[C320-list] Selden Spreader End Cap Installation Query

Wed Oct 27 08:16:01 PDT 2010

Stephen-It is confusing looking at the pages describing the end caps in
Selden's brochure.  On my
Charleston mast the Catalina owner's manual says that when the mast is tuned
and prebent the caps are the tightest and the lowers are a little less tight
than the caps.  The intermediates are slightly less tensioned than the
lowers.  So the intermediates would seem to be the ones you would like to
lock to your shroud caps per Selden since they would probably have more
potential for sliding around on the shrouds.

If you put the cap through the aft hole in the upper spreader hole and clamp
it, it would still go through the more forward  hole on the lower spreader
which is not clamped.  This might cause the cap to bend the top spreader
forward when you tension the cap shroud to its proper setting.  Maybe your
spreaders are pitched forward or aft to compensate for this, but I doubt it.
I suspect that Selden wants to make mast construction simple for boats like
ours and nuances like different angles back for each spreader is probably
not in the mix.

I would step the mast with the caps in a straight vertical plane from the
mast attachment point to the chain plates going through the appropriate 
spreader
end cap hole to accomplish this.

On my Charleston mast neither the caps nor the
intermediates are tightened to the spreader ends and they do not slide
around after the shrouds are tightened.  I am unaware of anyone on the C320 
message board who has had a problem with spreaders sliding up and down on a 
Charleston rig when the .

Selden recommends the cap shrouds be tightened to 15% of their breaking 
strength which puts a lot of pressure on the spreader ends.  This would seem 
to keep them from sliding.

Bob Sloat
Savannah 894

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen Cox" <scox at timmin.com>
To: <C320-List at Catalina320.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 6:49 PM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Selden Spreader End Cap Installation Query

Bob,

Thanks for your comments.  The older tuning guides are pretty much the same
as the current one, just formatted slightly differently.  The relevant page
is 16 give or take a page, depending on the edition.  I have extracted the
relevant page from the 2010 version and added under the pictures at
http://sgcox.site.net.au/tegwen_cap_shroud_spreader_cap.htm.  The
requirement is clear in the caption under the top drawing, implied in the
dot point about lower spreaders and also must follow from the last paragraph
about being able to stand on the spreader.

Stephen Cox
Tegwen #1141
Canberra AUSTRALIA

> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of
> Robert E. Sloat
> Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 6:31 AM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Selden Spreader End Cap Installation Query
>
> Stephen-I have hull 894 (2002) with Charleston spars and the
> spreaders are not clamped to any of the shrouds.  On my rig,
> both the upper and lower spreaders slide into mast brackets
> which align the angle of each spreader to the mast to
> maintain some pre-set angle where they meets the various
> shrouds to optimize strength of the rig.
>
> I assume when mast tuning for this kind of a masthead rig you
> would not want the spreader end attached to the shroud in a
> way that would move the spreader end so as to change the
> pre-set  angle possibly straining or breaking the spreader
> bracket on the mast or changing the pre-set angle at the shroud.
>
> For Selden, it may be different.  I assume some folks here in the N.
> hemisphere with Selden rigging on more recent C320s and who
> have dropped their masts for the season could chime in on
> whether the ends of their spreaders are tighten on to the shrouds.
>
> The second hole in the top spreader end shown in your picture
> may be used for a smaller diameter shroud if the same type of
> end fitting is used on a lower spreader where both the upper
> and intermediate shrouds pass through the lower spreader end.
>  Also, if you look up the cap shroud to its attachment point
> at the mast and down to its chain plate on deck, it should be
> fairly clear which hole in the top spreader the cap shroud
> should go through.
>
> I picked up a very detailed Selden mast tuning guide booklet
> a few years ago at a local boat show and did not find any
> reference to clamping shrouds to spreader ends for masthead,
> in-line, multiple spreader rigs like ours.  The booklet is
> about 5 years old and was available on line from Selden's
> website as a pdf document.
>
> Bob Sloat
> Savannah 894
> Chicago Area
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stephen Cox" <scox at timmin.com>
> To: <C320-List at Catalina320.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 7:32 AM
> Subject: [C320-list] Selden Spreader End Cap Installation Query
>
>
> I am in the process of preparing Tegwen #1141 for a trip from
> Batemans Bay
> down the NSW coast and across Bass Strait to Hobart, Tasmania, then a
> circumnavigation of Tasmania and finally the return across
> Bass Strait and
> back to her home port of Batemans Bay.  This is a potentially
> "heroic" trip
> and so I am wanting everything to be as right as I can make it.
>
> This week I had the rigging checked and tuned. (It has always
> been too loose
> IMHO and this proved to be the case). As part of this process
> it came to
> light that the end cap in the top spreader appears to have
> been installed
> incorrectly and I am wondering if other MKII owners with the
> Selden rig have
> their top spreaders configured as mine are?
>
> The end cap has two holes in it to take shrouds - one
> clamping and one with
> no grip at all.  Tegwen's cap shrouds have been installed
> through the no
> grip hole on the top spreader.  The Selden "HINTS AND ADVICE
> on rigging and
> tuning of your Seldén mast" 2010-06-29 edition talks about
> clamping the top
> spreader on a multi spreader rig.
>
> I did take pictures of as much as possible when Tegwen was
> being readied by
> the dealer and the detail can be seen at
> http://sgcox.site.net.au/tegwen_cap_shroud_spreader_cap.htm.
> While having
> the wit to take pictures at the time I didn't have the wisdom then to
> interpret fully what now seems to be very clear.
>
> I believe Tegwen was incorrectly rigged on delivery but just
> want to know
> how others have been rigged before I take this any further.
> I don't need to
> lose the rig on the west coast of Tasmania!
>
> Stephen Cox
> Tegwen #1141
> Canberra AUSTRALIA
>
>