bracing for bow

[fangman]

thinking about sloop rigging and racing with crew,I'm worried about possible hull flexing/cracking dure to forces applied .Is there a bracing that can be attached to the bows of the hulls to prevent such problems cheers fangman

[Pointed Reply]

Sloops and Super Sloops sail with just the bridle for the jib without the forestays. There is no need for a brace across the bows. The bridle wires should be 1010mm to meet the class rules and to make the jibs fit.

Sailing with a jib and crew is the only way to sail a Maricat !!

[fangman]

thanks PR ,Just that I have heard that hulls been known to crack around front beam.The reason why I ask is that I would like to take the missus out for the occassional race.Total crew wieght would be 132 kg

[Pointed Reply]

Some boats have been known to crack, but generally they are OK, but 132kg is at the top end of the range. Gee you must be heavy !!

Probably not a good idea to regularly sail with that weight. The boat will be a bit of a slug. I sacked my 15 yr old son as crew and traded him for the 10 yr old to give the ideal 108kg.

[fangman]

thanks PR cheers fangman

[QB2]

My old maricat sail (176) was regularly thrashed in strong winds and big seas by two guys who weighed over 20 stone. They admitted after they sold it to me that they liked rough weather because thats when it really flew. Despite the rough treatment the cat was bulletproof. I sailed it almost every day on lake macquarie for 3 years until I let the dolphin striker loosen and the front beam which was corroded under the mast step slowly bent out of shape.

My 2nd mari developed a crack on the deck just ahead of the front beam. After a lot of hard sailing it lengthened but a repair meant grinding out a 3 inch square section and reglassing/gelcoating it good as new.

I found mari's to be incredibly tough and with routine maintenance very hardy and dependable.

[port tack]

the arrows use a bow spreader setup this stiffens up the hulls preventing undue wear and tear under the beams this setup is also optional on the windrush but no one has one fitted to my knowledge however the maricat association could possibly consider this as an alternative on a spoop and super sloop rigged boat

[korwich]

Hi All

It is fairly common knowledge that the very old boats (Pre No.1000)were made bulletproof, strong but heavy, when I was swapping all the gear from my Mk1 (586) to my Mk2 I looked up the bunghole (no snikkers from the peanut gallery now boys) on both boats and compared the amount of light filtering in through the glass. 586 None, dark as dark in there, Mk2 fairly easy to see inside the hulls. 586 weighed 105KG bare, the MK2 I hav'nt weighed it yet, but it sure is lighter. Mick reckons with the old ones they just used up all the glass and resin that they had mixed whether the boat needed more or not, weight was not a factor to keep an eye on.

[fangman]

the information provided has given me the confidence to go 2 up.[my mari is a mark 1].However to be compeditive in light conditions ,Ive asked the missus to loose 20 kilo's, I do like the idea of a bracing up front

[darcy1945]

A length of 30mm alloy tube, wood or plastic fitted and bolted in ends, slotted to accept bridle wires, (inboard end of slots should be measurement between bow saddle centres), should weigh less than 1/2 k and shorten forestay effective length by less than 50mm, should do what you require.