Forestay attachment

[DaveC426913]

This is what my forestay attachment looks like.
It gives me grey hairs.

[NiceAft]

This is what my forestay attachment looks like.
It gives me grey hairs.

How long is the pin From the photograph, it appears that a shorter pin may be better suited.

I am not an engineer, but to my eyes, the pin is acting as a lever, and the base that the furler is attached to is a fulcrum. The forces exerted by the forestay is greater than the lever is able to sustain. Get a shorter lever.

Ray

[Wind Chime]

That gap worried my at first as well. Tried putting spacers in there, but was too hard to add spacers while connecting.

I ended up pinching the end of the tang together with vice grips. No gap, easy to connect, and do not think I lost strength integrity (been about 7years now)

[NiceAft]

Darry,

When you pinched the ends together, did it allow for a shorter pin if no, oh well If yes, would not a shorter pin make sense . Just an extra amount of precaution to avoid the ends angling outwards again.

Ray

[Wind Chime]

Darry,

When you pinched the ends together, did it allow for a shorter pin if no, oh well If yes, would not a shorter pin make sense . Just an extra amount of precaution to avoid the ends angling outwards again.

Ray

Hi Ray,
Yes, we use a shorter pin and put washers on both ends.
I do like the factory pin (BWY) because it has the big round stopper end already attached on one end, but I haven't been able to find a shorter pin with the same end and the double washers work just fine even though they can be a little fumbly some days.
Darry

[Russ]

That looks similar to mine. I have the big ol' BWY pin for mine.
There is a lot of slop in there.



Is that attached to the deck with Pop Rivets?

[NiceAft]

Russ,

You and I have ‘s . Apparently the hardware for the roller furler is quite different between the & the .

Ray

[Tomfoolery]

Is that attached to the deck with Pop Rivets?

Nope. Same cover as the side stay chain plates. It's pop riveted to the deck, but it's just a slotted cover, and carries no load.

That extra long pin is kind of goofy looking, but anything outside the clevis does nothing, so it's not a structural concern. But I would pinch that clevis shut a bit with vice grips. When it's off-center like that, one end of the pin carries essentially the whole load (in shear), and the other end kind of loafs. Not good, but looks uglier than it really is for the light load it actually carries.

Looking at that tee-bolt arrangement, I have to wonder if it was replaced with one with a large 'tee' than the original. It looks kind of outsized for the drum, at least compared to mine. That would explain the wide-legged stance it has. The hole is also much bigger than the pin. It just looks like it's a size larger than what should be there, though it could just be the photo.

[Russ]

Is that attached to the deck with Pop Rivets?


Nope. Same cover as the side stay chain plates. It's pop riveted to the deck, but it's just a slotted cover, and carries no load.

I see now. Whew! That makes more sense.

[vizwhiz]

yeah, just pinch them together a little more and put a shorter pin in there...and like someone else said, get one that's larger so it fits the holes closer. That helps spread out the load and also keeps it from tilting so much. I had to drill them out slightly on mine when I added the Johnson lever so they would all be the same size.

[BOAT]

The forestay is always a scary place - but believe it or not there is actually very little actual force on the forestay - the boat is pulled through the water by the side stays and backstay (if you have one) but only 20 to 30% max - 70% of the force pulling the boat through the water comes from the mast base, mainsheet block, and jib sheets. (Pulling the mainsheet tight or the vang put's more stress on the forestay than the jib.

Still, there is a problem with your set up in regards to flying the jib: when the jib pulls sideways back and forth it's going to 'walk' that pin in and out and eventually the ring will fail. What you really need to do to that set up is get a fatter pin - the pin your using is the wrong size. It looks like your using a 1/4 inch pin on a 1/2 inch hole?

Judy B did a pretty good write up on these pins - if you use a pin that is much smaller than the holes it makes the pin 'walk' more and also will start to elongate the holes and deform the shackles. The metal is soft on these fitting for a reason - the idea is for the metal to bend or deform BEFORE is breaks or cracks.

See if a larger pin fits in there.

The problem with 'pinching' shackles is that if it's a good shackle, the pin will not fit anymore because the holes are at an angle. The arms should be straight and the pin should fit perfectly into the hole with no slop.

[sailboatmike]

i just replaced my forestay pin, the job wasnt as easy as it should be.

The hole in the furler toggle and forestay plate is around 8mm or 0.0320 inches, the closest standard size pin is 1/4 inch or 6.4mm or 0.250 inches .

The head on a new standard 1/4 inch pin was around 10mm (0.400") or bugger all bigger than the 8mm hole.

After much searching I found a new old pin from the 1970's with a 1/2" head

[DaveC426913]

i just replaced my forestay pin, the job wasnt as easy as it should be.

The hole in the furler toggle and forestay plate is around 8mm or 0.0320 inches, the closest standard size pin is 1/4 inch or 6.4mm or 0.250 inches .

The head on a new standard 1/4 inch pin was around 10mm (0.400") or bugger all bigger than the 8mm hole.

After much searching I found a new old pin from the 1970's with a 1/2" head

Exactly. There's no good match.

And it doesn't help that- because it is so difficult to set up the forestay at launch time - a well-fitting pin would be much more difficult to set.

[Starscream]

And it doesn't help that- because it is so difficult to set up the forestay at launch time - a well-fitting pin would be much more difficult to set.

A second forestay solves the worry and the pin fitting issue. I added a second mast hound above the original stock one, and ran a rope down to a turnbuckle that is snap-shackled on to the mast carrying bolt on the bow pulpit. Now I can just crank the turnbuckle a bit to take the load off the furler forestay, and take the pin out myself...a one man job with no sweat at all, and I can get the furler forestay tighter than I ever could. Once the mast is up, I uncrank the turnbuckle to slacken the backup forestay just a bit, so that the furler forestay takes the load.

The whole thing cost about $100 and took about 10 minutes. Used a drill and a rivet gun.

It makes the mast easier to set up without the raising system. I just lift at the mast, and the wife simply attaches the turnbuckle snap-shackle of the backup forestay to the mast carrying bolt. Then we crank down the turnbuckle, attach the pin with no fuss, and...done. Backup forestay in place, pin easy to insert.

[Baha]

I always rig a secondary forestay by running a line through the spinnaker block. It also is used to run my jib cover up when putting the boat away. Very inexpensive peace of mind.