Fitting out Drifter 22
'Appuski Too'
Spars and Rig
Boom
Before
buying Appuski Too I had planned to add a boom. Even on my Coaster I found that
age was reducing the strength of my fingers such that I was starting to find it
difficult to roll the mainsail tightly enough to stop it breaking out
especially in F5 or more. Reefing too was an issue. So, heeding Stewart's
advice that this would also improve the sail balance, the D22 had to have a
boom and with it the topping lift which would act as a lazy jack.
I
looked around the Garage for something 3.5 meters long for the boom. Apart from
a length of stair handrail all I had was an old
The
first job was to square it up . . .
then plane a vertical taper on each end, plug
unused old holes, round off the edges, apply some varnish and fit the gooseneck
trunnion at one and an eyebolt for the mainsheet at the other end. Once on the
boat I added an eye for the topping lift and later added a couple of clamcleats
to allow adjustment of the clew outhaul and for repositioning the outhaul when
reefing. However, I don't believe that I have yet fully developed the reefing
arrangements.
Looking
at Bolitho I noticed that Stewart had a longer gooseneck trunnion than my
Churchouse supplied one. He explained that it was created in order to avoid congestion
and stress at the mast base when the mast is lowered with the yard and sail
attached. At the time this was not yet a standard Churchouse part but I thought
it a good idea if not near essential so I made a temporary one out of mahogany
from an old bed leg. It is pictured above next to the standard part
(unfortunately I promptly broke it when manoeuvring on shore before the first
sail and had to jury rig it at Bembridge). Another
temporary wooden one made from the holly hedge that I had cut down last year
got me through the Viking cruise but since it was un-seasoned and would
inevitably split, I now have a proper strong long one from Churchouse in PVC
engineering plastic.
The
addition of the boom has eased my sail handling issues and has transformed the
downwind performance to the extent that on the Viking cruise 'Appuski Too'
proved capable of
overhauling everything including the Gigs. The boom sets fairly
high and hasn't proven too much of a hazard although I do now have to be a bit
more careful of jibes. The other issue is that my mast gallows post is shorter
than standard to reduce the trailing height of the rig for windage
and ferry tariff reasons. This means that the lowered mast sits closer to the
cabin hatch cover and with yard, sail and boom now all together. there is little clearance to lift the hatch when the boat is
ashore. A simple sliding hatch is providing a temporary solution.
Yard and Bridle
The
previous owner had replaced the jaws with a ring around the mast. As it was it
was chewing up the mast and it was a nut and bolt job to remove the yard. This
ring was also too small to allow it to run freely up and down the mast if it
were leathered. I prefer the wooden jaws as fitted to mark one Luggers to the standard stainless
steel 'pitchfork' jaws, so that the jib sheet can't catch when tacking under
jib and mizzen. Accordingly, rather than refit the standard jaws I fitted
wooden ones to 'Appuski Too'. She is much bigger than a Lugger of course so to
make strong cheeks I laminated some 12mm and 9mm ply together. Unfortunately I had to make them twice, since
along with the gooseneck trunnion, I broke the originals by catching the yard
and boom against a steel post whilst manoeuvring on shore before the first
sail!
On
the shake down cruise I really struggled with the yard which I found both heavy
and difficult to balance since most of it is above the halliard attachment
position. On Stewart's recommendation I ordered and fitted the Churchouse yard
bridle kit. This, along with some sheave and clutch changes which are set out,
here has totally tamed the yard and makes raising and lowering it, if not a
pleasure then certainly hardly a chore and makes it easy to reposition the yard
at any height when reefing. I see no reason why this shouldn't work just as
well with a boomless set up.
The
kit comprises a wire strop with fittings that enable it to be drawn tight along
the yard. The main halliard is secured to this wire with a small shackle. This
then becomes the 'peak halliard' which functions to lift the top of the yard
and to hold the yard against the mast. The second masthead sheave is then
brought into play with a 'throat halliard' which functions to raise and lower
the yard. In the picture of the jaws, about 10mm to the right of the tapered
end of the chocks for the sail attachment pin, you may be able to see the hole
through the yard for attaching the throat halliard. This second and additional
halliard takes over the clutch previously allocated to the downhaul. The best
solution to this is to mount an additional double clutch to port of the
companionway along with a pair of bullseye fairleads
to match the double clutch and fairleads to starboard. It is convenient to
re-route the downhaul to the inner clutch of the new port pair and the outer
one can be pressed into service for the topping lift. I have given the 5mm topping
lift line a 10mm tail so that the new clutch can get a good purchase on it.
Notice
the plastic conduit through which the ropes pass so that they don't abrade the
window of the spray hood if the ropes are hauled when the spray hood is folded.
The
sheaves built into the heel of the mainmast, have a pair of guide bars across
which the halliard has to turn on its way to the clutches. This causes some
friction. In order to reduce the friction in the halliard system I have
re-routed both halliards to a double block which now lives alongside the
tabernacle. (this block was recovered from the old
mainsheet system see below) The sheaves in this block are larger than the
existing downhaul block and this seems to make a further positive difference to
the resistance.
The
previous owner had fitted a halliard winch on the coach roof by the starboard
clutches which was essential for an aging salt like me to raise the yard but
thankfully with the new bridle and halliard arrangement it is pretty much
redundant!
Mainsheet
With
a boom in place the mainsheet can be simplified. As Stewart has done on Bolitho
and indeed I did on Appuski Dusky (a Lugger with no boom but modified rope
horse), I have replaced the mainsheet arrangement with a pair of inline blocks.
The lower has an integral cam cleat and is connected to the horse traveller via
a short bridle. This in turn has enabled me to use the remaining existing
hardware, which is no longer needed for the sheet, to position and lock the
mainsheet horse traveller anywhere I want along the horse. This is achieved using a
control line with its centre connected to the horse traveller and its ends run
through the stand up blocks on the deck at each quarter, and forward to the
swivelling cam cleat blocks that are either side of the outboard well.
I
don't have a pic of my setup yet so, with kind permission, the first picture is
Stewart's shot of the mainsheet neatly stowed on 'Bolitho'. This clearly shows
the blocks. The second picture - from D22 '
Mast lifter
I
call this the mast lifter and not 'Drifter Lifter' because although it achieves
the same end, it is not the Churchouse product and works slightly differently.
There is nothing wrong with the Churchouse 'Drifter Lifter' (which I had to
borrow on one occasion) but I have a slightly different requirement for a
longer spar which doubles as a support for the front of my boat cover.
The
Churchouse Drifter Lifter is stronger and heavier as it is made of tubular
steel. As it is also telescopic it is more convenient to transport and store.
My wooden mast lifter is lighter but much longer which fortunately my campervan
has the internal
length to accommodate. The second picture below shows the mast
being raised at
The
spar was originally made from two pieces scarfed
together. One piece was an old Coaster bumpkin (remember that I converted
Appuskidu to a mizzen boom). The other piece was a lugsail dinghy yard given to
me by a neighbour when he moved house. The jaws are cut from beech wood that I
kept from the ladder of a bunk bed that the children had when they were
young. The D22's mast pivots on a hollow
pin. This allows a long bolt (in my case a coach bolt) to pass through both the
jaws of the lifter and the mast pivot so that the lifter and mast pivot in the
same place. The end of my coach bolt is drilled for a beta pin to allow quick
attachment and release. My original glue and screw fixing of the jaws to the
spar started to fail because the big long screws were splitting the spruce of
the spar. The spar has since been modified by laminating together some marine
ply, planed down to the same section as the spar and scarfed
into the spar to replace about a foot of the spruce at the jaws end. This
stronger end to the spar along with glue and bolts instead of glue and screws
make a much stronger construction. A thicker spar (if I had one) would have
been a better solution.
Whilst
I was strengthening it I took the opportunity to insert a sheave in the spar at
the point which, when the spar is at rest being a cover support, is above the
stem head. (where the bottom of the forestay meets the
winch strap in the
In
use, we start with the lifter at rest and the jaws secured by the bolt through
the mast pivot. The lifter has a rope (which I will call the lifter halliard)
from the cleat on the jaws, over the sheave in the spar and ends in a loop
hanging down at the bow of the boat. The loop is attached to the end of the forestay
at the clevis fork below the jib furling drum. The trailer winch is put into
neutral so the strap is free to run. The strap is paid out and laid over the
bow roller (with the stemhead retaining pin installed
to stop the strap slipping sideways out of the stemhead
fitting) and clipped onto the same loop in the lifter halliard. Making sure
that the furling line is free, the drum end of the forestay/jib assembly is
then lifted so it is a little higher than the tabernacle so it gets hauled up
and not down and then the lifter halliard is hauled (which is where the sheave
comes in) until the mast lifter is vertical and the forestay is at about 45
degrees. The lifter halliard is then made off at the cleat on the jaws and the
trailer winch is put into gear and operated to raise the mast - checking
frequently for fouling of the stays (or anything else). Lowering the mast is
the reverse operation
Note
that once the winch strap is unclipped from the towing eye, the boat has to
remain on the level or otherwise be secured to the trailer with tie downs when
the trailer winch is being used for mast operations!
Alternative Mast
Lifting Solution
Chris
Murray decided that on his D22 'Puffin', he wanted the ability to lower and
raise the mast whilst on the water so he has a powerful tackle connected to the
tabernacle. This acts on a rope secured to the bottom of the forestay which
runs around a block at the end of the bowsprit and back to the becket block of the tackle. The tackle has two triple
blocks to make a 'Three part purchase' and the layout means it is 'rove to
advantage' which means that it has a seven fold mechanical advantage overall. The
fall of the tackle is led back to the cockpit where the end of the mast can be
lifted above horizontal before hauling it up.
If
not using a mast lifter lever, this type of arrangement benefits from a tall mast
crutch so that the mast starts out above the horizontal. Chris has such an
extra long crutch which was made for him by Jeremy Churchouse, although the
main purpose is to keep the mast above head height when it is lowered for river
cruising. It can be seen leaning against
the wall in the picture at left below.
