26x spreaders

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I've replaced my mid pulpit shackles on the forward lifelines with two keypin shackles. Cheap and simple, costs less than $15 for the two replacement shackles. Release the keypin on each side and the mast can be raised and lowered without concern for the lifelines. No deck dance needed. The keypin shackle allows the lifeline to be slacked just enough for it to pass under the spreaders between the two stanchions. Nothing can dangle over the side during trailering. It takes just a couple seconds to release or attach the lifeline. I think it's a better solution that the pelican hooks I have seen at the forward end of the lifeline. It's also much easier to work with the mast when both lifelines are slack rather than just one.

Having the lifelines slacked also helps during storage. My tarp no longer holds water at any point. It used to collect inside each lifeline.

I still think it really is a silly design on Macgregors part. Using 4" shorter spreaders which would pass inside the lifelines would only make a very small change in the shroud angles and I doubt it would have any impact on the support they give the mast.

I would have no faith at all in a push button release method of shortening the spreaders. Why risk that when you can solve the whole problem with two $7 shackles.

I also wouldn't want yet another task to do in removing the spreaders and securing them to the mast. With the upward tension on my spreaders per the MacGregor installation instructions I think removing them every time would be difficult.

The lifeline release is a super quick and simple solution.

[Captain Steve]

Duane, would I find a pic on your website of this mod? Sounds quick and easy. Did you have to swage anything?

EDIT: found it..available at WM?

[Graham Carr]

Hi
This was a big oops! I have a 2002 26X. During my first season (I purchased the boat new) I bent my spreader back about 6. The bend started about 3" from the socket. I was pulling the boat from the rigging area to the ramp when I caught a 3 diameter Branch. I could have sworn I was clear of that tree . Well by the time I realized what was going on the branch came crashing down on to the boat. I was just crawling along so I figure the branch just started to bend until it snapped. So I went down to my dealer (The Anchorage) and he had one in stock. I think it took more time to clean all the branches off then it did to replace the spreader. There were no signs of damage to the socket. The park ranger came over and said sorry about that branch, we have been meaning to trim that tree back. So I gave him a bill for my tree trimming services . Since then I have towed my boat to the San Juan Islands, WA from Colorado logging over 5600 miles over the road and 1000 NM on the water. At one point last summer I hit a storm while heading up (between Camano Island and Whidbey Island) Saratoga Passage. I motored with full ballast for about 15 NM to reach a safe harbor (Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island). The wind was blowing at 65 mph. I spent the night in the marina. My slip was at the breakwater. Bow into the wind. The waves were crashing over the breakwater and covering the entire boat. During the night a 40 sailboat that was anchored out in the harbor. She drug her anchor and crashed into the breakwater. The winds sustained 65mph all night. There are still no signs of damage or fatigue to the spreader sockets. So I agree with Moe there has to be a weak link. I would rather have a bend then a failure. From my experience the sockets are strong.
PS: The guy in the sailboat managed to start his engine but not before hitting. While dragging his anchor he tried to enter the marina but gave up. It took him a 1/2 hour circling around in the harbor trying to reset his anchor. He spent the rest of the night awake. I spoke with him the next morning; he said it scared the--------out of him. He had just sailed up from Portland OR.

[argonaut]

Ditto Duane's comments, the collapsible spreader pushpin mechanism scares me too. If the pin were a solid pin like a clevis secured with a ringding, maybe, but simply dropping the lifelines seems easier and safer.

Removing/reinstalling the spreaders every time would be one more thing for me to do incorrectly and adds at least two steps to launching. It does make it easier to crawl around topside though.

The 4" shorter spreaders would be ideal but I wouldn't take doing that too lightly. It would make the walking space between the mast and shroud slightly more crowded too.

SS tubing works for me, I'll just bring along a boathook made out of 1" OD aluminum and a hacksaw as a backup.




Commercial for Argo's "Multi-Purpose Mac Boathook"....
"It's a boathook! Snap on this attachment and it's a broom, snap this on and it's a fishnet. And when your rigging fails, just cut here and it's a Macgregor 26 spreader. For an additional $15 it's also serves as a dandy whiskerpole..."

Sorry, too much TV as a kid...

[Don T]

kmclemore:
I tried to take a picture of the spreader but the deformities don't show up very well. Suffice it to say, it has a corkscrew bend in the inner 12". No more than .150" displaced. It is bulged out just outside of the socket where the diameter is now 1.1". Overall it has 4* aftward bend. The corkscrew thing had me baffled but now I'm thinking it might be because in the early days I used to remove the spreaders when I stored it for the winter and once the end cap stripped (plastic) and let the shroud loose. I'm wondering if I put the spreader in turned 180* thus inducing the corkscrew. I don't know for sure. The bulging at the socket worried me, it would suggest compression overload or working in a circular fashion under compression. The 12" at the mast end also has flat spots here and there. My tests showed a 45% reduction in lateral strength vs the outer tip.

[Jack O'Brien]

I have a little snap shackle on the aft end of each forward lifeline so I can very easily disconnect them from the mid-rails. This allows about 10 to 12 inches of slack in the lifeline before the shackle hits the stantion. The slackened lifelines obviate my staring role in the movie "Dancing with Spreaders" and provide soft support for the spreaders when trailering.

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

I thought of inserting a piece of plastic plumbing pipe in my spreader tubes.
Then inserting a wood dowel inside the pipe.
Then wrapping the spreader tubes with fiberglass cloth and resin to get them out to the O.D. of the spreader sockets.
Then putting a piece of stainless steel tubing over this.
Then . . .
Or, maybe I'll just leave them as they are since I haven't had a problem with the spreader tubes in the 12 years I've been sailing a Mac.

[ALX357]

well, i think this is a satisfactory solution to the spreader dilemma when lowering the mast....
have bought stainless solid quick-pins 1/4" and long enough to pass a heavy-duty ring-ding thru the end-hole, to pin the spreaders and easily remove them just before they reach the life-lines.... (had only to drill the spreader holes a bit larger to take the smooth pins...)
btw, i also suggest using a jam-cleatable block on the mast raising pole... three blocks at each end and the jam-cleat makes the mast lowering and raising easy to do by hand, with the ability to stop the mast at any point and adjust things .... could use the same block and tackle as the boom-vang, but make sure its long enough... lots of extra turns...
one caveat is to remember which halyards and stays (furler ! ) are above or in front of the spreaders when re-rigging...
anyway, i store the spreaders against the mast to keep down the deck tripping and protect them from damage when trailerinig....
making then routinely removable also allows regular inspection of their ends' condition.....now if i could find the ideal way of routing the shrouds to be out of the way when the mast is down.......

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Steve,

No swaging needed. The aft end of the forward lifelines have a swaged loop without a thimble. This is attached to the welded loop on the mid pulpit with a small loose pin ring ding shackle. Just remove the existing shackle and replace it with the smallest size keypin shackle. Because the keypin shackle has a captive upper bar it can't fall off when loose. The key pin itself is also captive so it can't be lost either. When released the lifeline slides forward until the keypin shackle reached the hole in the stanchion. This provides just the right amount of slack for the lifeline to pass under the spreaders when the mast is in the stored position. Because the keypin shackle is a bit longer than the original one you will need to take up the slack at the forward adjusters after you install the keypin shackle.

Put a keypin on each side, release them before lowering and when you carry the mast forward to store you can just put it in the bracket without any concerns for the spreaders. Couldn't be a simpler solution, releasing the keypin is about a 1 second job per side.




West Marine Product, get the 3/16"

I bought mine at Boaters World for $8 each. Mine actually have a ring ding attached upper bar rather than the screw in type you see in the above picture.

I also use larger versions of the same shackles on my main and jib halyards.