My Venture 222 - Loving this boat

[cookwithgas]

I took my daughter for a Halloween sail yesterday after not having been out for a few months. I've made several changes to the boat so this was a shake-down cruise. The jib furler worked flawlessly. I changed over to the regular jib and I'm glad I did. The bowsprit was a good addition but I didn't get to fly the spinnaker. My home-made kick-up rudder worked well also. The new tiller sticks up a little high but it worked well.

I installed a new, larger sail but the stock boom was too short, so I made a new boom out of a Hobie-14 mast. This will take some more tweaking before I go out again. I made it into a roller-furling boom that could be easier to roll up with some modifications. I really like the rolled up sail because it's easy to store and to set up. I had to install a chicken-head at the top of the mast and revise the halyard pulley so the sail would fit beneath the rear stay. The new sail is crisp so I can tighten up the outhaul for a flat sail and the boat doesn't lean so much like it did with the old, baggy sail. Here is a picture of the boat ready to go at the dock:



You can see the jib furler, new bowsprit, gas struts on the pop-top, rolled up main sail, and new tiller handle. All of these modifications have put the fun in sailing by removing some of the tedious chores like installing the jib hanks on the forestay, fighting with the pop-top, worrying about grounding the rudder and fighting with the sail when it is down.

Here's a picture of my little boat on the trailer after we finished sailing:



I have done a lot of work on the cabin as well but I don't get to see much of that when sailing. I plan to do some overnight trips in the coming months and maybe I'll get to enjoy the new interior then.

Happy Sailing,

Aubrey Scott in Texas

[Sumner]

Man that is a pretty boat and those are neat mods. I probably would never do it, but would like to see more pictures on the main boom furling. Also how about some interior pictures ?

Sum

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[grady]

Looks great!

[kmclemore]

Lovely restoration... you should be very proud!

[Jglibbery]

Hi. I also have a 1980 Venture 222. And yes they are awesome boats. Curious about your rennos on your bowsprit as I would like to get a spinnaker/gennaker. Any suggestions on how to go about that? How did you install the sprit and make it? I also really like the gas shocks for the poptop. How did you get those? Do you run a spinnaker? What size is it? I can't seem to find exact literature on this stuff. Thanks.
Justin in the Okanagan, BC

[Jglibbery]

Fellow sailors, I have a great boat with this V222 and am looking to expand the sail inventory and a few more options on different points of sail. I would love to add a spinnaker but am not sure to best way to go - pole or tack to the bow etc. Also what would the best dimensions for a sail be for this boat? Ideas?

!	Moderator Note:
	Merged from seperate topic. ~Rich---Hamin' X~

[cookwithgas]

Hi. I also have a 1980 Venture 222. And yes they are awesome boats. Curious about your rennos on your bowsprit as I would like to get a spinnaker/gennaker. Any suggestions on how to go about that? How did you install the sprit and make it? I also really like the gas shocks for the poptop. How did you get those? Do you run a spinnaker? What size is it? I can't seem to find exact literature on this stuff. Thanks.
Justin in the Okanagan, BC

Justin - I purchased some 1/8" thick X 2" wide stainless and welded up the bowsprit. It was from a scrap / remnant company in Dallas and the piece was 72" long so I just cut it in half and made it that long. I had to do a little compound-bending to make it fit right. I have a TIG welder that welds stainless really well. It is bolted through the hull with seven SS bolts. Here is a close-up of the bowsprit:

The gas shocks for my pop top came from an auto parts store. I just got the longest struts I could find that had a flange on one end. I put some pictures and explanation here:

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=1400

I bought my spinnaker from a V222 owner that didn't want it -I haven't measured it or tried it out yet. I want to be able to furl it so there is some work to be done there.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Aubrey Scott in Texas

[Jglibbery]

That's pretty smart stuff there. Looks easy enough. My father inlaw is a steel fab guy so I'm sure we could put something like that together. That's your spinnaker halyard attached to that clip there on the end? You then just run your sheets back to your winches? I guess the spinnaker ends up being a really big genoa off to the leeward side?

[Freedom77]

Great job! Love the Bowsprit, great for ramming stinkpots, and other terrific modificatons. We had a 1971 V-222. Named her Penny Sue Too after my wife and life partner. Used to spend a week in Catalina every year doing pretty much nothing and loving it. Found her a good home, the boat not my wife, in 1976 and brought Freedom home where she sits in my sideyard today. 100 years from now someone will still be sailing and old Venture. P.S. to all Venture/Mac owners. When you lower the poptop don't forget to "burp" the corner to let the air out. Fair Wind and full sails... Old Salt.

[slugbug]

Thanks for the great pictures! I would like to see how your main sail fuler works. Also the interior pics would be great.

[cookwithgas]

Thanks for the great pictures! I would like to see how your main sail fuler works. Also the interior pics would be great.

My mainsail is at the loft getting a revision (cutting it to eliminate "boom drop" and remove the shelf) so I can't show the boom furler working, but I did take some pictures of the interior yesterday with the new TV installed. It's amazing what you can get now with an HD antenna. I think I may cancel my satellite service in the house after seeing the picture quality and selection of channels in the boat.





Here's another:

http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz28 ... nside3.jpg

Here is a picture of the new boom I made from the Hobie 14 mast. It is 10' long and I painted it white since it was pretty scuffed up. Just waiting for Mariner Sails to finish work on the sail.

http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz28 ... w_Boom.jpg

Happy Sailing

Aubrey Scott in Texas

[vizwhiz]

What's really cool is how enthusiastic you are about having and sailing your boat...I can't wait to get one too!

Question for those out there with D/S models - it appears that the pop-top on the 2-22 lifts and moves to the rear, where the pop-top on the 26S will go forward - is that correct, or did I see the pictures backerds? Can I make the same gas-strut-lifting-support mod to the 26S pop-top, but in reverse?

[Freedom77]

You are right. The 22 pop top moved aft. Banged by head more than once. You are gonna love this boat. Easy to sail, launch, beach and just have fun. Fair winds and full Sails....Old Salt

[vizwhiz]

Those interior pics are great...Tostitos - awesome touch.

It has such a...a...'man-cave' look to it, doesn't it?

Is the blue plaid-ish on the ceiling a fabric or paint or...?

[Catigale]

Aubrey...from your pic of the boat on the trailer it looks like your bowsprit swings over the pickup bed when trailering..is t hat right?

That would be important for someone with an SuV contemplating that mod...they might have clearance troubles....