Ok men, more advice needed to keep Flight Risk operating. This boat has a 36'wing mast that uses a 5/16" V100 (vectran core) halyard that enters the mast at the head, and exits the base of the mast thu an Easylock Mini (never heard of this brand) rope clutch, then to a Schaefer Series 3 fairlead blk on hinged base plate, which allows raising the main by pulling the hlyd upwards from the base while feeding the slugs into the track. The clutch not only secures the hldy with the main full hoisted, but also holds the hlyd each time I insert another slug. But this sucker is chewing up my $100 hlyds with too great a frequency, 3 times in the last 4 yrs. The clutch is always under load with the same section of line in its grippers, the mainsail fully hoisted( I guess I could cut of 6" at the shackle regularly), and it finally chews thru the cover, allowing the main to drop 6" before it sort grabs the core. The hlyd is then wasted, and I never see the wear area because it immediately enters the mast when it exits the clutch as the main is lowered. So one thought is to blow off the clutch entirely and install a horn cleat. All the tensioning is done with the dnhl. But this solution has me holding the full weight of the main as I raise it, which is pretty substantial with this sail. And I'm rasing it solo most of the time. Another avenue is to replace the clutch with something else, based on someone's reccomendation. Hopefully clutch technology has improved since this one was designed. But an issue there is the mounting hole dimensions. These are 3.5" on center(the body is 4.5" overall), and the nuts are buried deep within the mast base, and I'm doubtful of the holding power of the mast for lag bolts or drill and tap. So I need a quality piece of equipment that matches my mounting holes. Big request? Are there other lines for this application that might have a tougher cover or a better bond between the cover and the core? Are there problems with V100, or is it the clutch that's the culprit? Seems like the cover was pretty loaded when it gave way, there was a noticable bang when she let loose. Thank you gentlemen!
I don't recall exactly what kind of boat Flight Risk is - but you can cut mast compression loads in 1/2 by using a beach-cat style hook and ring at the top of the mast. You can probably adapt any of the regularly available bigger cat systems; the Nacra 20, the 6.0 (I think they're the same...or were) or have something fabricated - it's not a complicated system. Leave your clutch or put in a spin-lock style clutch that will still permit you to hoist as needed, but use the ring to carry the sailing loads saving not only the wear on the halyard but the need for an exotic line for the halyard as well.
Thanks Jake, I thought about that, and was going to mention my reasons for not considering it. FR is a 24' x 14', 800 lb boat on a BIG mountain lake, known for big stuff blowing in fast, and not always with shelter near at hand. My big concern with masthead hooks is the potential for not being able to quickly and reliably release the main, and get it down fast should conditions warrant. I'm often sailing solo, and in gnarly conditions I can't be away from the helm for more than about30 seconds before very bad things begin to happen. I have masthead hooks on the 3 other cats, and lots before as well, and I still have occasions where I can struggle to get a quick release. So that's my reservation about hooks as a solution to this problem. Appreciate your input, as always! Asking beachcat sailors about rope clutches may no be my most promising avenue for advice. Thoughts on other venues?
Yeah that would be a great solution if I had the room. There's the clutch right up against the opening in the mast where the hlyd exits, and immediately below it is the swivel turning blk, and then no more mast. Maybe I can figure a way to move the tuning blk to the main beam, then I could mount the horn cleat where the turning blk is. Although I'm not sure how solid the mast is there for holding. There's a LOT of load.... Guess I could try...
If it's a turning block, couldn't you put the cleat above the clutch and rout the halyard back up the mast from turning block {this assumes that the block will take full halyard/downhaul loading tho]
I believe Spinlock claims not to damage line. How is the current clutch mounted to the mast? How are the backing nuts held in place? You may find that they drop off when to remove the current clutch. If that is the case it does not matter where the new holes need to go. If the nuts are secure you can build a face plate that mounts in the current holes then mount a new clutch to that. If space is a problem you could move the exit hole for the halyard further up the mast. Ever consider a small mast mounted winch. Solves the rope problem and eases the raising of the sail. Other option is to devise something like a H16 that uses a wire rope combination that hooks in place.
I wouldn't put a spinlock on that halyard. Granted, the ones I was using were smaller, but I've gone through several on spinnaker halyards - the failure mode is complete and instantaneous.
You might check if the clutch has an adjustment for the diameter of the halyard. If you are too small diameter you max out your holding power but you can seperate the cover and core due to the pressure at the clutch point. If you can back up to the proper diameter the clutch should hold without blowing up the line. I know Spinlock jammers have this adjustment (don't ask how I know)
Somewhat different solution we used the large harken cam cleats for the spin halyard on Tornado's and had this problem. (Same problem as you experience... the cover and core would blow up) We would use two cam cleats inline. especially when we doubled the loads with a 1 to 2 halyard system. Perhaps this is a solution.
Ok, I'm really remiss for not taking pics while I was at the boat. This is an unconventional wing mast, built using Gougeon Bros construction details, the clutch and swivel blk are nestled into a small enclave at the bottom of the mast, on the aft side, just enough room for these two pieces of hardware. The current clutch is secured with tow 1/4" machine screws, maybe 2.5" long, to T nuts embedded deep within the base, no access. I'm currently leaning towards some method of securing the hlyd that doesn't rely on a clutch. With all this input, and a phone call this evening to Malcom, the builder, I'm contemplating a s.s. plate that can be drilled to use the existing mounting holes/hardware for the clutch, and attach the horn cleat to the plate. For raising the main, the hlyd can pass by the cleat to a stand up blk mounted to the main beam just below the mast, then athwartship to the clutch now also mounted to the main beam. This can hold the line as the main is going up, and when fully hoisted, release the clutch and secure the hlyd to the horn cleat. But that's today's thinking, keep it coming boys! There may be better ideas out there! Thanks!
I recently had a look at a VX 40 /extreme40 cat mast. there the halyard is secured in the top of mast with a rather big clutch/cleat. This was only the top 30 cm/1ft of rope was under load [and therfore was some high tech line] the rest of the line was pretty std line, The release was done by a small rope which was attached to the release of the clutch/cleat and from there to the mast base
I could not see which brand it was [it was dark inside the mast....]
