There are a few things I'd like to share with you following my rigging
consultation. The boss of Svenson's Boat Yard in Alameda, CA did the
consultation, his credentials are impecable and his comments were interesting.
First of all, the good stuff: He kept commenting that whole nature of the
P-19 is to be a "tough, chunky boat" and that I should have all my rigging up
to standard so she would take anything San Francisco Bay could dish out. He
thought they were great boats, and he's seen alot of Potters as well as other
trailerables.
Things he told me to fix ASAP on my 14 year-old boat: The turnbuckle toggles
show some mild corrosion where the threaded part meets the brass barrel -- he
said to replace them ASAP - the visible corrosion is just the outward sign of
weakness at the joint. Also, I had a slightly bent toggle - not good.
The standing rigging (wires) on my boat were upgraded to 5/32 in 1992; he said
they looked good and that the rigging typically could last for 10 years. He
didn't like my idea of putting covers on the wires because it would hide any
corrosion (yes, stainless steel does corrode), but he said if I did install
it, to keep an inch above the turnbuckles uncovered so I can inspect it.
Looking towards the future, he recommended a plate (with flanges and holes for
mounting turning blocks and a vang) at the base of the mast under my
tabernacle. That way I don't have to put holes in my cabin top for turning
blocks. He recommended Harken #183 blocks -- small, not expensive ($13 each).
They have a 500# load rating, which he recommended for the main halyard. For
the other lines (reefing, cunningham, spinakker halyard, spinnaker pole lift)
he recommended Harken #166 (300#, same compact size, a dollar or two cheaper).
However, you can't tell the 166 from the 183, so I got all 183's.
Eventually, I will need deck organizers and clutches to do a really slick
job, but for now I can make do with the various pad-eyes and cleats on my deck
somehow.
He didn't like my bow chain plate at all; it's bolted to the port side of the
hull, and twists every time there's a load on the forestay. He said it will
always leak (it does!) and he just couldn't understand why they bolted it
there instead of right in the V of the bow, where the bow is super strong and
there would be no torquing force. He made suggestions about how to fix it
(but I don't have time right now to describe it)
He recommended that someday/maybe I should install a second bolt in my back
stay. (I have only one) but that it was no big deal.
I have an adjustable backstay and a really beefy mast. He recommended
changing my adjustable from 6:1 to 12:1 by cascading a 2:1 block. I did that
yesterday with 5/32 spectra line (has to be stronger than the 6:1 line) and a
Harken block #183.
He tuned my shrouds so that the upper shroud is easily moved about 1" in each
direction and so that the lower stay is floppy-loose, He explained that the
lower shroud isn't needed to support the mast, the upper will do the job just
fine on a mast without spreader. The lower shroud needs to be loose so you
can flex the mast when you tighten the back stay. As the backstay is
tightened, the middle of the mast moves forward, and the lower shroud
tightens. This flattens the draft in the sail for heavy winds and pointing.
He was suprised when I told him that some Potters don't have a backstay -- he
said the rig was obviously designed with that in mind. (Jerry Barrilleau has
told me that the original P-19 design included a backstay)
When he finished, he could flex the mast forward at the middle about 3 inches,
which he said wasn't alot but would do. That's when he advised me to change
the backstay adjustment to 12:1 so I could do it with one hand.
My boom -- bad news. My boom rotates on the gooseneck. He said I have to
modify that so that I could use jiffy reefing when it was really blowing. If
the boom can rotate, the line hangs up on the cheekblocks and/or chafes. He
didn't like the sliding gooseneck either and said that that was a fad in the
70's-80's that isn't worth the trouble. It was supposed to do the same job as
a cunningham (move the draft of the main forward by pulling the boom down) but
it was too difficult to use compared to a cunningham.
The last bad news was that my centerboard flexes too much laterally (2 inches
to each side when in the raised position). He said I ought to install
fiberglass "knee braces" to eliminate the flexing. He didn't explain it well
(we were runnign out of time), but he said that it didn't make any sense to
him to have the keel flexing. It fatigues the fiberglass and eventually would
cause cracks/delaminations in the hull-to-trunk area.
Overall, he kept saying that the Potter was a "tough, chunky boat" that could
handle alot and that if I keep my rigging in good condition, the boat would do
almost anything I asked it to do. He pounded on the hull everywhere and said
she was plenty strong. He said that ALL production boats come with minimal
hardware (otherwise they would be too pricey) and that every SF Bay boat adds
it later (or orders optional stuff from the factory). He said that most
owners of production boats add at least $1000-2000 in additional rigging (that
includes his shop labor costs which I plan to do myself) to bring them up to
the standard of a custom boat.
By the way, he was the winner of the 1998 single-handed race to Hawaii, so he
had alot of practical ideas on how to rig the boat for singlehanded sailing.
He recommended doing things in stages to keep within my budget (that's a
joke!), but planning ahead to eventually have 8 lines running to the cockpit
(port: pole lift, 2nd reef fore and aft lines, spinnaler halyard. Starboard:
Main halyard, 1st reef fore and aft lines, cunningham)
I'll write more in a later letter about the other tidbits he told me (like how
to fly a spinaker from the companion way without ever going forward, which I
didn't quite understand).... but I gotta go pick up a new/used boom and
gooseneck from a friend's 20 foot catamaran.
A few things to consider before you apply his recommendations for my boat to
your own boat. Not everybody plans on sailing in 30-40 mph winds. Also, my
boat was built by HMS in 1985 and your boat may be put together very
differently than mine. Also, I am a technical sailor -- I'm used to having
all the bells and whistles for trim control and only "need" this stuff to make
me happy. I asked him to advise me how the get THE MOST out of my boat -- so
that's what he tried to do for me.
"Your mileage may vary"
Judy Blumhorst, DC
WWP-19 #266 "Red Wing"
SF Bay, CA