Sail rig retrofit

[Howard Caplan]

Since canoe sailing with a friend who retrofitted an old aluminum, I've gotten curious about the potential to retrofit my newer built w/c prospector.
I have no keel and am reluctant (I won't do it - more then reluctant) to bolt through the bottom to secure the step.
If I made a floor and secured it when in use, could I install the step to that and make it work?

 

[Benson Gray]

If I made a floor and secured it when in use, could I install the step to that and make it work?

Yes, another option is to brace the step diagonally like the one shown at http://www.shorebase.co.uk/boating/canoes/osprey/mast_step.jpg for additional support. Not all steps are bolted through the hull to a keel. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Craig Johnson]

I have seen a rig that drops in mast step and all. no connection to the floor at all. Pam Wedd has one if you can get ahold of her for photos.

 

[Howard Caplan]

I was hoping there was an option to bolting through.
I was trying to think through some kind of set up that Benson's picture captures. I assume the step is just sitting on the floor of that royalex. And seeing this, I may be able to use the same rigging on the w/c and the Bell Alaskan in royalex.

Thank you!

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

You also might want to take a look at John Hupfield's "Rigging Deck" (Lost In The Woods Boatworks). Which is a de-mountable assembly combining a mast step, mast partners and a leeboard bracket all in one clamp-on unit. Very clever!

http://lostinthewoods.ca/conversion.html

 

[Howard Caplan]

I spent quite a bit of idle time trying to think this through. As I posted my question I thought the responses would be, "are you nuts? you can't do that, you have to bolt it in place."
Thanks to all to show me again, just ask the question and the answers will flow in.

 

[Louis Michaud]

The following set-up has been holding up fine for the past 4-5 years. The mast step sole is glued with epoxy. The tip of the brass screws has been filed down so they only go into the 3/8" ribs. The sole is a lot less obstrusive than the mast step itself. There are nuts imbeded from under the sole to take the bolts that go trough the step.

Best,
Louis Michaud
Rimouski, Quebec

 

[PMK]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I assume that in the photo Benson posted of the mast step and partner in the Royalex, the step is glued to the bottom. Steps do not need to be glued or screwed to the bottom, but there does, I think, need to be some way of bracing against fore-and-aft movement of the bottom of the mast. Steve Lapey and I were just talking about this problem this morning, and he had the idea if you want the step to be removable, you could shape the sole of it to conform to the ribs of a W/C canoe. It would still need the diagonal bracing evident in the photo. BTW, Steve also has a rigging deck design similar in concept to John Hupfield's.

I am currently building a mast step and partner to put a full-battened C-Class sail in my 18' Grumman (profane to both wooden canoeists and ACA canoe sailors alike). I am trying to follow a design by Jim Luton that I got on a photocopied sheet from Marilyn Vogel at the ACA. A feature I really like is that the diagonal braces (mahogany, in my case), fit as removable tenons into mortises in the step. This means that, unlike a rigging deck, the contraption will all fold flat when removed from the canoe. Now, I have to successfully cut the mortises at just the right angle and depth! Wish me luck...

The separate step and sole idea looks truly elegant, as does the lugsail and the whole vessel.

Paul

 

[pklonowski]

Brilliant!!!!!

 

[Cricket]

I am currently building a mast step and partner to put a full-battened C-Class sail in my 18' Grumman (profane to both wooden canoeists and ACA canoe sailors alike). I am trying to follow a design by Jim Luton that I got on a photocopied sheet from Marilyn Vogel at the ACA. A feature I really like is that the diagonal braces (mahogany, in my case), fit as removable tenons into mortises in the step. This means that, unlike a rigging deck, the contraption will all fold flat when removed from the canoe. Now, I have to successfully cut the mortises at just the right angle and depth! Wish me luck...

Paul, I just joined this forum, and just saw this post. I have those rigging files you mention on another computer (I think). I'll try to track the drawing down. I have a hazy memory of the diagonal bracing drawings, but I'll look and see. For a W/C canoe, I like the idea of putting strips under the step that fit between ribs. Halyard tension should hold the step down, the diagonals keep it from shifting side to side. For a Grumman, I'd glue the step down (with plenty of surface area as in a wide base) with 5200. The mast thwart and diagonals could lift out.
Jim