Wanted: Shroud plates

[christanner]

Hello all - I'm looking for a pair of the bronze fittings that the shrouds lash to at the lower end. Does anyone know where I can find some?

[John Burton]

Hi, I could not find any myself, nor could I seem to source suitable bronze plate. In the end I bought some 8mm stainless plate from eBay, £4.50 plus postage, enough to make two plates. I cut it using an angle grinder using the original plates as templates. I thought making the slot at the top was rather difficult without appropriate tools so just drilled a hole and I use a shackle through that so the lanyard can't fray on the shroud plate. From any distance the plates look identical. Incidentally when removing an original plate to measure against I found both brass bolts had sheared through so I replaced all the bolts with stainless steel ones.

[christanner]

Thanks John - I think I'll try the same. Your boat's looking lovely!

[John Burton]

Thanks Chris!

[RollyDrifter]

Hello John ,
Can I ask about your boat ? Do you have a forestay direct to the bow ? That looks safe, strong and sensible... As far as I know mine runs with the jib-stay to the outer end of the bowsprit , which is perhaps normal , but running to the bow would appear to add a fixing point and spread both the load and the risk . Is it normal or your own mod ?
Thanks
Rolly

[John Burton]

Hello Rolly,
I added a second forestay in addition to the second shrouds. I did this partly on advice from others and partly because I cannot see the condition of the original stainless steel forestay inside the roller reefing tube. Failure of one forestay would be disastrous so with a belt and braces approach I decided on adding a second. This was easy enough, I drilled through the stem and inserted a stainless threaded rod with an eyebolt each end. I drilled just underneath the step designed to support the mast whilst travelling. I used  Dyneema as a simple measure and it runs through plastic electric conduit for the first few feet, this makes the jib pass over it better, but is certainly not essential.
If you need any photos please let me know. Hope this helps,
All the best, John

[John Burton]

It's perhaps worth adding that the second forestay runs from the top of the mast to a block on the eyebolt on the stem and then back to one of the cleats on the cockpit roof. The original running forestay also runs back to the cockpit and I can easily ease the tension on both when leaving the boat for any length of time.

[RollyDrifter]

Hi John ,

That makes perfect sense to me .
Belt and braces is the best way .

I suspect I'll work towards the same, both forestay and shrouds.

I don't see the point of bottle screws on the shrouds , not on this rig , as long as there's enough articulation in the shackle / lanyard connection to the plates , I suspect a double shackle will be fine .

I'm also working on a long sock , to pull over the mast when lowered, to keep all the lines tidy and dry , so less there is to clutter up , the better .

Thanks , all the best
Rolly