Trapeze camcleats

Trapeze height adjustment is provided by camcleats attached to the eye on the bottom of the trapeze wire.  If this part fails, it can cause a capsize.  Those with order boats its worthwhile checking especially if you sail on the sea. We've got stainless steel , Aluminium and Bronze all close together so add sea water and galvanic corrosion takes place.  Look for signs of the hole in the camcleat becoming enlarged or pitting or bubbling around the hole. 

"Most at Gurnard have checked theirs and the older boats do show signs of corrosion so we are considering fitting a safety line between the trapeze swag eye and the camcleat. If it does break then the small piece of rope with hopefully stop a swim."

 The camcleat that is installed as standard has a countersunk hole which contributes to the problem. Camcleat model CL253 Trapeze and Vang camcleat looks a better option.

Trampoline lacing

The lacing line used to tighten the rear end of the trampoline tends to chafe on the rear beam fittings.  Check regularly and replace with 5mm line.  Additionally, some use separate lines to secure the left and right sides of the trampoline so that if one fails, you still have some tension on the trampoline.

Additionally, check the condition of the pole used within the trampoline.  Some lightweight composite poles tend to break and need replacing with aluminium, stainless steel or a stronger composite alternative.

Diamond wire mast seals

If the mast gets too much water in it during a capsize, righting can become difficult.  When de-rigging the boat, check the mast for water (listen for the sound of water rushing around).  Visually check the adhesiveness, coverage and elasticity of the sealant.

"While de-rigging at Instow, I noticed that as the sun shone on my mast (which had been rather cold having been in the sea then the rain), air was hissing out of the silicone sealant where the diamonds fix into the mast. It's worth remembering to re-seal it every few years."

The sealant used is black Sikaflex 291.

See Page 8 of the rigging manual for instruction on sealing the diamond wire attachments.

Traveller Track

Carbon Tiller Repairs

Get aluminium  tube (about 12mm- I got some from B&Q but that's a bit too small). 100-150mm long. I wound 3 lots of tape around it to make it a push fit- one at either end and one at the middle.

Cut the broken ends off square. Do a dry run of the whole thing with no resin to get the carbon tape the right length.

Put thickened epoxy onto the alu (after roughening it with sandpaper/ cleaning with acetone first) in between the bands of tape. Push the alu tube into one half of the carbon, then the other half, keeping the middle at the join.

Now (having wetted it out first using a credit card and un-thickened resin), wind 50mm carbon tape with a 50% overlap from some distance on one side of the joint, to the same distance the other side. I think I did 2 layers of this, with the second one a bit shorter length. Messy, so wear disposable gloves. Remove any excess resin and try to work as clean as possible.

Then you can put plastic tape around the whole thing, or just at the ends, so the slippy, sticky carbon tape stays wound around. Make sure the carbon is in proper contact with the carbon tube, not "floating" in lots of resin. Taping the whole thing helps to compress it, but you have to be able to get the tape off after.

Keep the thing supported straight while it goes off overnight.

Sand it down with wet and dry to make it smooth. Polish with fine wet and dry, then cutting paste to get the shine back if you want it to look smart. Carbon splinters in your hand aren't great.

Mainsail

Any sailmaker will tell you to roll your mainsail from head to foot.  This stops the actual rolling process to stretching the sail cloth on the luff of the sail.

Its worth keeping an eye on the plastic batten protective patches where they rub on the shrouds. 

Diamond Wire Bottle Screw Mast Fixing

In rare situations, the eye that is riveted to the front of the mast to allow attachment of the diamond wire bottle screw may pull out.  The lower rivet is most likely to be affected.  If required, two solutions are available;

1.  Loday White have produced a plate that incorporates the fixing that is riveted to the mast.  The plate spreads the load.  Pictures to follow.

2.  Spitfire style fixing (contributed by Olly Harris)

Here is my fix for this problem.  I just copied the Spitfire way- I assume they are done this way in the first place.
 

I used a 20mm long allen socket head bolt with a plastic washer and normal washer and plenty of Duralac on the inside and out. I made some new plastic washers for the outside. I would have liked to bolt the upper hole too, but the fork attachment for the bottle screw prevents that.

I put it in with an allen key very well taped to a stick (tent pole) and the bolt lightly taped to the allen key, so I could pull the tool out at the end.

Mine was not particularly corroded and the eye was still well fixed, but the holes had enlarged a bit (inevitable). Hopefully this is now strong and I think this is how they should be assembled when new, unless the plate is used.

Maybe this, and a photo of the LW plate solution, should go onto the "preventative maintenance" part of the website. The stainless plate is probably the best and strongest solution, but this one can be done with no special parts. But If it was very corroded, this would be no good and the plate would be needed. An even better way might be a piece of alu section on the inside, bolted through.

The only issue is getting the mast foot out after undoing the two fixing screws. It is stuck with silicone so needs persuasion. Taking off the rotation plate and sliding a thin blade in to cut the sealant would have helped, but I managed to avoid that. It has to be well sealed in again afterwards.

Beam Strengthening

Loday White have addressed an issue where cracks may appear around the holes for the outer fixing bolts in the front beam.  Insert sleeves can be obtained and fitted to strengthen and spread the load in this area. 

Pictures to follow.

New beams come with the inserts fitted as standard.