Prospective Hall Spars Carbon Fiber Sky Scraper |
Removed for Inspection |
Long story short, after receiving assurances from McCurdy & Rhodes' Ian McCurdy, Nan and Ben Hall at Hall Spars, measuring everything 10x and a quick negotiation with the owner, I bought the rig. Suddenly, this was no longer a cosmetic refit but a transformation of her soul. It has the potential to make her extremely competitive and more enjoyable to sail, particularly short-handed in her LIS/New England home waters.
Safely in the Shed at WPB |
Of course, a new rig requires a new sail plan. And for this Ian McCurdy was recruited who engaged his assistant, Noble Davidson. Center of Effort receives help, moving 9' aft and Center of Gravity benefits from a reduction in weight aloft. Worst case, assuming zero impact to CG, she'll be 34% more tender although its hard to imagine the new rig weighing as much as the old one (Carina shaved 700 pounds)! But now, a 130% headsail has just as much canvas as the old 150% and a new first reef in the main still leaves enough canvas to equal the entire original main sail. As such, the new 'cruising' plan will make judicious use of of a non-overlapping 92%, high-aspect jib and a forestaysail. This will make short-handing far easier and allow the boat to point to weather far better than ever. Off the wind, we'll use a asym/gennaker and add a Code-0 for racing. The taller rig means we have to keep a closer eye on the weather (Sirius/XM weather overlay is planned) for gear changes.
On top of all this, minor modifications to the in-line chain plate, mast step and mast itself are required. The chain plate hole had to be enlarged to 1" and it's depth expanded to 1". Hall will continue to use the fore and aft chain plates by adding a lower diagonal rod shroud to each side of the mast for added support (this is preferable to a more major modification to the in-line chainplate and adding a babystay). They will also add two Harken #46 ST's to the mast for halyard and reef winching.
Hall-performed modifications to install winches, clutches and a second set of lower digonals |
New roller bearing jib tracks with G10 backing plates and chain plate modification |
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