Hopefully I will post some photos of the new AHPC stainless steel mast bases (both the A cat and Taipan 4.9) and the AHPC snuffer hoop and bag as well as a Taipan/A cat mainsail hook and the rubber "O" ring seals for the beam bolts-

Kirt

Here's another of the bases-

Here's last one of the new Taipan mast base-

Kirt

Here's one of the snuffer and bag- Snuffer hoop weighed 520 gms as I remember (without the bag)-
The bag has a bolt rope in the front that feeds into the slot in the hoop-

Kirt

Closer up shot of the snuffer-

Kirt

Here's the rear of the bag-

Kirt

Here's one of the mast hook ring, beam bolt "O" rings (to seal the beam bolt holes), and the dense foam "block" that goes under the shackle portion of the hook ring to hold the ring upright so it will catch on the hook at the top of the mast. Note the ruler in ENGLISH (inch) measurements just to annoy Wouter!

Kirt

And this is it when fitted.

I weighted the ring, bag, bungees, clips and rivets together and I seem to remember the total weight was 1.2 kg = 2.64 lbs

The haeavy duty Hobie tiger (yellow) trampoline bag I brought to springfever 2002 weigths 1.1 kg

The lightweight trampoline bag I had for my P18 + spi weighted in at 0.45 kg = 1 lbs

So I think this AHPC snuffer is a very good deal considering its overall weight. Its price is alot better than the competition as well. It works well, better than most laminate ring and sock systems I have used on other boats.

I'm quite happy with this AHPC snuffer. And I wouldn't trade it for another.

Wouter

P.S. I have a normal cloth spi and never siliconed, lubed or greases it. It still goes in more easily than the other systems I've tried.

What is that arm (lever) on the upper mastfoot. Mast spanner ?

Wouter

Only I had the white cloth bag instead of the grey one. I like the grey colour better. I never realized that there was a choice.

Wouter






Don't mind the different lines that is all much tidier now

..

Wouter-
I didn't know there was a choice either- I just ordered one and that's what I got! What is the diameter, wall thickness and length of your "strut" to the spi pole?
Also, do you know where the front most small line from the snuffer ring is supposed to go?? I noticed you just have your's tied around the pole!


Kirt

Wouter-
The strut projecting out the rear of the uppermost mast base (the Flyer base) is the rotation limiter arm- The "stock" Flyer setup has a grommet in the middle of the tramp through which the rotation limiter line projects and then it runs through a small block shackled to the rear of the this arm. My original setup had twin small SS tubes bolted to the aluminum mast base and projecting rearward. These are notorious for breaking at the mast base since they have very little vertical support so they get flexed vertically and end up breaking.
These bases look quite nice but I'm interested to see how much heavier they are than my current aluminum bases. Not an issue on my Flyer since it's got ~10 lbs. of lead in it now to get to legal weight!


Kirt

I will have to get back to you on that. Give me a little time.



yeah that picture was taken right after the DCC and we had to quick fix a few things.

Actually in a few special cases the spi cloth was reported to catch in the V between the pole and ring. I have never encountered this problem, but I always fully tension the retrieval line before uncleating the halyard. My spi is as good as tube before it enters the mouth and I don't think it can hang that way.

But the line is a remedie for the spi hanging up like that. You rivet a small saddle under you pole at about a foot ahead of the ring and you tie that line of to that. Now you have a little triangle between the line the pole and ring. Therefor the line prevents the spi from going into the V between the ring and pole. That is is.

But at the DCC the tying off the line to the pole as showed didn't cause any problems.

Wouter

Kirt,

Since Wouter needs time to look things up, may I help you out on this one?

Spi pole diameter(ouside)is 40 mm. Spi pole length as supplied by AHPC to me is 3.300 mm.
Strut length between bridle plate and spi pole may vary according to luff length of your spi. I made a prototype one that is a one piece units from 16 x 1 mm stainless steel tube. See attached picture. To make it clearer a detailed drawing is available too, showing the dimensions in mm.
There are 2 small lines from snuffer ring. One is supposed to go to the bridle attachement on the closest hull, the other should go forward in an approx 45 degrees angle to the spi pole eyelet riveted onto the spi pole forward of the snuffer ring. On Wouters picture you noticed the spi pole is blank, so he had to tie it to the closest item. This line should prevent the spi from getting stuck between the ring and pole.

Marc-
Thanks for the photo and the info.

Kirt

I don't recall any O rings when I assembled my boat--should I add them?

Eric,

The "O" rings would have been in a recession under the beam bed, not protruding from the surface.
When I got mine, they were barely visible, but present.

I still don't recall any--maybe I should unbolt and check. What is the torque value when retightening?