Am I Wrong?

[un1que]

Hi Everybody,

I have a question, I hope somebody can answer. I have an old 1937 Staysail Schooner. It was originally rigged with hounds. My boat was owned briefly by someone who was very ambitious, but had very little knowledge about anything that floats. Subsequently he took it upon himself to re-rig the boat. I almost didn’t buy the boat just because of the butcher job he did on the rigging. My question is, how bad is it?

What he did was drill holes through the solid spars, then drove engine studs through and attached the shrouds. Is this a log splitter? I know I could disperse the load by installing tangs up the mast. Is there any way to repair the masts to their original strength? I have sailed the boat in light to moderate winds without any problem, but fear disaster if in a gale. Am I wrong?

[Brian Duff]

what size boat?

if you keep that set up you will need tangs to disperse the load to more wood.

you could also go back to 'hounds' as you put it, without completely re rigging by laying strops over the hounds and shortening the cable to attach to those.

A lot more details than you gave are required to suggest a proper solution, or to determine if yours is acceptably done... got photos?

[un1que]

Thanks Brian,

My boat is 45’ on deck 56’ overall, very heavy built triple planked, hard chine. Clearly the masts have been compromised by the drilling of holes. Is there any way to repair the masts back to their original strength? I intend to go back to hounds. What should I do about the holes that were drilled?

Steve

[Brian Duff]

fill the holes wiht a dowel. if they are just 'tang bolt' sized, 3/4" or something, it will be OKAY

going back to strops around the hounds will mean that the hole is a non issue. be sure to fill the hole well, or rot will start there.....