Snapped a spreader

[Brian N.]

Snapped a spreader     while raising the mast. Clean break right where it enters the base at the mast. Snapped right at the hole for the pin. Called Bill at Precision - in stock and shipped today. Not sure how it even happened: I was raising the mast, gust of wind took me sideways and the spreader hit the gunnel on the rub rail, but not hard (mast base was not in the tabernacle yet, but was on the crutch). Raised the mast and looked up and the spreader was just hanging - darn! Bill said he has seen this before, mostly while raising the mast.

[Quantico Frank]

Did that once myself when I drifted into a pier.

[tjspiel]

Are the spreaders not hinged on a P-165?

Wouldn't necessarily help depending on which way it was impacted. Just curious.

[Brian N.]

Spreaders are hinged - they fit into a base and held with a pin and ring. I just noticed that one of the rivets is raised a fraction and the base is bent a fraction. Bill said the forces on the spreader are compression so that should not be a problem. Guess it hit harder than I thought.

[Riggerdood]

Bummer Brian! Might not be a bad idea to at least drill out the raised rivet(s) and replace? When I "inherited" my DS, it had no spreaders at all, and the brackets were all bent and mangled, so I had to drill out the old rivets and rivet on new brackets. Pretty straightforward job.

[Quantico Frank]

Bill said the forces on the spreader are compression so that should not be a problem. Guess it hit harder than I thought.

IMHO Bill sometimes over-simplifies some of the pressures on standing rigging. I'm no engineer, but it seems to me that yes, on a fully and perfectly rigged boat the only pressure that SHOULD be on spreaders is compression. But that doesn't take into account additional forces that can affect them through the process of, say, stepping the mast or impact. He also said the pressure on the quick pins that hold the shrouds in place is "shear, period," but I have had them begin to work their way out of their holes on a tight rig. Nowadays, I only use clevis pins with cotter rings. It seems to me that in some cases the real world will introduce forces that exceed those of the design spec.

[Brian N.]

Frank - agree 100%. I just checked the spreader bracket again this morning - still very solid so at this point I'm not going to drill out the rivets and replace. I don't think it will fail, but I'll check it next time I sail. I just feel pretty dumb about the incident. I had the mast raised above my head and was walking it aft to get the base into the tabernacle, and was a bit unbalanced when a strong gust just hit me. My guess is 20-25 knots and was probably a hint that I should not be going out anyway. Next time I raise the mast will be with my 6 foot tall, 210 pound, muscular 23 YO son. At 67 YO I'm not as strong or tall as I was despite exercise and a good diet.

[tjspiel]

At 67 YO I'm not as strong or tall as I was despite exercise and a good diet.

I was never tall but one of the more disconcerting things about aging is that I've become even less tall over time. 

It's not hard to imagine a gust of wind giving me the same problems and I know if I get a bigger boat I'll need some sort of baby stay/mast raising system.

[Brian N.]

Thanks to Bill at Precision, my new spreader arrived today. Not cheap but sailing and boat parts are generally a bit costly. A friend actually had offered to fabricate one for me, but he was unsure if the aluminum alloy was right for a marine environment. Anyway I'll rig the boat this weekend and hopefully get a last sail or two.

[tjspiel]

That was quick !

I'm not looking forward to the day will Bill decides to call it quits. Hoping there's somebody out there he could pass the business, inventory, and knowledge on to.

[Quantico Frank]

I'm not looking forward to the day will Bill decides to call it quits. Hoping there's somebody out there he could pass the business, inventory, and knowledge on to.

I'm with you, Tom. He told me once that there's a pretty good little living to be made running his parts business.