Forestay failure

[BOAT]

I LIKE IT!

[DaveB]

You don't want any weight aloft than needed .
These boats are tender as is, any weight aloft and wires/lines will increase windage in winds over 15 knots.
Most like to Sail there Mac. under 20 degree heel and much more under 15 degrees.
Most take down the Jib halyard as it is to much windage.(with CDI furler)
I won't even put a VHF antina with line on top of mast,will also incude wind indicator and running lights.
Maybe why I blow past the Blue Macs.
Second Headstay for trailering? how much more time? Yours look permenit taped in place.
How do you pull up anchor with all the rigging in the way of bow roller?
Dave

This is what I did after I had a failure:

This has been tested and so far all is good. Mast hound should be as hgh on the mast as possible and turnbuckle is on the port side of anchor roller. In this location there is no interference to the furling jib and the Mod was less then $100, including swagging tool from Duckworks.com This now gives me some piece of mind with a redundant forestay

[Matt19020]

Speaking from experience (see day 3 of my post here: http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... f=9&t=7843) I would rather have the extra "windage" aloft then being dismasted.
In my experience sailing Above 15 knots in a 26M is beginning to be a little bit of a workout anyway...I have done 25 knots but would not choose to do it...In the majority of our sailing area we are in the 8-12 knot range so you may have a valid argument and a consideration if you are in a higher windage area..
We slip our boat so rigging is not much of an issue and we probably only drop the hook 4-5 times a year and has never even been close to fouling my rigging (the shackle attached to bottom of furler is no longer there, so bow roller is free of obstructions), and It actually aids in pinning the forestay as I can pull the secondary forestay down to slip the pin in. Since we were almost hit in the head and have read of at least 6 dismasting since I have been an owner, I would NOT sail without this mod.....This is just my opinion...In hind site I probably would have went with a little thinner wire...

[yukonbob]

gotta ask why you stained and varnished the teak steps?

[BOAT]

Ya, your not supposed top stain teak - you oil it.

[seahouse]

BOAT wrote...

I LIKE IT!

X2 from me, Matt!

It also gives me an idea for an indexing point for a mast top wind direction sending unit that would not be disrupted by the pivoting mast.

- Brian.

[seahouse]

Matt wrote...

In hind site I probably would have went with a little thinner wire...

So therefore I would humbly submit the question, “What is the ideal diameter for the forestay backup stay”?

Ah. OK. I withdraw the question. Don’t want to start any brawls…

Or do I?

(Heh heh heh).

-B.

[seahouse]

More seriously, I'll take this opportunity to express the beauty of these forums.

The forestay failure is a good example of an issue that, in the absence of confirmation from forum participants, one would be left to simply “speculate” on the frequency of their occurrence, and the resulting consequences. That kind of information, and its reliability, used to be hard to come by, previously.

So good job everybody!

BTW – The steps on my boat look like mahogany, not teak, but others might have teak steps. I sanded and put Danish oil on them to keep them clean, when I noticed the bare wood was rough, hairy, and prone to picking up dirt. If I add other brightwork in the future, then I might be inclined to stain the steps to match that.

- B.

[Matt19020]

BOAT wrote...

I LIKE IT!

The steps really did not appear to be teak to me...Maybe they are, but I thought it would look better when stained

[raycarlson]

Looks like a nice mod,my only worry would be, did you add a decent backing plate to your anchor roller bolts.Unless i'm not seeing it clearly it looks like you are using the anchor roller as the base for the 2nd forestay.So those bolts are now loaded in tension instead of shear like the stock forestay.When i was last up in the bow working behind the panel that hides all the nuts for everything attached on the top side all Mac used was some standard washers on the bow roller bolts.I would reccomend you fab up a backing plate out of some aluminum.I wouldn't worry about any extra drag or windige from and extra wire up there, thats pretty much sounds like fighting windmills.Nice job,and good piece of mind.

[BOAT]

It looks like a great place to fly those little regatta pennants too!

[BOAT]

Do you have a picture of the top of the mast where it connects?

[Matt19020]

Boat...
Found some images...not great but you should get the general idea. If I find better pics I will post...

[BOAT]

Thanks Captain Matt. I need to install that thing on my mast in the picture with the lable letter "A", right?

And what is that thing that letter "B" is pointing to? Is that a topping lift?

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

With all due respect, I don't know how you can call it a forestay failure when you ran the mast into a tree. I doubt the forestay was ever engineered for that kind of force therefore it wouldn't really be classified as a forestay failure. And I can tell you that the mast will snap like a twig right at the spreaders if you clip a shroud on a passing channel marker, but don't ask how I know that

I also tie my spinnaker halyard to the bow pulpit when not in use, this is sufficient as a forestay backup IMO.