The Gooseneck Diary

[Pete1177]

Hi Kevin,
Yes I can do a gooseneck for the larger mast bracket - but I'll need to design a larger toggle. I'll need to know the dimensions of the bracket but I could take the measurements from boats at the Winters this coming weekend.
Pete

[Kevin]

Hi Pete,

If it’s possible, I’m definitely interested. I can give it a bash on the sea when we get going next month. Thanks for your work on this, I’ve enjoyed reading your posts.

Kevin
1226

[Pete1177]

18 Feb 2019 - Sunday racing in a good 15mph breeze with SG4, 2 races about 2 hours on the water. The gooseneck held up well with no observable deterioration of the toggle post racing. I'm really happy with this composite approach so far and I should receive 20 gooseneck pins from Allen in a few days ready to make up 20 test units.

I have considered making the toggle slightly longer for the standard mast bracket, to give the 'extendable gooseneck' benefit you get with the new mast bracket. However, this would put more sideways bending force on the toggle and I don't want to do that till the material is proven a bit more. According to Class Rules, I can make the distance between the mast and boom end 70mm (which would be quite a long toggle).

I'll design a toggle for the extended gooseneck (these seem to be quite popular now) next week when I have the measurements of the bracket. I could develop this in stainless steel which would be a premium price assembly - this might suit those sailors who want extreme ruggedness and are prepared to pay the price (sea sailors, extreme racers, not your average club racer like me ).

Pete
SN1177

[Kevin]

Hi Pete,

I have the replacement mast (after the fading debacle) at home hanging up in the garage. If you want any measurements or photos let me know.
I sail on the sea but I wouldn’t class myself as extreme, just hang on, don’t cock it up and don’t break anything type of sailor.

Kevin

[Pete1177]

27 February 2019 - I went down to Bowmoor today to take advantage of the fine weather to replace my rig control line which had snapped at the splice during the Winter Championships (last race). English Braids again (an original Hartley splicing job). I managed to buy some spare 4mm Rooster Easysplice off Stuart Hall at the Winter's and used that today, with a lockstitch to make it nice and secure. It's the first time I have used the Rooster rope and it's very easy to splice. I had the splicing done in 10 minutes .

I'm going to close this Gooseneck diary now as I have a good solution with the composite gooseneck in my opinion. The nylon carbon/fibre toggle has stood up well over the 10 hours of sailing, some of it in F4/5 winds. There is no visible deterioration apart from a slight mark where the spacing washer sits.

SG4 toggle after 10 hours of sailing

SG4 Toggle001.JPG (36.35 KiB) Viewed 12103 times

The final solution will use POM Delrin (acetal) as the toggle material. As a homopolymer it gives a good tensile strength and is slightly harder than copolymer acetal, with a lower coefficient of friction. We need low friction for a nice smooth gooseneck.

I think the 3D printed and laser sintered nylon would work but I'm unsure of its long term degradation, especially with UV exposure.

The Delrin toggle will need to be CNC-milled so it is higher cost for smaller quantities. However, in order to create a standard part, the toggle size will be identical to fit both standard mast bracket and the newer 'extended' mast bracket. The opening height on the extended bracket is 20mm, so I will design a new toggle at 17mm, allowing for a single 1.5mm spacing shim when used on the standard bracket, and 2 shims when used on the extended mast bracket. This design, with a Delrin toggle and 316 stainless pin, will be SG5.

SG5 Proposed Assembly

SG4_Composite003.JPG (30.35 KiB) Viewed 12103 times

I am going to put up the money myself to get 20 units of SG5 tooled and manufactured. I haven't had any direct interest for these yet so it's a bit of a financial risk. If you want one of the 20 units then please let me know asap and I'll reserve you one. The price is £25 (I only make a small margin at this price). Lead time is 4 weeks.

I believe SG5 makes the standard Superspars gooseneck obsolete. If Hartley's come on board and these are fitted to all new boats then I can make the price the same as the standard Superspars gooseneck (around £18).

I'll post the offer on another thread as this thread is now very long and I'm not sure too many people read to the end.

Pete
SN1177