Mk1 - swinging spreaders

[kdband]

Hello,

I recently realised that my Mk1 was just about the only boat at the club which had fixed spreaders.
Since it was relatively light winds last weekend, I decided to remove the bolts closest to the mast and see how I went on.
All seemed fine, though I can't say for sure that it made a lot of difference.

I'd rather leave these bolts out, but my concern is that on my mast, I don't have any preventers on the spreader brackets to stop them from coming too far forward in heavier winds.
I've read and heard about people using lengths of rope and even cable ties to stop this happening, but haven't seen any examples or pictures of how this is done.

Has anyone got any photos or explanation they can share.

Thanks

Kevin Band. 519.

[Chris1333]

Kevin

Whoa - put those bolts back in!!!

You can take them out but only if you have a suitable retaining structure. A few masts inverted with swinging spreaders and no retainer - I believe these resulted in an insurance claim (not a conversation I would like to have with the insurer).

The rope system was/is used by a few people and is simple to rig up - nwe can't vouch for how strong this is. I think there were a couple of photos on this, but you should be able to do this at the nationals if you can find one to copy - try Tony Bleasdale 649.

Thanks

Chris

[kdband]

Yep, I'm aware of the risk and waited for a weekend with light winds before removing them, there's no way I'm going to leave them like that if the winds get up again.
I'm hoping I can work out how to rig the retainers before my next race, otherwise they'll be going back in until I can.

[Trajan]

Hi Kevin,
I have swinging spreaders on my mk1, with a restraining system using carefully positioned slots and extra bolts. The system is fine in all weathers, but obviously it is at the owner's risk, being a user mod. My post with instructions and photos is on this forum titled 'Low cost Swinging Sreaders'.
Cheers Tony