[Alberg30] Towing by bow cleats

Scott Wallace tristan at one.net
Tue Oct 2 12:03:51 PDT 2001


Hi Gord,

Thanks for the clarification...it was new information for me and may have
prevented me from losing my mast.

Scott Wallace

Neal Jackson wrote:

> What great historical information and theory, Gord!  I sure am glad you are
> an A30 guy!
>
> Thanks
>
> Neal Jackson
> PEREGRINE
> No. 486
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gord Laco [mailto:gord at transatmarine.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 7:42 AM
> To: public-list at alberg30.org
> Subject: Re: [Alberg30] Towing by bow cleats
>
> Hi,
>
> In my early days as a rigger at Toronto's Tom Taylor Company (I still dream
> sometimes how that building smelled in the morning - rope, etc Good!)  we
> built a rig for a fellow whose deck stepped Mirage 27 mast had been torn
> down by a tow line.  He was angry that he had come to grief while following
> the advice of Eric Hiscock whose said "right here on page X" that the mast
> is where a tow line should go.   He said he hated Hiscock for fooling him.
>
> Well, you can't do that to a deck stepped mast.  Under normal sailing
> conditions there is virtually no side load on the lower part of a deck
> stepped  mast.  All that load is taken up by the shrouds with the highest
> load being on the masthead.  Loading at the heel of the mast is all
> compression - that is why our boats were designed and built with such a
> modest male insert for the step.  That is also why there are no shrouds
> below the spreaders, and the strongest shrouds of all go to the masthead.
>
> You've got to look at your boat and decide which of the truisms of the
> yachting sages fit.  Hiscock etc wrote during a time when all seagoing boats
> had "solid" keel stepped masts with massive re-inforcing at the deck.
> That is not true of our Albergs.
>
> We had another customer who had torn the top quarter of his mast off while
> trying to heel his grounded boat over using the main halyard.  He was
> genuinly confused because he had books that described such a procedure as
> the right thing to do.  Well - his boat had a fractional rig, which means no
> shrouds existed above the forestay, and that is where the mast broke.  The
> exit box for the main halyard was also destroyed by the side load before the
> mast gave up. He had chosen a halyard with no side load support and that
> could not swivel to line itself up with the un-natural task he was asking of
> it.
>
> Towing by the mast in a keel stepped rig works because mechanically you
> would have to tear up the deck or break the mast where it is supported by
> the deck to break the tow.  (Like Curly from the Stooges trying to carry a
> ladder sideways through a doorway, well, sort of)  Neither thing is likely
> unless the mast is an unusually light section.  Towing by the mast with a
> deck stepped rig is dangerous because you would be asking something of the
> heel of the mast for which it has no support.
>
> My plan for an extreme tow if I ever need one is to use the deckhouse.  I
> don't plan to use the whole hull (although that way is strongest of all)
> because I would be squeamish of standing in the cockpit inside a bight of
> line under high load.
>
> Gord
> #426 Surprise
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <SandersM at aol.com>
> To: <gord at transatmarine.com>
> Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 7:37 PM
> Subject: Re: [Alberg30] Towing by bow cleats
>
> >
> > In a message dated 9/28/01 8:34:18 PM, sutherlandt at prodigy.net writes:
> >
> > << I would not recommend towing from a "deck stepped" mast. If you do not
> > feel comfortable attaching to the forward cleats I might suggest
> > attaching a bridal to the main sheet winches. >>
> >
> > Okay, I was the poor soul who, alone among all list members, suggested
> towing
> > by the mast.  And I've read all of the replies, and I am more than
> somewhat
> > chastened by them all.  But I must say that I am not yet convinced that I
> was
> > wrong.  I take the point that the mast stands on a step that does not
> inspire
> > confidence that the mast would remain standing when a lateral force (such
> as
> > a tow line under load) is applied.  But think about it:  Every time you
> sail,
> > the mast absorbs huge lateral forces -- that is, the wind in the sail.
> And
> > what's more, it absorbs them mostly in the bottom quarter of the stick,
> down
> > at the foot of the mainsail.  Wouldn't running in a gale produce lateral
> > forces on the mast far in excess of a tow line?  Does anyone fear that
> > running under sail in higher winds presents a threat of dismasting?
> >
> > The mast, as several have noted, is extremely heavy.  It would take a
> pretty
> > massive force to lift it from the step and cause it to fall.  I wonder:
> Does
> > anyone know of any case in which an A30's mast became unstepped when
> rigged,
> > under any load, for any reason other than a failure of standing rigging?
> Has
> > anyone ever heard of any mast being pulled from its step by a tow line?
> > These are not meant to be rhetorical questions -- I'm just wondering
> whether
> > the fears that have been expressed are grounded in experience.
> >
> > The common wisdom imparted to me at an early age was to tow by the mast,
> and
> > it was never qualified to apply only to keel-stepped masts.  Now, I'm
> pretty
> > thoroughly confused.  Good thing I traded in my Alberg for a Chris Craft!
> >
> > Sanders McNew
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