Changing forestay

[sawdoc]

Hi
My forestay is 5mm wire which terminates at deck level with the fitting shown. The top end is a Talurit swage fitting. I would like to do a DIY replacement of the forestay. Obviously one of the end fittings has to be fitted after the wire is pushed through the furler. I am looking at those STA lok swageless fittings but I am not sure if I can get one which I can fit and to which I can thread the ring shown. The ring seems to add significantly to the arrangeemnt in allowing for any sideways pull on the forestay.thereby not straining it.

Has anyone done this and if so any advice would be welcome. Is it easy enough to push 10 m of 5mm wire through the furler?

[Rowana]

I used one of these when I renewed mine 2 years ago -
http://www.jimmygreen.co.uk/product_inf ... ok_eye.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

there is then a clevis pin which anchors the sta-lok to the bottpm of the reefing gear. See here -
http://www.bluemoment.com/manuals/plast ... eefing.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not sure about your set-up. How is the reefing gear fixed at the bottom? i.e. What stops it from sliding up the forestay?

What make is it?

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Would I be correct in assuming that the s/s plate which is shown in pic goes right over drum and prevents drum and foils from sliding up the forestay?
Are you renewing your forestay wire, as I have some used but in good condition 6mm wire which you can have to make new forestay.
C_W

PS dident realise you were in Galway, a bit far to send wire I guess!
"Sorry"

[Nick]

.
Can't imagine anyone renewing their forestay with second hand wire.

Ha'penny of tar and all that . . .

[sawdoc]

I used one of these when I renewed mine 2 years ago -
http://www.jimmygreen.co.uk/product_inf ... ok_eye.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

there is then a clevis pin which anchors the sta-lok to the bottpm of the reefing gear. See here -
http://www.bluemoment.com/manuals/plast ... eefing.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not sure about your set-up. How is the reefing gear fixed at the bottom? i.e. What stops it from sliding up the forestay?

What make is it?

I'm not too sure about the setup myself to be honest. As it lies horizontally I can push the drum and foil up the wire forestay. However I can say from observation that it does not tend to ride upwards when sailing - possibly the downward pull of the gib sheet is restraining it. ? Sorry I can't comment on make either - I'll have a look for any identification marks tomorrow and report back. The Jimmy Green site has lots of info so a weekend trawl there might shed light on my query as to whether I can obtain a stud type fitting which will accomodate the ring shown.

C-W
Thanks for the offer of the wire -As Nick says the expense of the new wire is not that much and it will be reassuring to have new material in place.

[sahona]

I would be tempted to get rid of that ring thing. It looks like a lifeline fitting - wrong shape and design for rigging.
Are you sure somebody hasn't made the made the forestay 6" too long and had to throw away a bottlescrew sometime in the past?
Is the foil the right size for the sail, or can a bit be lopped off it at this time, thus raising the drum to allow for the bottlescrew?
Are there other bits missing ( as mentioned above) - ie- the lower bearing/support for the drum to forestay?
I would expect to see a couple of bits of oversized stainless steel meccano attached to the bottom of the drum to stop it being hauled up the stay when the sail is hoisted..

[sawdoc]

I would be tempted to get rid of that ring thing. It looks like a lifeline fitting - wrong shape and design for rigging.
Are you sure somebody hasn't made the made the forestay 6" too long and had to throw away a bottlescrew sometime in the past?
Is the foil the right size for the sail, or can a bit be lopped off it at this time, thus raising the drum to allow for the bottlescrew?
Are there other bits missing ( as mentioned above) - ie- the lower bearing/support for the drum to forestay?
I would expect to see a couple of bits of oversized stainless steel meccano attached to the bottom of the drum to stop it being hauled up the stay when the sail is hoisted..

Ah Sahona you do down my fine furler!!



The ring is threaded to the end of the forestay so it is not a part of the furler. I do attach a bottlescrew between the stemhead and the ring which secures the forestay to the deck. The ring seems a good fitting to me in that it accomodates a sideways force on the forestay which should ease the pressure on the bottle screw in the same way a toggle does. What I have learnt from this thread is that the normal arrangement seems to be that the foil and drum are also attached to the stemhead. Mine is not but whether through the constraint of the jib sheet or the gravitational effect of 10 metres of foil plus sail it does not ride up the mast but sits comfortably where I want it to stay.
In the possible event of me shortening the forestay ( I am removing excessive mast rake) I posted this thread in the hope someone could advise on a similar diy fitting I could place on a new length of 1x19 when it has been pulled through the foil. I am satisfied that this type of arrangement works fine on my boat - I'm trying to replicate it on a shorter forestay.

[Rowana]

I must admit that I have never seen an arrangement like this where the furler is free to go up and down the forestay. All the ones I have seen have some means of fixing the drum somehow so that it can't slide up and down.

If you are happy with how it works at the moment, I would have a swaged eye at the top, then a Sta-Lok fitting as I gave the link to in my first post, then a bottlescrew as shown here -

http://www.jimmygreen.co.uk/technical_i ... custom.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Look at the one on the top row, second from the right - Fork & Toggle, Fork
Or if you still want your threaded end, see the bottom right, but you would have to know which thread, and I don't know how you would get it down through the furler. You could have a Sta-Lok at the top, I suppose.

HTH

[sahona]

Sorry, didn't intend to slag yer yat.
1. is the genny hoisted by a halyard on the masthead or through a pulley attached to the top of the foil (and down again to the tack of the sail)
2. maybe a bottlscrew will wind onto the exisiting thread - would that shorten the forestay enough?
Going back to the hoist, if it's at the masthead, how does the whole lot not get dragged up the wire?

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Sawdoc if you are keeping the lifting eye on the lower end of the stay, I would suggest putting a lock nut on the stay thread and then locking it down against the lifting eye, as if the furling system ever jammed on the stay while furling, the stay could unscrew itself out of the lifting eye, and that wouldent be a nice experience to have.
C_W

[sawdoc]

1. is the genny hoisted by a halyard on the masthead or through a pulley attached to the top of the foil (and down again to the tack of the sail)
2. maybe a bottlscrew will wind onto the exisiting thread - would that shorten the forestay enough?

Sorry for the tardy reply - other things intervened. The halyard is hauled through a pulley attached to the top of the foil as you suggested and then back down the foil where it is shackled to the top surface of the rotating drum.

My dilemma is that I really can't determine if the forstay will be too long until I have the mast in situ. So I have taken the cautionary step of ordering a new forestay with one straight end and a sta lok fitting (other end is talurit swage) - If I dont need it it will be a handy piece of kit to have as back up. Someone has advised me that furling forestays should be changed more regularly than most standing rigging.

Further to my earlier comments about the unknown make of furler, i have poured over it looking for brand names and found nothing other than many scratches and tarnishs which suggests it dates from sometime colse to the age of my boat 1980, but I must say it performs well for me and I have no iintention of replacing the furler.

C_W

Thanks for your comment on the eye - that is something for me to examine next time I get a chance to see if that is a posssibility - as mentioned above it has been hassle free so far and long may it stay that way but we all know it pays to have all these possibilities considered beforehand!