spreader wires

[Guest]

i replaced the spreader wires on my '74 DSII with some wires from Rudy at D&R. the old wires were pretty then, but they wrapped around the spreaders and stays several times. the new wires are short. they only go through the hold on the spreader and around the stays twice. it's a thicker wire, but it seems a little chancy to me. i read somewhere that a disconnected spreader could cause the mast to topple. don't want that. should i add more wire or are the short wires the standard?

chad (gilliscmnr19-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

Hi Chad,
I'm not sure what you are talking about. Do you mean the stays themselves, or the little wires that wrap around the stays to hold the spreaders onto the stays? If you are talking about the stays themselves thicker is better, (within reason). If you mean the wires that hold the spreaders to the stays, Mine aren't very long, but I make up for it by using a lot of rigging tape. I use the wire then wrap a lot of tape around it with the duel purpose of holding it on, and protecting the sails from the sharp ends of the spreaders, like spreader boots.

J.P. Clowes (jpclowes-at-hotmail.com)

[Guest]

True story...
I bought my '70 DS1 last November. In December we had a strangly warm day, so I took the new boat and family for the maiden voyage. As I raised the mast, the duct tape used by the previous owner to retain the shrouds in the spreaders gave way. I desperately tried to get it to stick again, because I WANTED TO SAIL!!, but to no avail. I had no tape, no wire, I was frantic... and then I looked down at my twin 12 year olds. They were both chewing bubble gum! Worked like a charm. We had a wonderful day of sailing.

I did however replace the gum with fresh duct tape this spring! Happy sailing

Tim (pastor_tim-at-mindspring.com)

[Roger]

On my DS 2, the stays are held in the slot by a cotter pin that slips through a fore and aft hole near the end of the spreader. I think the hole is about an 1/8 of an inch. I then cover the end of the spreader and the stay with about 6 inches of pipe insulation, held in place by those small plastic wire ties that you might find at a harware store for bundling automotive wires. Of course there is always duct tape... it even comes in white, and is hard to differentiate from commercial spreader boots at 10 feet!

[Guest]

At the outer tip of each spreader there is a notch of about half an inch in which the shroud rests. A cotter pin through a hole in the remaining spreader tip secures the shroud sufficiently. Chad, if your question is how to secure the shroud, I would see if you have enough room outside of the shroud for this arrangement.

Peter (petercminn-at-hotmail.com)

[Guest]

Question about the mast connection of the spreader. Haven't had a chance to rig mine yet, but spreader inner ends have a uniqely shaped piece of oak inserted into the alum spreader with hole for mast fitting, but shaped so as to face the spreader aft, without any apparent flexibility. This doesn' look too strong. Has anybody seen this arrangement?

John C. (ghampe-at-rcn.com)

[Guest]

My spreaders (one original, one replacement from D&R) do not have the oak pieces. They are just the standard aluminum tubes, secured to mast brackets by clevis pins, to shrouds by stainless-steel wire through the holes and twisted around the shrouds tightly to seize the spreaders to the shrouds. The spreader tips are then coverd by plastic caps and covered by self-sticking rubber tape (sticks to itself, not to spreaders and forms a rubber solid as it ages). I wouldn't use duct-tape, it gets real messy from the sun!

Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

The season must be upon us, the 3" of fresh snow on April 7th aside, since there are so many responses to each string these days. An FYI on shround retaining wire. One of my shrouds parted last year and I found that the individual strands of stainless wire were perfect for threading the new shroud back onto the spreader. A few figure eights through the hole in the spreader and over the wire with rigging tape for protection served nicely.

Steve of Rolias (sjlink502-at-aol.com)

[Guest]

I have also used stainless-steel fishing leader wire, it is a single strand wire that I used, about 1/32"-1/16" dia.

Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

Picked up my 1966 DS this past weekend. Wasted no time practicing rigging her in the backyard. Also wasted no time snagging/breaking one of the spreaders while bringing the mast to vertical, what fun!!! I have two new "foil" shaped spreaders now... Has anyone had experience with installing these on the DS?

BobG (bgagnon-at-mckessonhvma.com)