J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Has anyone replaced wire/rope halyards with new wire/rope?

my thoughts exactly......until i received the kit its not that simple the flat bar is only flat at the mid section that will be inside the mast the two ends are swept back and up...not something that can be done with a bench vise and hammer due to the thickness of the bar and the need to be 100% symmetrical...the peace of mind is worth the money

Taras, I was planning to call them this week - that does seem a bit steep.

If someone had a template, I too have a good angle with a fabricator - my company works very closely with a company and we account for a major portion of their sales, so they have done a lot of high quality work for very little money in the past.

Alternately, if there are enough of us who need a kit right now, maybe Annapolis Sailing could give a discounted price on a group buy?

-dan

Hey guys, I think the last time I heard, Hall Spars "kit" was in the range of $900.... although I believe it included new spreaders. I got my "kit" a few years back from Annapolis Rigging, $400, and it came with everything, including the rivets and instructions. As the "mast out" ordeal here is around $600, I was fortunate enough to find a rigger who put in the bar UP THE MAST. Lucky me. Took him about half an hour. You should check into the one design rules...for those who care, the "kit" is the "class approved alteration"... and anything else will mean a chat with whoever decides the J30 world is round...oh, I guess now that I'm a J30 governor that includes me?! Probably still just the class president(s)/measurer. Anyway, I feel much better with the reinforcement, we usually have 25kts here in the islands. My mast came crashing down in Grenada in 1993, just before I bought the boat... It was replaced with a new Kenyon mast, but by 2005 both stainless brackets were showing cracks. I like to take my friends sailing, and I'd prefer if they didn't get hurt...for me, the kit is priceless.

I just ordered the kit from Annapolis Rigging it is now $480.00.

One last question: I was about to go ahead and order the spreader kit when I realized I really have no idea if it has been installed or not. Just assumed it was not since the previous owner did not race the boat.

Is there any way to tell whether the kit has been installed?

Looking at the pictures, it seems like you might not know till you had everything apart.

Thanks!

There are clevis pins with locking cotter pins through the spreader attaching the through bar. I can see these looking up at the bottom of the spreader. If you can't see anything pinning the spreaders to the through-bar, you probably don't have the modification installed.

Back to the original post ... Vee Jay has replaced wire halyards with wire ones for 25 years ... only because I never got around to changing the sheaves which have a nice wire groove cut into them by now. And those halyards are easy to order out of Newport.

Next time the mast is down I will go to all rope and new sheaves ... I have never had a wire/rope coupling fail ... but after a couple of years have to knock off thorns at the shackle end ... but that is easy to inspect.

Spreader bar kit - now on order - wahoo!

Halyards - I think I'm with CaptainVic - gonna just get new wire halyards and keep living in the early 80's for now. Too much other stuff taking priority. Going to try to put the the kit in with the mast up to save $$$.

Thanks for the input yet again - looking forward to have another race-ready J/30 out on the water.

-dan

Dan,
Check my blog for the details of installing the Annapolis spreader bar kit with the mast up. http://sailnordicstar.blogspot.com

Rob