Topic: 1980 A8.2 Forestay Measurement Ideas

[sam]

Hello fellow Aloha'ers,

I need to replace a forestay from my 1980 A8.2 (27') that was stolen while the mast was stepped.  Does anyone have a measurement of the forestay for the same year, or are the measurements too variable from boat to boat for this to be accurate enough to order a new stay?  If I shouldn't rely on another boat's dimensions, does anyone have suggestions for determining the measurement?

I've looked at the rigging store on http://www.defender.com/html/standing_rigging.html, but will gladly take suggestions.

Thanks in advance!
Sam

[Bill Hutton]

With such an important measurement I think I’d take a trip up my main halyard with a tape measure to get an exact measurement from the bow.
Maybe you could attach a line to the end of the spinnaker halyard, hoist it up, mark it and measure the distance (noting the variations in placement etc.) – but that sounds too risky.
Best of luck.

[sam]

Thanks Bill...the mast is stepped, and I'm thinking I can't raise the mast without the forestay, unless I can subsitute something else for a short period to keep the mast from falling.  I'm new to this, so thanks for any ideas!  ;-)

I found a reference on-line for the forestay measurement of 31' 8.5"...but I'm not ready to spend the money to have a stay built to that spec found on the net.

Thanks again!

Sam

[Carpe Diem]

When I installed my furler two years ago, my original forestay was indeed 31 ft 8 and one half inches PIN-TO -PIN.

I just checked my notes to be sure.

Carpe Diem was built in 1985, so no guarantees.


Gary

[musrum]

You can step your mast without a forestay, use a halyard in it's place.
You will want to put as much tension on the halyard as possible - really
it's the backstay you need tensioned. 

You might use a wire (it's wont stretch and introduce error)  attached to
the forstay head pin as your measuring line, mark where it crosses the
tack end pin when under tension.

[sam]

Thanks to you all for your inputs...newbie mistake included (stepped vs unstepped ;-).

I'll keep pressing with my restoration.

Thanks again to you all!

Sam

[Dennis]

I had a chat the other day with the sailmaker I usually use. He said he will not make a sail using measurements from the owner. He insists on going to the boat and making the measurements himself. He says there have been too many related problems when a sail has been made to the owners specificatuions only to find that it does'nt fit. I beleive a reputable sailmaker should be more than happy to make the sail after making his own measurements.

Dennis
..._/)*...

[GCOLLINS]

Hi Sam
Pondering this, what I'd probably do if it were my problem to fix is this:

Buy a replacement stay, with the proper mast fitting installed, but without a bottom fitting installed.  Get it maybe a foot longer than you think you need.  Obtain the lower fittings you need, get compression type fittings (e.g. Norseman).  Install the new stay to the mast, and then step the mast, using (as has already been suggested) the halyard to hold things up while you mess about with it.  Cut the bottom of the stay to length, and install the compression fitting, fasten it all together, and go sailing!!!

Ballpark, to figure out the length of stay you need, you could measure the sail and add a couple of feet.

 - Graham

[sam]

Graham,

Great idea...I hadn't even thought about compression fittings and making my own stay.  I'll start researching them.

Thanks a bunch!

Sam