 -10 mph they were not flopping around, but at 15 -20mph ?

Glenn B.

[EclipseGuy]

I am no expert on sail shape or rigging. I am still reading books, and trying to learn from other sailors. It seems that sailing is a lifelong education...

With that said, I can tell you what my unprofessional opinion is.

I believe that rigs should be tuned depending on the conditions in which you often sail. It also depends on the sail boat.

Some people like the thrill of pushing their boats, and often will resist reefing until they really have to. Their boats really heel over, and the more you heel the more force there is on your rig as it tries to lever your boat onto its side. I believe that if you often push your boat you will generally want your shrouds tighter, because otherwise your leeward shrouds will be dancing around and then there could be a shock to your rig as you tack to the other side (or pound through waves).

If you are a casual cruiser, and tend to reef early, then your shrouds do not have to be as tight. The goal being that during your normal sailing your leeward shrouds are not so loose that they dance around. They should have just enough slack that they feel a bit relaxed, but don't really have a motion of their own.

If you often reef when the winds climb above 10 knots, then 10 knots of wind is probably a good choice for tuning your shrouds. When the winds climb to 15 knots you already have a reef (or two) in place so there probably won't be a lot of pressure on your shrouds at the point.

I was talking to some sailors at the gathering last weekend at Lake Monroe and one of them totally disagreed with my method of tuning the shrouds. He runs his shrouds very loose because he says it aids in spilling wind and provides weather helm when there is a gust. I don't know how effective that really is. All I can say is that I would rather not have the constant shock and pumping of my mast from having loose rigging.

In regards to the Eclipse, it has good solid rigging (especially compared to other boats I have had). It is a very forgiving boat. I don't believe the tuning can really be messed up. Just make sure your leeward shrouds don't dance around on their own during normal sailing, while not making them bar-tight, and enjoy your boat!

- John

[Eagleye]

I added a nice looking, stainless steel pad-eye to the coach roof just forward of the hatch,

Just for giggles......When you posted this it made me think of job we did for an off shore oil rig somewhere off the coast of Taiwan.

Now that's a nice looking SST pad eye.







They were 1" thick and the pair supported this 2,200 lb. hose reel as it was mounted vertically.







Sorry to get off topic.... but I couldn't resist.   


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(/               eagleye
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[EclipseGuy]

The welds look perfect.

Welding is one thing that I have done very little of. My father and uncles are great at welding, so usually if I get to the point that I need something welded I turn to them. They, in-turn, come to me when they have computer problems.

It is a very unbalanced relationship considering that they always have computer problems and I only need something welded about once every 5 years...

[beradthefish]

EclipseGuy - I was looking at coolers on Amazon that would fit under the space between the sink and stove storage.  The best I could find is the Coleman 33-Quart Party Stacker Cooler.  Then I look at your post above and it looks like that's the cooler you have, no?  If not, what is it, and does it fit with the stove brace facing down?