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I've trailered catamarans and found a very organized way of keeping my side stays neat and organized out of the water. With my M I have a trip hazard with coiled wires I have to step through (and avoid stepping on the fore windows). There has to be a better way, any suggestions?

Some have tried removing the spreaders. For the last couple of years I have used this method and it does reduce the rigging clutter on the deck. It also eliminates the issue of the spreaders interfering with the lifelines when you move the mast from the front to the back and vice versa.

One drawback is I once had a stay slip along the spreader tip. Didn't realize it until after the mast was up. This year I am going to try going back to leaving the spreaders on. I got the BWY lifeline pelican hook to deal with the spreader interference issue.

You can't remove all trip hazards, unless you actually disconnect the stays. But what I do, is take up pretty much all the slack and fasten them to the stowed mast with several of these:

DHK79 wrote:You can't remove all trip hazards, unless you actually disconnect the stays. But what I do, is take up pretty much all the slack and fasten them to the stowed mast with several of these:

I remove the spreaders, and use something similar to strap everything to the mast: ball bungies from Walmart. Cheap, easy to attach, just the right length, and cheap. Did I mention that they're cheap?



The remainder that isn't strapped to the mast is stuffed into the cabin, with the hatch closed and latched and the stays entering through the big voids at the corners.

I use heavy duty releasable zip ties (aka cable ties, handcuffs- but releasable) about 16 - 18" long. Strong, inelastic, so (unlike elastic things) you can control the pressure (a lot, or a little) on what you are binding and that pressure is positive and absolute, can be quickly connected together to any length needed, loop through your belt loop to keep them handy, good as sail ties, UV resistant, will hold fenders etc on deck.

seahouse wrote:I use heavy duty releasable zip ties (aka cable ties, handcuffs- but releasable) about 16 - 18" long. Strong, inelastic, so (unlike elastic things) you can control the pressure (a lot, or a little) on what you are binding and that pressure is positive and absolute, can be quickly connected together to any length needed, loop through your belt loop to keep them handy, good as sail ties, UV resistant, will hold fenders etc on deck.

This is the same system I use. I also disconnect the spreaders. Since I don't trailer a lot, I just cut them when we rig the boat.

Ray

Like many of us, I have been challenged by the "stainless steel cable" obstacle course that our topsides can become when rigged for trailering. I don't trailer often anymore (keep boat at slip in marina), but when I do, I attach my after stay to a bail at the foot of the mast which normally is used for the boom vang. That gets it out of the way. Next, my forestay is in the jib furler and sits inside my furled jib, which is another set of stowage issues, but not around to trip over. Lastly, I coil the shrouds and attach them to the lifelines with an orange bungee. That gets them mostly out of the way, and I try to set that up so that the portion of the shrouds that are not in the coil mostly hug the spreaders. I use orange bungees to help catch my attention as I move about, often 9-10 feet above a very hard cement ramp parking lot! Stay safe out there, guys. Good topic.

We found two sided velcro about 2" wide at Lowes. Cut to 12-18" strips and it securely holds cables. Reuseable.

And if you wear double knit shorts, you can hang them on your shorts as you remove them!

Ron

for this very reason, i am going to follow mastreb's lead- and go to dyneema shrouds.

I remove the speeders, and when they were stainless I tossed them and most of the stays down into the cabin, with them coming up out the corners of the cabin top hatch, which is also where I put halyards are all other loose rigging. This is quick and effective, and I've trailered across country and back that way with no issues. It puts all the trip hazards below decks except for the big hoops leading to the cabin.

Now with the dyneema stays I do the same thing and it works even better. I've also lashed the spreaders and loops of dyneema spreaders to the mast with a bungee tie, but frankly tossing everything down into the cabin just works better in all respects.

I remove the speeders, and when they were stainless I tossed them and most of the stays down into the cabin, with them coming up out the corners of the cabin top hatch, which is also where I put halyards are all other loose rigging. This is quick and effective, and I've trailered across country and back that way with no issues. It puts all the trip hazards below decks except for the big hoops leading to the cabin.

Now with the dyneema stays I do the same thing and it works even better. I've also lashed the spreaders and loops of dyneema spreaders to the mast with a bungee tie, but frankly tossing everything down into the cabin just works better in all respects.

I would be interested in seeing a picture of how you stow your shrouds. It sounds like an interesting variation. I am just having a little trouble visualizing it. Also, could you elaborate in what dyneema stays are. I "googled" them, but I would be curious how they are different from the stainless steel ones that we have traditionally used. Are they basically rope?

Herschel wrote:

I remove the speeders, and when they were stainless I tossed them and most of the stays down into the cabin, with them coming up out the corners of the cabin top hatch, which is also where I put halyards are all other loose rigging. This is quick and effective, and I've trailered across country and back that way with no issues. It puts all the trip hazards below decks except for the big hoops leading to the cabin.

Now with the dyneema stays I do the same thing and it works even better. I've also lashed the spreaders and loops of dyneema spreaders to the mast with a bungee tie, but frankly tossing everything down into the cabin just works better in all respects.

I would be interested in seeing a picture of how you stow your shrouds. It sounds like an interesting variation. I am just having a little trouble visualizing it. Also, could you elaborate in what dyneema stays are. I "googled" them, but I would be curious how they are different from the stainless steel ones that we have traditionally used. Are they basically rope?

I dug through my photos, but because I store mast-up there aren't any photos of my boat rigged for trailering from inside the cockpit. Next time I've got the mast down I'll take a pic.



This photo shows the two spots at the sides of the cabin top hatch that I'm talking about--they're the two half-circles where the hatch slides over the cabin. What I do is toss the spreaders and sheets into the cabin, and then pull the hatch back to the companionway. I then "manage" the stays and sheets through those two holes while I pull the hatch over.

Dyneema is a variety of synthetic rope that has greater strength than steel wire rope and very little stretch. It's very UV resistant, very strong, and doesn't suffer from abrasion. In all, dyneema stays should last at least 20 years without maintenance. It's very limp even compared to rope, and so its very easy to manage with no big hoops of wire to worry about. The issue with it is that it creeps shorter the more you bend it so you have to be careful to make larger loops of it when you stow it. Because it's rope, if you were to suffer a break, you can actually knot both sides and join them with a few bends of a thinner dyneema rope--even for stays.

Matt

Buy a pack of 100 releasable zip ties. 8mm wide, 500mm in length. Black so UV proof and zip tie everything up. Quick and fast. Use the ZIP ties to zip the stays to the safety rails to hold them off the deck.

I have wire stays and found the following to work quite well.
I disconnect the spreaders and use two bungie cords to tie them to the mast.
I then use the genoa sheets and quickly lash the sail/furler to the mast - one line aft to the top of the furler and one forward. Make sure you do not lash the furler over the spreader fittings. I use a 5 foot piece of 2 inch PVC pipe lashed together with the base of the furler to support the furler where it extends past the base of the mast. The stays are lashed with the furler and end up as two neat half loops on the cabin top. I also last the mast raiser in place to the mast using the mast raiser line and genoa sheet. This leaves my cabin relatively uncluttered. I have installed eye hooks in the ceiling over the port side seat to tie the boom to the ceiling when the mast is down. This too leaves the cabin open to work in at home.

One thing I did, which simplifies stowing of the mast and shrouds, was to install pelican hooks on the cabin roof lifelines. If the lifelines are taut, the spreaders conflict with them and must be worked beneath them before securing the mast to the bow pulpit. Failing to do this is a major cause of bent spreaders. By having pelican hooks on those lifelines I can open the hooks before lowering the mast. This provides enough slack that the spreaders can lay without stress above the lifelines. Also, I disconnect the forestay in my roller furler from the top of the mast when the mast has been lowered. This allows the furled genoa to be secured to the top of the mast, thereby eliminating the excess length which would otherwise either have to be stowed in a curve along the deck, or suspended in a crutch of some sort beyond the bow pulpit. I like the neat look of the genoa bungeed straight on the mast. It gets it up off the deck, making walking up there easier, and I also don't like leaving the furled genoa laying in a bent configuration.