MacGregorSailors.com

I used to do that dance, and now I think its downright dangerous (especially with the boat on the hard). Much easier to unhook the forward lifelines on both sides. That way you don't have to put the spreaders under the lifelines when in trailering position. The little bit of lifeline slack is enough for the spreaders to rest on them without any strain.

i am kind of partial to the idea of a collapsing tube in tube type solution..... with spring pins, (set them while on deck, shorten 8 inches or so each for travel)

inspired by all of Johns innovative deck and mast solutions....

with the vibration cycling the mast gets I suspect all non rigid methods will wear, and then the lifeline connections seems preferrable..

Newell---how much did you cut-off? I have been seriously thinking about this but NO GUTS. I can see lots of down wind sailing advantage to the shorter spreaders as well.

Hello Guys! newbie here, love the site. You guys are a wealth of information. I broke my spreader tube taking down the mast last week. Question? where or how do I get a new one. I know thats its 1" od alum. but would rather buy one then fabricate one myself.

blue water yachts http://www.bwyachts.com sell spreaders

Paul

Thanks! I'll check them out.
Rich R. N.Y.

www.boatbimini.com(an advertiser on this site) sells a set that has a smaller O.D. tube inside the aluminum one for extra strength. I got a pair and they are great.

Thats interesting Steve, is the inner tube also aluminum or is it PVC? One thing I would be careful of is that if you make the spreaders too strong and then you snag them hard enough (enough to bend the original spreaders) makes me wonder if you might damage your mast at the spreader sockets. The spreader sockets are strong SS but the mast that it is attached to is very weak aluminum (think beer can). Of course, I guess the sockets are through bolted so that is a lot stronger than just attached to the outside of the mast. Anyway, maybe something to think about.

I use the pins like the one in Scott's pix to hold the rudders up while towing. You have to use the U shaped version to get around the bracket. I still tie the rudders up but this is a quick/cheap back up.

bscott.

in answer to your question about spreader length reduction, here is a recent thread.

http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewt ... 6099#96099

Good stuff, thanks