Ingenious New Mast Support Design

[Solid_Tude]

Last year, I posted some photos and comments about upgrading my CP 16-1 named Ön!, in this forum and said that I couldn't wait for what the marina's carpenter came up with for my mast support system ( http://cpyoa.geekworkshosting.com/forum/index.php?topic=5738.msg40327#msg40327 ).  Due to their extremely busy fall work schedule, this was delayed until it was finished in their shop on 12-1-12.  And due to my busy December, I finally got the time to put some pix up for your consideration.  I told Jason, the carpenter, that I wanted a system to transport the mast and furler that would be easy and fast to use, and that would be compact enough to fit in the back of my small SUV when I would be trailer sailing up here on our many lakes in northeastern Minnesota. I really think he's come up with one of the most ingenious mast support design ideas I've seen for our boats. 

Due to the late completion, I will not be able to show you the mast stepping system that goes with this design, as Jason will not be able to go into the details of it all till next spring.  He has made and installed all the necessary gear for it, but it was just too cold the day I picked up my boat to go through it step by step and document it for you all.  I will definitely show it in the forum next spring (maybe even a video too) when the weather cooperates as right now Ön! is snug in the toy barn up at the lake house for the winter.




As you can see from this image above, his approach was to make a sort of interlocking puzzle design that had the weight of the mast and furler hold it together.  It forms a very sturdy support, interlocks and even has a hole to put the tiller through to keep it secure.  As you can also see, it's made out of marine plywood and is not finished (another spring project for Ön!).  I don't know if I'm going to use marine varnish or just paint it a color close to the blue on the hull and to match the hatch board.  Leaning towards just blue paint because it will probably be less maintenance.  You cannot see it in these shots, but the back portion of the support is stabilized and goes into the water drainage slot aft of the cockpit opening for your fuel storage area.  There is also a tab that goes back to support against the aft wall of the cockpit too.  It's a very sturdy design and fits together without any fittings just like a puzzle. I'll take more photos in the spring to show this.




From this photo above, you can see how the weight of the mast holds the end of the main sheet secure as well for trailering in the design.



This shows a similar design concept in use for the mast step area support but it is secured to the boat differently.  It uses the same bolt to secure the support as you use stepping the mast.  You can see where he cut slots to accommodate the metal tabs of the mast step.



This is the side view.  You can see that he used the bolt to hold the rear section of the support tight to the deck by the bolt and not just the weight of the mast and furler.  The bolt holds one part secure to the deck and to the other forward part and allows the forward part to support the weight.



You can see from this shot that the mast is supported above the bow rail to avoid contact and damage, but close enough to tie and secure.  You can also see my dirty Ida rudder that I'm going to have to drill a small hole in top aft to secure it somewhere to the stern for trailering as well.  I'm also considering a outboard motor transport support near the front of the trailer but haven't worked that out yet.  Fortunately, I only live a few miles away from the marina and just dropped the outboard off at my house before trailering the boat up to the toy barn at the lake house.



Port side view.  I plan to have a storage/trailering bag made out of Sunbrella fabric for the mast and furler.  I'm also going to have a bag made for the boom and main for travel and storage.  This will probably be strapped to the main and furler for travel and storage with Rok Straps.  Then there's also the option of just attaching a PVC tube to the trailer as others have done.  I really haven't decided yet.  Any other ideas out there?



You also can see that having the mast a bit higher allows you more room to get into the cuddy cabin easier for access.  It's tight, but a lot nicer than having the mast secured right at the hatch opening/deck level. What you cannot see well in these shots, are the replaced teak accent strips used to hold the hatch cover and hatch board with a more maintenance free material.  My teak strips needed replacement as they all were cracked and split and I didn't want the hassle of wood maintenance.  Their solution was to make new ones out of this white plastic material that mills just like wood but will never crack, split or deteriorate like teak does. I was concerned that it would not look as well as the teak trim but after I saw the finished product, I thought it gave it a cleaner look, plus I won't have to mess with oiling teak ever again.  Personally, I like the fact that the only varnished wood I have to mess with for maintenance, is the tiller (which I may have to replace as well because it has been broken twice and clamped and glued twice).  Low maintenance means more time out on the water and that's a good thing.

[Greene]

Some really good ideas there.  Seeing another '84 Anniversary hull with the blue color sure brings back some happy memories of ours.  We had hull 2108 which looked just like yours.  Beautiful little yachts!

A couple thoughts;

Add some kind of felt or padding to the contact areas.  We used a wooden crutch and it tended to bounce around just enough to scuff up the fiberglass and the mast itself.  A little felt and carpet cured the problem. 

I'd paint the wood to match the cockpit color.  When the wood is handed in/out of the cockpit you will undoubtedly scuff the fiberglass sooner or later.  The paint always seems to transfer when this happens and the matching color would tend to blend in better.  We painted a rudder blue and we always had little blue scuff marks around the cockpit caused by handing the rudder in/out.


Mike

[Rob]

That's great ,Thanks for sharing the Ideal I my steel some part of it . Rob

[deisher6]

Hello Solid-Tude:
Great ideas and pictures.  Thanks for posting them. 

I would pad the tiller slot and secure it from moving, as well as Greene's suggestions for padding.

Very sharp looking boat.

regards charlie

[philb Junkie19]

It's great to see the creative solutions folks come up with.  You mention of the "fuel storage area".  That lazerette and cover looks like the one on my 16II which is open to the interior.  I see pics of 16's where the lazerette is replaced by fuel storage area on the cockpit floor with slats above. Unless I'm missing something, storing gas in the lazerette would be dangerous.  She's a handsome boat!  Philb

[Solid_Tude]

Some really good ideas there.  Seeing another '84 Anniversary hull with the blue color sure brings back some happy memories of ours.  We had hull 2108 which looked just like yours.  Beautiful little yachts!

A couple thoughts;

Add some kind of felt or padding to the contact areas.  We used a wooden crutch and it tended to bounce around just enough to scuff up the fiberglass and the mast itself.  A little felt and carpet cured the problem.  

I'd paint the wood to match the cockpit color.  When the wood is handed in/out of the cockpit you will undoubtedly scuff the fiberglass sooner or later.  The paint always seems to transfer when this happens and the matching color would tend to blend in better.  We painted a rudder blue and we always had little blue scuff marks around the cockpit caused by handing the rudder in/out.


Mike

Thanks Mike.

I have thought of padding for the supports and am looking into alternatives.  I've dropped the painted blue hatch board in the cockpit a few times and it hasn't transferred paint to the cockpit so far.  My main concern is maintenance and I just think paint would be a better alternative to marine varnish as I made a couple of rocking Adirondack chairs and used marine varnish on them and had them on my front porch and it just doesn't withstand the sun and UV as well as paint in my experience.   I guess it depends upon what kind of paint you use, so I'll be sure to inquire about paint transfer when I paint it.   I appreciate your suggestion though.

In the spring, I am planning to make a 1/3 sized hatch board with aft facing compartments for my GPS and my VHF radio.  That I will probably do in marine varnish so it will look nice, as it will only be exposed to the sun's UV when I'm sailing.

[Solid_Tude]

That's great ,Thanks for sharing the Ideal I my steel some part of it . Rob

Hey Rob, thanks and you are very much welcome to use any of these ideas.

[Solid_Tude]

Hello Solid-Tude:
Great ideas and pictures.  Thanks for posting them. 

I would pad the tiller slot and secure it from moving, as well as Greene's suggestions for padding.

Very sharp looking boat.

regards charlie

Thanks Charlie.

Good idea about padding the slot for the tiller too. 

[Solid_Tude]

It's great to see the creative solutions folks come up with.  You mention of the "fuel storage area".  That lazerette and cover looks like the one on my 16II which is open to the interior.  I see pics of 16's where the lazerette is replaced by fuel storage area on the cockpit floor with slats above. Unless I'm missing something, storing gas in the lazerette would be dangerous.  She's a handsome boat!  Philb

Thanks Philb.

The only time I store fuel in there is when I'm out on the water and the hatch for the cuddy is open and air is circulating. Since the Tohatsu 2.5 hp 4-stroke I have has such a small tank, I need to bring extra fuel aboard and that's where I store it for convenience.  I never store fuel in the boat when I'm not sailing and that includes when I had it tied up to a slip for a few months or if it is just sitting in my driveway.

[spritemann]

Nice to see another CP16 in the area.   Mine is up at my cabin near Ely, MN.  We should go sailing together sometime.

[Solid_Tude]

Nice to see another CP16 in the area.   Mine is up at my cabin near Ely, MN.  We should go sailing together sometime.

Hey spritemann,

Sounds like a great idea.

[gedingas]

 You have an awesome system. Anyway you could provide the plans?

[Solid_Tude]

You have an awesome system. Anyway you could provide the plans?

Thanks GotKnots.

I don't have any plans.