Rigging the Forestay for Easy Storage Allowing Genoa Jibs to Easily Tack
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| The Fore Stays'l stowed on the port side deck. |
There has been some talk on Newporter 40 Together concerning how difficult it is the pull the genny through on tacking. Youth is wasted on the young, I've been told, but I never had trouble pulling the genny across the boat between the head stay and the forestay. I was at my prime at 45 years of age and that was well after the last time I sailed a Newporter. So I can't be critical of those who may have trouble in this area, especially if they were passed their prime when they had their trouble. But the problem did not exist on the Newporters we built. So, I am wondering: does that which prevented trouble not exist on the boats experiencing trouble? A quick search through my many pictures of Newporters shows that the "trouble preventer" wasn't installed until just before I started working on these rigs. The setup that prevented that trouble is simple and can easily be made (if you have blacksmithing talents or can find someone who does). [To see picture full size: Right-click on picture, chose Open link in new tab then click on that picture]
The drawing above is how we installed turnbuckles. Of importance to my desire for consistency (dictated by Ack but I accepted it because it makes perfect sense), note the instructions in how the clevis pins and cotter pins were installed. The turnbuckles were all installed so that the barrel was turned the normal direction to tighten them, making it simple to turn in the right direction from the start. The idea of the clevis and cotter pins being set up the way shown is that if you lose a cotter pin it goes overboard (it's no good anyway) but the clevis pin falls to the deck first (rather than overboard first). With luck you can put the rig together without losing the entire rig, mast and all.
But the thing you want to look at is how we altered the turnbuckle for the forestay. It was designed so the forestay can be released from the fitting on the bowsprit and be moved without changing the length of the turnbuckle. The stay, sail, boom and all can now be moved aft on the port side to a padeye on the inside of the bulwark. The pelican hook, made in our blacksmith shop of half inch stainless steel, is released by raising the ring above the end of the hook. It is then re-hooked to the padeye. Look at the picture at the top of the page and you will see that the foredeck is clear of the stay and stays'l and the genoa can be pulled through with no problem. That bronze casting at the top of the turnbuckle rides on the upper clevis stud that's made just for this one turnbuckle and is the fitting to which the stays'l boom is mounted with the stainless steel cap screw and self-locking nut. Looks self explanatory to me but I made this rig and drew the picture, so I'll be glad to answer any questions it raises.
