3FT Removable/Retractable Bowsprit

[Highlander]

I have designed & made a removable/retractable Bowsprit that can be used as a 2ft or extended to 3ft Bowsprit with a bobstay that can be set at a 30 degree angle or set to be flush with the deck no holes have to be drilled into your boat for this mod it simply fits right onto the top of your existing bow roller .
My good friends Beene , Alex, & Terry have expressed a great deal of interest in this concept but avail. products on the market start at $500.
So here you are my good friends , this is my proto type it will be fitted onto Beene's boat first as his boat will be soon coming out of storage & as he will be bringing it to my place to get it ready for the season no better time to fit & retro fit to perfect the installation & measure out for the bobstay length as my original bowroller is no longer on my boat ! as you can see from the pic's
I bought enough material to make four of these baby's







J

[SeaGriff]

I would be very interested in seeing photos of the bowsprit when it is mounted
especialy with the sails up. Are you planning to use two headsails?

[Terry]

That is pretty slick John and it shows clearly you used the KISS principle.
Are you going to mass produce and sell them?

[delevi]

Good stuff John. In my variable winds, I 'm starting to want a cutter style arrangement as well. What do you think about going 2 feet above the forestay for the 2nd forestay? Would this hold up OK without a rig retrofit like yours with dual spreaders? I would want to keep it as simple as possible, may be modifying the anchor roller to become a 2' bowsprit and put he 2nd headstay a couple feet above the standard one. Not sure if I would do a 2nd furler or modify the genny to use hanks. By the way, what's a bobstay?

[atzserv]

I have a great interest in this Mod. If Highlander decides not to mass produce , maybe others can share other ideas along this line. Removable is the way I hope to go. It would be great of those that understand strenght of material would add their thoughts also. I am refering to the pole that looks to be alum (what size) the thickness of the wall and so on.

I am assuming that with the block on the end of the bowsprit pole this is designed for a spinnaker arrangement.

I spoke to a really helpful lady at BWY about parts for my spinnaker and they have a masthound replacement part and while talking to her she cautioned about how high above the original upper masthound. I said 2 ft and she said there might be concern about the mast breaking under stress that high. I have read on here that others have gone 18 inchs and I am guessing that is the max and for a spinnaker setup. A furler setup with more loads could be an issue fron the information I have gathered so far.

Great work Highlander, I just raised my asym for the first time this weekend to add the chutescoop and this Mod hit home instantly

[kmclemore]

I bought enough material to make four of these baby's

Does it come with the glass of beer?

[Highlander]

Seagrif,

I will be posting more pic's of this mod when Beene's boat is in my driveway and we finish off the installation it has to be mounted to the boat so as I can mark the holes that have to be drilled in the base mount yet so as the sprit can be set on a level to the deck angle or at a 30 deg angle approx as seen in the pic,

Terry,
Would you be interested in one of these ! this one is designed to fly a spiinnaker ,

Delevi, Atzserv,
This protto type sprit I designed for flying a spin. , the base is thick & strong enough to hold a horse , the base tube & pole tube can be changed for stronger applications but I think it should be OK as is maybe add a backing plate for stronger applications this set up is ideal for someone who has more than one Spin & diff sizes it could be used for hank on sails , attaching a masthead hound to fly a Spin should be OK to fly your spin with your backstay arrangement
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010036.jpg
in the pic above you can see my second set of spreaders mounted at the original forestay hound my genny hound mounted at 3ft above that & my spin. hound at the masthead I fly cutter rigged & have no issues with the mast I did however add a third set of masthead shroulds & second set of spreaders to resolve that issue !

Kevin ,
The beer glass is now mty sorry

J

[Terry]

Seagrif,

I will be posting more pic's of this mod when Beene's boat is in my driveway and we finish off the installation it has to be mounted to the boat so as I can mark the holes that have to be drilled in the base mount yet so as the sprit can be set on a level to the deck angle or at a 30 deg angle approx as seen in the pic,

Terry,
Would you be interested in one of these ! this one is designed to fly a spinnaker , YES
Delevi, Atzserv,
This protto type sprit I designed for flying a spin. , the base is thick & strong enough to hold a horse , the base tube & pole tube can be changed for stronger applications but I think it should be OK as is maybe add a backing plate for stronger applications this set up is ideal for someone who has more than one Spin & diff sizes it could be used for hank on sails , attaching a masthead hound to fly a Spin should be OK to fly your spin with your backstay arrangement
J

I hope my anchor roller has the same hole alignment as yours. A spinnaker is something I have wanted to try for a few years now. I actually had one in my posession for a summer and could have retained it for $500.00 but nobody would show me how to use it back then so I gave it back unused. Today I am kicking myself for it.

[Highlander]

Leon

Here is a pic of the bobstay on my mac19 bowsprit it connects to the bow eye on the front on the boat then up to the padeye on the end of the bowsprit on my mac19 thats at the 3ft mark of the 4ft bowsprit because of it size & strength,
on the 3ft removable bowsprit because of its smaller dia pole I put the pad eye for the bobstay right at the very end still at the 3ft mark !

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/m ... 010009.jpg

J

[Highlander]

Progress is still on going
had to make some modifcation to the mounting brkt to make room for the furling drum shoulda thought of that the bow sprit can be mounted on a approx 30deg angle but then has to be removed when not in use

http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010001.flv

Here you can see where I had to cut off the mounting tube & retact "weld" it back on & recheck the possition for clearance for the furler drum before rewelding completely

http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010004.flv

Here's the bowsprit in an level possition

http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 0005-1.flv

http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 0006-2.flv
so now that it fits the way I want it the mounting brkt has to be cut some more for the chain plate clearance & the mounting tube can now be welded into final possition , drill the hole & pin for the locking length finnish off the pulley / padeye fitting assem. will post more pic's when we get it into action on the lake But Mr Beene is too busy right now off sailing in S/F Bay with Leon While I'm stuck back here modifing his boat . Something not right here

J

[waternwaves]

hmmmm

While I'm stuck back here modifing his boat . Something not right here

As a follower of those individuals (scottsman tinkers, engineers and inventors) It seems perhaps you might enjoy working on the boats just as much as sailing them.... or maybe a wee drop less.

Enjoy John. !!

Great work, and well documented. Saves me time.. heheheheh

now if I was just as good at TIG welding as you....... But I dont play with aluminium as much as I play with stainless.

[Highlander]

Hi Darren

SS is the way to go if you can get it at basement prices ! My 4ft bowsprit is all made from alum. I would have had to take out a mortgage if if I had made it from SS. Unless you have a source for cheap p/u I had quotes from $3000. to $4000. to make my 4ft bowsprit in SS I made it in Alum myself & still under $500. including the additional 6ft extension Spin attachment making it 10ft
This 3footer are avail on the market from upwards of $500.
I made this 3ft from cut off stock that was avail @ less than Half price
but you would not want to make a proto type out of SS unless you own the bank !, SS is not the best material to work with when making a proto type as you have to keep modifing until you get the fit you want plus the weight factor !

J

[tangentair]

John
Hows things coming together with this project?

Does anyone have definative explainations on the standing rigging requirements and what modifications are necessary in tandum? I keep thinking of adding a second fore and complimentary back stay (for safety as well as sail options and usefullness) but then there is the issue of the mast rotation and do I need a third or just move the present two side stays? I know people have opinons and recommendtions - I have quite a few of them myself and a significant number of mine are based upon what I think rather than on what is known.
Ron

[Highlander]

Hi Ron

This project is baisicaly on hold until "beene" gets his boat ready , Apperently he been to busy sailing in the caribbean & S.F.B. while I was busy moding his boat ,
Anyway the product is now complete just has to be installed about 2 mins of his madjesty's time ! I spelt it with a mad for a reason ! , Hi G
Once installed we have to measure the Bobstay length & make it up with some low stretch line & a couple of SS snaps , plus Beene has to buy a padeye & spring mounted tack pulley with same size matching base to be through bolted on the end of the bowsprit pole witch can be retracted when not in use or if not going to be used for that day can be removed, also a nice feature is being able to remove it in two sec,s for storing when the boat is being slipped or not used for awhile for security reason's , it "the pole" can be installed with a Q/R hitch pin if only being used for the Spin , if being used for a hanked-on genny on a second forestay "Cutter Rig" it can be bolted on "locked" in poss. with a 1/4" SS nut & bolt , if it was to be used for a genny on a second furler "Cutter Rig " it will most likely need an extra backing plate & a wire Bobstay ! Not sure I would recommend it for that kind of use "Genny Furling System" . I designed it for use with either a Spin or Hank-on genny with a second forestay if you want to use a second furler you would have to use a heavier set-up like my 4ft bowsprit ,
You will not require a backstay for this set-up if you keep your genny or Spin masthound slightly above your present masthound as your just moving the tack out further to catch more air now & the boat will be faster less blockage from the mainsail , but if you wish to move your Spin masthound to the masthead as I did then you will have to install a rotating swivel backstay as I did " I copied Leon's set-up & made my own "
when I get my boat finished we will take both boats out together for a photo opp. , but right now I have installed about 800ft of wiring through my pedestal & through the boat & about 400ft to go before its finished the wiring that is the weather has not always been co-operative still have mast wiring to do yet also !!
Anyway we will post pics when we get on the water Thx for the interest

J

[delevi]

Looking forward to it. C'mon Beene, get with the program! I want to see Pegasus scream under A-sail in front of the bowsprit doing 18 knots like Roger said it can