Forestay failure

[Boblee]

Hey Bob...your rig looks just like ours.....mast high enough for cockpit head room when on the road....front hatch able to be opened....also find the mast forms a pretty good tarp carrier....our shed is too full of sh~t to fit the boat in.We can even put our dodger and bimini up under the mast when in travel posi

Yeah we spend a fair bit of time camping in it on land, the mast actually goes up another 12-14" at the back when not traveling which allows the bimini to be erected without problems, the crutch support just slides through a bigger bit of tube and is pinned at either position.
Yes the blue tarp or one similar is used over the mast when it's down or over the boom when up, certainly makes it cooler and doesn't restrict the breeze and plenty of room with extra height, photo on west beach Brampton island in the Whitsundays, the Mackman 28 is a copy of the but bigger all over including mast and a 90hp motor std.

[DaveC426913]

I've gotten spooked by this talk of forestay failure and figure using my spare halyard costs nothing and gives me some piece of mind.

So how does one "tie" the halyard to the pulpit?

[Boblee]

Wouldn't be getting paranoid about it but we do a check pretty regularly, just noticed my spinnaker halyard in that photo I posted it has the hound up the mast there and that was our whitsunday trip which was fairly early like 2007, no wonder I can't remember too much before it but it does show how far the halyard sits forward of the furler and it is clipped to the pulpit rail.
Have used various clips but think it's just a d bolt now, mast is off boat and have reinstalled the Raymarine navigation gear ready for our short (month) trip down part of the Murray River, starting to get excited as haven't had the boat on the water for a long while but hope the temps get below the 40's where they have been hovering.

[DaveC426913]

... but we do a check pretty regularly...

A simple visual inspection? From what I hear, it's pretty easy for any weak point to be out-of-sight inside the crimp.

[Newell]

Dave,

It's time to see this topic clearly. Yes forstays can break. Does it happen often, no. If we worry too much is it rational or perhaps we aren't sailing but sitting inside looking at snow and cold grey skys perhaps enjoying a little cabin fever.

[DaveB]

Use a water color dye and spray all connections. Dark color will indicate a possible fracture.
This is done in Salt Water Boats but doesn't hurt to ck fresh water boats.
Weakist link on a Chain rode is the one that fails, Same goes true with Standing Rigging/or Halyards.
I had two strands broken on my top headstay connection with the original 1/8 wire before I caught it.
Another reason to go with a 5/32 headstay.
All of us can get into a Thunderstorm that can create very high gust on 40-70 mph winds.
Better to be safe than worry if you Standing rigging can hold up to it.
Your on your own out in this and better to be prepared than worry if your rigging is safe.
Been there and done it in 40 ft seas on my 3 year Carribean trip, also sleep at night.

Dave

... but we do a check pretty regularly...

A simple visual inspection? From what I hear, it's pretty easy for any weak point to be out-of-si :)ght inside the crimp.

[BOAT]

Can I really use bigger wire for the forestay? Would think that would jam up the foil from spinning? It seems looking at the rig in total that most the lifting power is towards the forestay, not on it. To me that the entire MAC rig for the M is a huge test of modern sail design. It's rare for a boat to have no back stay. You really need to engineer a boat to the 'nth degree to calculate a rig that can sail mostly on the side stays and the Main sheet, (and jib sheets). Another reason I have not entertained a mod to the ladder - when I got the boat home and got a chance to really inspect it carefully I could see that the ladder is part of the structure that pulls the boat thru the water. It's directly connected to the main sheet travelers down to the hull with HUGE BOLTS. It's not just a structure supporting the cockpit but also pulls the boat thru the water.

The water ballast is another thing, but the POSITION of the water ballast is even more interesting and quite intentional now that I can see how this rig works. It's almost like as if Roger designed a craft that is a sailboat in the front, and a power boat in the back! When under sail, the rear of the boat is just being dragged along for the ride. Everything is happening in front of the mainsheet traveler. I have never seen so much engineering put into such a small boat. It must have taken many years to perfect this design.

Since I have the forestay up and a genoa furled, anyone got any recommendations on where I can get a sock?

[BOAT]

Well, I just took a look at the furler foil and the hole in the center of it is plenty big enough to take any size wire you could imaging for the forestay. So I guess that would not be an issue.

Sure would be a pain in the pita to put a thicker wire on. What a hassle - I think I'll go for the secondary forestay option.

[Boblee]

Since I have the forestay up and a genoa furled, anyone got any recommendations on where I can get a sock?

http://www.chutescoop.com/
Not sure about what length you need but they will probably be able to put you right or someone here will who has purchased one recently.

[yukonbob]

Well, I just took a look at the furler foil and the hole in the center of it is plenty big enough to take any size wire you could imaging for the forestay. So I guess that would not be an issue.

Sure would be a pain in the pita to put a thicker wire on. What a hassle - I think I'll go for the secondary forestay option.

We replaced/upgraded (found a fray) our forestay last year to (i believe 5/16, can't remember what factory is?). We did it on the water and took less than an hour, with readjusting the turnbuckle in the furler.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

I've gotten spooked by this talk of forestay failure and figure using my spare halyard costs nothing and gives me some piece of mind.

So how does one "tie" the halyard to the pulpit?

I just use a bowline on the midde part between the two mast trailering tangs and then pull the halyard tight

[jimbo]

What do you wrap the genoa with? (All I know are sail bags - man am I out of date).

Also, with the genoa attached it seems to me that you need to bend the furled genoa into an "S" shape to tie it to the mast? I was concerned that would put a lot of bend in the stay where it's swedged. Back in my day we were told to never bend a stay at the swedge. I guess it's okay? (I'm really tempted to unhook the genoa from the mast)

Is that how most people do it? They just leave the genoa connected to the mast?

I currently have the boat hook strapped to the mast and the furler strapped to that so it is straight and not bent. It extends the rig over the bow but not a problem.

[BOAT]

Yeah, I put a stick between the anchor roller and the furler cup to hold it up in the air. (That ain't gonna work for tralerin' but it's a short hop to my marina anyways).

[dive4it]

Does anyone just disconnect the top of the forestay/furler toward the upper mast like I do for trailering? It makes the furler shorter than the mast and I just strap them together for trailering....when it comes time to raise the mast, I reconnect it with a bolt and locknut and away I go. Problem solved.

JT

[BOAT]

Yeah, I sort of thought of that too, but the factory says the forestay requires that little locking twisty wire in the shackle and I did not want to cut up my fingers taking off that wire and replacing it every time. It's not a bad idea, but I guess I did not want to mess with it. I still go back and forth on removing the spreaders too. Last time I went out I left the spreaders on when I rolled the mast back to the pulpit. Sometimes I find it a hassle trying to get the spreaders under the lifelines when rolling back the mast. If your pretty strong it's not a big hassle I guess.