J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment J 30 bulkhead technical discussion

Thats happy news sailon! Replace the turnbuckles & studs for peace of mind. They have a defined service life that, if not already replaceded, they should be.

Absolutely. The whole enchelada. New rigging from the bottom chainplate bolt up to the top of the shrouds. I hope I get to finally go sailing on Sunday!!!
Sorry, I live in Florida. Cheer up folks up north, people are playing baseball now!!

If you order new chainplates, I found that our chainplates use grade 3006 stainless, which has a high carbon content. My new chainplates are using 3016 grade stainless which has a much higher chromium content.

Next question. After seeing what is happening to my bulkhead, is the base shroud REALLY 1800 lbs??? YIKES!!

It depends - on what tuning guide you use, based on the cut of the main. Tuning guides are available on the menu under "Info", "Articles of Interest", "J/30 Rig Tuning". 1800 pounds is not abnormal. The tighter the uppers are give more mast pre-bend due to the swept back spreaders.

Make sure you have the rig centered before starting any tuning. I use the bucket of water on the halyard trick. Just hang it over the port and stbd side at the same position fore and aft. Mark the halyard so it is even with a reference point like the top of the toe rail and adjust the rig so the halyard mark is at the same position on both sides

for those of you who don't remember what the plastic backing plate is ... I spotted it today ... but it never registered in my mind that there was a plastic backing plate there.

Stainless has arrived, hope to have it cut by the weekend. Will attach photos.

Chainplates out to measure for new ones. Oh boy, the cracking was worse than I thought at deck level. Readers digest version, is if you have a soft spot in your deck next to your chainplates, there is a REAL good chance that there is a cracked chainplate. Mine was 50% across the chainplate, all of the way thru the stainless. If I went sailing today, the mast would be toast. (20kts today) Going to let it dry out tonight, then play with epoxy and glass tomorrow. Will post photos later.

Wrap the chainplates with wax paper before you epoxy and glass just so you're sure you can pull them out after the epoxy cures.

Chainplates done. So now I have all of the parts. Unfortunately, the epoxy to strengthen the bulkhead takes a week to get to full strength. Lots of wood left, so mass quantities of Get Rot used to beef up the bulkhead. Drilled in a staircase fashion to fill all of the voids. Will have first look tomorrow. Core actually better than I feared. Strongly suggest that longer chainplates should be considered. 1800 lbs over 6 bolts just looks like trouble.