PO's great idea for a mast/boom crutch (literally!)

[brucybaby]

Just thought I''d share a simple/great idea for a mast boom crutch from the PO of my new 71 DSll. Materials: couple pieces of spare wood and a ..... crutch! Keeps everything simple and snug.


BTW first sea trial of DASHAWAY went spectacularly. After 3.5 hours of wonderful Mich in March sailing, checked out inspection ports and she was bone dry! Not a drop of water fell from her inner hull drain plug after pulling her out. Not bad for a very frugally purchased, 41 year old boat. I was always adjusting the CB bolts my old Widgeon to get just the right amount of pressure to seal.

[Alan]

Gotta admire the spirit of innovation.

By the way, I noticed that your jib cars are on top of the coamings, rather than on the inner sidewalls as is the case on my 1980 DSII. It was firmly recommended to me that I do something about their location, since they're where my wife likes to sit at present.

Does that location work for you?

[brucybaby]

LMAO, Absolutely! The PO moved them and I've noticed so have many others. I can't figure why George O. ever setup a "family" boat this way. Maybe he wanted to match the reasoning that led to putting the jib cam cleats crisscross on top of the CB trunk (next item to be moved to the top coamings and back). Very awkward. My guess is that the advantage may be seen when you're in heavy winds and your forward man's hanging out on the rail, he'll be able to control the jib from the windward side. I'm a 250LB, 54 year old mostly solo sailor, floating around 450 acre pond. All I have to do is sit on the other side. My wife, if she does come, doesn't hang! My primary goal to to be able to easily control the jib without dropping my sandwich or spilling my beer.

........of course, I've only sailed this boat once in light winds and she really seemed to move. Maybe I'll understand why George did what he did when I get into a livelier breeze. I have a feeling this is maybe why the PO sold her and got a Javelin.

[GreenLake]

I can't figure why George O. ever setup a "family" boat this way.

On the original DS1 there was a fixed jib block mounted on the side deck, with a hole to lead the sheet through the wooden coamings. That avoided any "hard spots" in the back rest.

Later, the block got changed to a small track, for better adjustability, and the tracks were mounted on the inside of the coaming, as you can't mount anything on the top of a wooden coaming...

From a sheeting angle, the side deck, or the coaming, are too wide for closehauled in say 8-12 kts. People who care about that mount barber inhauls on the cuddy top to bring the jib sheets in a bit more under those conditions. I added them because I had an old jib that wouldn't set properly once the wind got above 8-9kts unless I used inhauls - it would flutter instead. The effect was dramatic.

Before we get completely off-topic, this looks like an impressive rig. Does it hook over the transom? Does it also hook into the rudder gudgeons?

[brucybaby]

Thanks for the 'splainig GL. It make sense! I figured George and Uffa must have known what they were doing,

.... and yes, there is a lip on the back. The little rig is shaped to fit quite snugly between the seat and the transom. There's a bungee cord wrapped around it and hooked to the gudgeons just to keep it from bouncing around when you're driving. Here's a thumbnail of the back side.

I love it because it doesn't put direct weight on the gudgeons AND can be used for both mast and boom. The PO used to wrap the boom to the mast ???? This seemed to be asking for trouble and I carefully checked for mast bend before I bought her. He had the boom transport answer right in front of him but didn't see it. I'll take some measurements of the thing in case anyone is interested and put them on a pdf.

BTW, I like your firepower setup on your DSl. Looks like you have a blast with her.

[Aylmera]

Wow! Excellent innovation this is! You man done awesome work. I only admire your work. thanks for sharing your innovated ideas with us.

[brucybaby]

Added another "thing" to the DS2 mast/boom crutch. I was looking at the thing the other day and the boom cradle looked kinda sloppy. Divine inspiration and my extreme cheapness led me to use another part of the real crutch. Now I like it!