DaySailer.org Forum

I've exhausted my searching of this and other sites to no avail, so I'll ask for help. Does anyone have good pictures showing their block and cleat hardware set up for flying a spinnaker on a DS II? I found this to be a very good start:

http://forum.daysailer.org/pdf/qtr_spinrig_winter2001.pdf

But it's a DS I, and I can't picture how the sheets are blocked and cleated mid-ship given the molded fiberglass coaming on the DS II.

I found some DSII's sold on sailingtexas.com that mention having a spinnaker, but none of the pics are close enough to make out the rigging.

I am converting my factory jib fairlead/cams to blocks and center board mounted cam cleats. I decided I should at least consider my future plans to add and learn to sail a chute now, and possibly start accumulating hardware.

So, do you use a cheek block and cam cleat mounted on a 1.5"-2" thick board/riser outside the coaming, so that the coaming doesn't interfere with sheeting? Mount the cam cleat on the coaming? Or some entirely different set up? Good close pictures would be great.

For the halyard, a cheek block or block on the top of the cuddy back to a cam cleat on the cuddy lip would seem to be the simplest solution. Is it a problem having the halyard cleated that far forward, rather than back towards the rear of the CB trunk?

I should have added in my original post - I found jdoorly's oak CB table or a close proximity an intriguing option that I'm leaning towards. I could drop it down to CB height since I don't have CB controls on top. I'll just have to pick up a router.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4265


Thanks.

If you are adding (or repairing) hardware along the cockpit (or the flotation area) on a DSII you need to install inspetion ports to access the inner hull. Last year I repaired my jib tracks and installed ports below the center of the tracks to attach new fasteners to the track. Attching hardware for a spinnaker would require ports for attachment as well.

At this point I do not have spinnaker hardware on my boat, but may add it in the future.

John

For what it's worth, I've simply lashed a Harken 29mm single swivel block (#340) to each of my stern cleats. (Sorry, no picture). It was meant as a quick&dirty setup to see whether I could fly a free spinnaker of unknown vintage and origin. So I wasn't going to invest heavily or drill holes. I also created a spinnaker pole for it from a five dollar piece of bamboo, but that's another story. As it turned out, the spinnaker, although well aged, does fit the boat and is usable. The "experimental" blocks have worked well and I see no reason to change the setup. The lashings don't get in the way of using the cleats for docking, so there's no urgent need for a more "permanent" solution. The swivels mean that it's not critical which way around I string the spinnaker sheet through them, and they add a bit to the separation between cleat and block.

With broad reaching in stronger winds, I needed a way to cleat the guy. I have a number of cam cleats on my cuddy lip, some of which aren't used while under spinnaker. Using one of the horn cleats on the top of the cuddy as a fairlead, I repurpose one of them temporarily. I did add two dedicated cam cleats, on on each side. One for the downhaul and one for the spinnaker halyard. The latter is shown (yellow) in the image. The other cleat in that photo is for a barber hauler, and that's the cleat I temporarily re-use to cleat the guy, after leading it around the horn cleat shown (all this, if on starboard tack, but the other side is symmetric).