I bought an M17 (#494) last spring. It has been a great little boat, regularly sailing past much larger ones. One thing has been nagging me though -- the mast spreaders are perpendicular to the mast or maybe even droop a bit. Normally they should tilt slightly upward so they bisect the angle of the upper shroud with equal angles above and below the spreader. Is this (perpendicular spreaders) normal for the M17 or do I need to somehow adjust the mast fittings? They don't appear to be bent or adjustable. Any thoughts? Steve M17 #494 Antidote
My M17 spreaders are horizontal as those of most sloops seem to be. They work just fine. ~~~_/)~~~ Gary Sent from my iPhone :-)
On Jan 19, 2015, at 9:21 PM, Steven C. Gordon <stevencgordon@gmail.com> wrote:
I bought an M17 (#494) last spring. It has been a great little boat, regularly sailing past much larger ones. One thing has been nagging me though -- the mast spreaders are perpendicular to the mast or maybe even droop a bit. Normally they should tilt slightly upward so they bisect the angle of the upper shroud with equal angles above and below the spreader. Is this (perpendicular spreaders) normal for the M17 or do I need to somehow adjust the mast fittings? They don't appear to be bent or adjustable. Any thoughts?
Steve M17 #494 Antidote
Steve- are your spreaders the factory-supplied ones with the plastic tips? If so, I'd move them up to bisect the angle and tighten the screws; if not, move them up and wrap them tightly with light stainless wire, then wrap with tape to save your genoa. I'm sure a bit of droop wouldn't hurt a thing, but the book says to bisect the angle so it's important to be cool. -----Original Message----- From: GARY M HYDE Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 9:20 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Spreaders My M17 spreaders are horizontal as those of most sloops seem to be. They work just fine. ~~~_/)~~~ Gary Sent from my iPhone :-)
On Jan 19, 2015, at 9:21 PM, Steven C. Gordon <stevencgordon@gmail.com> wrote:
I bought an M17 (#494) last spring. It has been a great little boat, regularly sailing past much larger ones. One thing has been nagging me though -- the mast spreaders are perpendicular to the mast or maybe even droop a bit. Normally they should tilt slightly upward so they bisect the angle of the upper shroud with equal angles above and below the spreader. Is this (perpendicular spreaders) normal for the M17 or do I need to somehow adjust the mast fittings? They don't appear to be bent or adjustable. Any thoughts?
Steve M17 #494 Antidote
-- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. SPAMfighter has removed 2902 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len Do you have a slow PC? Try a Free scan http://www.spamfighter.com/SLOW-PCfighter?cid=sigen
Brion Toss, who might know as much about spreaders as jerry, agrees. If the spreader is angled properly (bisecting the angle formed by the shrouds), it functions as a pure compression member. On Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 9:39 AM, <jerry@jerrymontgomery.org> wrote:
Steve- are your spreaders the factory-supplied ones with the plastic tips? If so, I'd move them up to bisect the angle and tighten the screws; if not, move them up and wrap them tightly with light stainless wire, then wrap with tape to save your genoa. I'm sure a bit of droop wouldn't hurt a thing, but the book says to bisect the angle so it's important to be cool.
-----Original Message----- From: GARY M HYDE Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 9:20 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Spreaders
My M17 spreaders are horizontal as those of most sloops seem to be. They work just fine.
~~~_/)~~~ Gary Sent from my iPhone :-)
On Jan 19, 2015, at 9:21 PM, Steven C. Gordon <stevencgordon@gmail.com> wrote:
I bought an M17 (#494) last spring. It has been a great little boat, regularly sailing past much larger ones. One thing has been nagging me though -- the mast spreaders are perpendicular to the mast or maybe even droop a bit. Normally they should tilt slightly upward so they bisect the angle of the upper shroud with equal angles above and below the spreader. Is this (perpendicular spreaders) normal for the M17 or do I need to somehow adjust the mast fittings? They don't appear to be bent or adjustable. Any thoughts?
Steve M17 #494 Antidote
-- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. SPAMfighter has removed 2902 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
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Yes, try to bisect the angle so the spreader has 100% compression, 0% deflection. That will leave them pointing slightly up. If you do not have the plastic tips, use Monel wire to seize the spreader tips to the cap shrouds. Most chandleries carry it, even West Marine. I like the premade rubber boots (brand name Tempo?) to protect the sail. If you attach them with the good rigging tape (the self-amalgamating kind) they will stay in place a very long time. -----Original Message----- From: Tom Smith Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 5:57 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Spreaders Brion Toss, who might know as much about spreaders as jerry, agrees. If the spreader is angled properly (bisecting the angle formed by the shrouds), it functions as a pure compression member. On Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 9:39 AM, <jerry@jerrymontgomery.org> wrote:
Steve- are your spreaders the factory-supplied ones with the plastic tips? If so, I'd move them up to bisect the angle and tighten the screws; if not, move them up and wrap them tightly with light stainless wire, then wrap with tape to save your genoa. I'm sure a bit of droop wouldn't hurt a thing, but the book says to bisect the angle so it's important to be cool.
-----Original Message----- From: GARY M HYDE Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 9:20 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Spreaders
My M17 spreaders are horizontal as those of most sloops seem to be. They work just fine.
~~~_/)~~~ Gary Sent from my iPhone :-)
On Jan 19, 2015, at 9:21 PM, Steven C. Gordon <stevencgordon@gmail.com> wrote:
I bought an M17 (#494) last spring. It has been a great little boat, regularly sailing past much larger ones. One thing has been nagging me though -- the mast spreaders are perpendicular to the mast or maybe even droop a bit. Normally they should tilt slightly upward so they bisect the angle of the upper shroud with equal angles above and below the spreader. Is this (perpendicular spreaders) normal for the M17 or do I need to somehow adjust the mast fittings? They don't appear to be bent or adjustable. Any thoughts?
Steve M17 #494 Antidote
-- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. SPAMfighter has removed 2902 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
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The spreaders should bisect the angle the cap shroud makes as it crosses the spreader on its way to the chainplate. Taking my M17 mast down and putting it back up disturbs the position of the spreaders. When I bought the boat, the port was horizontal and the starboard about a five degree down angle. The tendency for the spreader to move is exacerbated by the pivoting attachment point at the mast. The way I have accommodated keeping the spreaders in the proper position is by tightening the plastic end piece of the spreader with the mast down with the shroud pulled tight from the mast cap and the spreader angle eye balled to 3-5 degrees, just loose enough to move it with moderate force near the spreader tip. Then I raise the mast. If the spreaders move during raising, I adjust them to the proper angle by eyeball using a boat hook. I have never has a spreader shift after adjusting with the mast up using this method in winds up to 25 knots. Hope this helps. Will Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 20, 2015, at 9:20, GARY M HYDE <gmhyde1@mac.com> wrote:
My M17 spreaders are horizontal as those of most sloops seem to be. They work just fine.
~~~_/)~~~ Gary Sent from my iPhone :-)
On Jan 19, 2015, at 9:21 PM, Steven C. Gordon <stevencgordon@gmail.com> wrote:
I bought an M17 (#494) last spring. It has been a great little boat, regularly sailing past much larger ones. One thing has been nagging me though -- the mast spreaders are perpendicular to the mast or maybe even droop a bit. Normally they should tilt slightly upward so they bisect the angle of the upper shroud with equal angles above and below the spreader. Is this (perpendicular spreaders) normal for the M17 or do I need to somehow adjust the mast fittings? They don't appear to be bent or adjustable. Any thoughts?
Steve M17 #494 Antidote
participants (6)
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GARY M HYDE -
jerry＠jerrymontgomery.org -
Stanley Wheatley -
Steven C. Gordon -
Tom Smith -
Wilson Frye