Conventional spreaders are under compression (they SPREAD the shrouds). By incorporating lower shrouds, the spreaders become part of a system to increase the stability of the mast without increasing mast compression.

The CL spreaders are under tension. They are controlling the mast bend and keeping the mast parallel to the keel (centreboard). Some time ago there were discussions about how to eliminate the sag on CL spreaders. I once visited the TSSC and all of the CL boats in the dingy compound had uneven & droopy spreaders.

Here are my thoughts. Why use aluminum tube? Why not use a 1/8" vectra rope? It has a breaking force somewhere close to the shroud itself. It would offer less windage, be less likely to tear the sails and would perhaps make stepping, unstepping and transporting the mast easier. Surely one of you guys can recommend a bend (or knot) for fixing the cord to the shrouds so that it would not slide up or down.

The rope spreaders would have some special advantages to me. If the spreaders were attached at the front of the mast, then as tension was applied to the windward shroud, the vectra cord would assist to rotate the mast to windward. And, because it is a cord, why not pass it through a block and bring it down to the deck. It would be possible to adjust rig tension while underway. Has anyone used a "magic box"?

Even the America's Cup boats don't have this kind of technology! Whaddaya think?

posted May 26, 2003 09:39 AM            

You can not repair them easily when they break down on the water. (Think of hundreds of tiny little plastic ball bearings all over your cockpit and filling up your self bailers.) If one of your crew was an octopus you might be able to untangle the many purchased line in the box extrusion but I could never do it quickly with my slender fingers!

I would suggest multi purchased blocks or lever arrangements.

Instead of attaching the 1/8" vectra between the shrouds and mast at a single location, why not start somewhere up the mast, run down to a location on the shrouds and then return to a location somewhere lower on the mast. Depending on the mast locations, a skipper could "SCULPT" the mast bend. This would be distributing the load along the mast rather than point loading the mast. The amount of tension on the 1/8" vectra would be reduced to +/-1/2 of the total load.

posted May 27, 2003 08:07 AM            

My other comment about all these controls on a small boat is: "Keep it simple and keep your head outside the boat". If you focus on a basic rig setup and then steer the boat you are 90% there. The controls are used only for large changes like heavy air to light air. You're not an Americas Cup boat. On a Sandpiper, you don't have enough crew to be fidgeting around with all the adjustables. Just sail the boat.

Many years ago we raced an International 14. It was originally owned by Dick Rose a world class racer. The 14 is a development class that lets you do virtually anything to the rig and design as long as the boat remains 14 feet long. Even with unlimited control options Dick controlled his mast by a mast ram that only had two markings: Heavy air or light air. You win races by sailing fast (focusing on the sails and steering.) The simple rig is also less likely to break down or tangle up things.

My suggestion before you race: Look at the wind - adjust your rig tension to suit - Then sail!! Too many guys lose races because they are not watching what is going on around the boat. Your boat will go faster if you observe the time between wind shifts as it oscilates and tack on the shifts than any amount of rig tuning or controlling.

That's my sailing advice (rant?) for the morning, D'Arcy

Crew, do me a favour; CL'ers & Sandpipers, both. Estimate the amount of shroud deflection at the spreaders. To do this, pull the jib or spinnaker halyard down to the point at the deck where a shroud attaches. The halyard should scribe a straight line from the hounds to the chainplate. What is the distance from the shroud at the tip of the spreader to the straight line?

Is it 1-2 inches? 4-6 inches? 8-12 inches?

This is important to me. I have a scheme in mind.

posted June 10, 2003 09:25 AM            

The real experts on shroud tension, etc. are usually the guys who have been racing CLs. The good guys have it down to a science.

We took our trusty tension meter and measured the rig tension on the best sailors boats. We also measured the rake. When we set our boat up in a similar fashion we found we were moving considerably faster. (First place last Thursday - hooray!)

Also make sure your mast is straight. Not all boats are built true and square. When we measured from the bow to side stays we found some boats stays were not equally back. We also found that when we took the centreline of the boat from the side stays that the mast steps were not always in the middle. Our own boat was a 1/4" off. (Corrected last Wednesday)

Therefore, I don't think that the lack of spreaders will lead to you losing the mast except in extreme conditions. They may just allow the mast to twist to some undesired 3-D shape while under load.

But you know, I am guessing somewhat!