The previous owner of my boat had a carbon set of rear beam risers made in Gulfbreeze FL for $550 at Recreational Composites back in 2006. Very nice, lite, stiff & strong.
If I knew how to post a picture I would.
PM me if you wish

I would only do carbon risers on carbon beams.

Carbon and aluminum dont play well together, so if you do go this route, make sure that there is a layer of something in between the carbon and aluminum.

Here's a pic of an aluminum riser from Joe's boat.


dave

ahhhh...I see now. I was wondering what in the heck you guys were doing to make those round beams fit together.

Thanks a lot for posting the picture, I got it now ;-)

those are the ones Joe and I made. We made some originally with an old beam from a nacra but it wasn't stiff enough. These are actually overkill and could be lesser thickness. Much less expensive than the carbon ones. Once you cut holes in them to lighten them some then they don't weigh a whole bunch more than the carbon ones.

"Carbon and aluminum dont play well together"

Hey, explain this a little more if you don't mind and what would you put between the two surfaces?
Thanks!

Carbon and aluminum swap electrons, which significantly weakens and corrodes the aluminum, especially in a marine environment. Salt water accellerates the process. A white powder is the result of the corrosion. The HT aluminum mast bases are weakened over time and will break due to contact with the carbon mast. Its best to take them off and paint them, or replace them with carbon or SS mast base.

A thin layer of HDPE works

There are a number of primers that work too.

Dont use aluminum rivets in carbon, only SS rivets.

just bought 18 HT in Hamptons, barely sailed it in fall,main halyard broke first raising of main, number of questions for experienced 18 HT owner, how did you widen it specifically ?, jim j indy waylerindy@yahoo.com

sorry for the delay, yes bought it, picked up old trailer from H 16, modified it once back home with load spreading at contact points, broke main halyard in Outer Banks on first raising of main, had some questions re mast rake as boat seemed to not be set up correctly re stay lengths, received video from Bimare after month of emailing, but it does not address stay lengths, also the pin attached to front aspect carbon mast base seems to suggest raising mast from forward using this as pivot point, but this seeems horribly risky and unstable vs raising mast from aft with both sidestays connected and ready to stabilize mast once vertical, just waiting for forestays to be attached, any one have correct lenghts fore side and forestays, are adjuster plates typically used on sides, and are high tensile lines used for final adjustments on forestays ? have owned Solcat 18 TheMightyHobie18, H20 and having line vs wire for standing rigging seems fragile for a rig this size

Raising from the front is actually easier since you should have two split forestays. Most a-cats step their mast this way. Connect the forestays with a lot of slack in them and make sure the boat is pointed into the wind. Step the mast and let the mast lean raked way back...the two forestays will help keep it stable...though it is wise to have someone steading the mast at the base while someone pins the shrouds for a little insurance.

Does it make sense to rig the boom (halyard and mainsheet) and use it as a gin pole? The mainsheet would keep the mast steady until the shrouds are connected.

Hey Ed and All,

Jim is still working RecComp two houses away from me. How about some of you Ohio wranglers making it down to Key Sailing for the Midwinters this year - March 18 - 20?

Bert Jr and his son, Michael will be racing their shiny new Viper 16. Kirk and Mark are hanging in there, and Krantz claims to be bringing his NACRA F 20 C. The A cats will be sailing in Ben Hall's Admiral Cup event so we are hoping for a large Portsmouth Class, a NACRA 20 Class, a Formula 16 Class, and a Formula 18 Class.

Think about it. Were you here the year it snowed?:-)

Bert Rice
Viper 16, Sail# 2010

raising the mast on the HT was easy when going from front to back. Nice because there was no 'getting up on the tramp' step.

We use a gin pole for raising the mast on Farrier/Corsair trimarans, and it works great. I wonder now if I can develop such a system for our Viper 16 since we have to spin the mast 180 degrees because of the rotator.

There are two HTs in Mobile, AL. One of them is carbon, and the other platform is glass. Contact Hunter Riddle or Donnie Brennan.

I rigged all the standing rigging on my HT with amsteel line. you don't have to worry about it being fragile. it has a higher strength than steel wire does. eventually i took it all off though because i found i had to constantly adjust it and it 'felt' spongy. the rigging didn't feel stiff. maybe it was all in my head but i still like the SS lines. now, i use amsteel to adjust the forestays. no problem there. its all that boat ever uses. i replace it every 2-3 yrs because rigging should be replaced that often but i'm sure it would last longer. the side stays are conventional with plates for adjustment.

what a great boat!

cc

Anyone have pictures or a diagram of how the internal downhaul is set up on their HT? When I purchased my boat she was set up with a external downhaul system but it looks like it was originally set up with a internal system.

I have always found raising the mast from bow to stern easiest. I also use standard SS rigging with SS plates for adjustment.

-Chris
F18HT USA 1
Rochester NY

I don't have any diagrams and i'm too simple to be able to explain it here. I think it would be a challenge to set it up again if it were disassembled. You can do it, its just challenging. The internal cross bar has to be taken down and done in such a way that it can be retrieved. I think it takes some fishing tape work. good luck.

I removed it years ago and you tape a line to the bolt when you pull it out so that you can then pull the blocks down. The blade has an internal downhaul that runs the same way. Maybe someone can get you a diagram of that. Put something on the F16 forum and I guarantee someone has a diagram already made up.

any advice captain cardiac has comes from what I taught him
Not too long ago, he would rather do anything than work on a boat

that's cruel. perhaps true but cruel.