ABI 192613 forestay release lever yay or nay? Looks like a POS to

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by stormalong

I can't say what brand the lever was. There was an article in either Sail or Cruising World about the incident. I remember reading about it on-line, at work and having a discussion about it with co-workers. I am guessing the date based on my employer at the time - from November 1998 to February, 2002. This was a position I held right after completing my circumnavigation and before going cruising again.

It was very significant to me because I have an ABI release lever and it is very hard to close it when attaching my inner forestay. In order to tension the stay I had to lay on deck and use both arms to get the lever to lock. My face would be very close to the lever and I could have injured myself in a similar fashion. After reading the article I used a length of heavy wall PVC pipe to improve leverage and get my face away from the lever.

Thanks stormalong. I'll search my back copies of CW and also search on-line.

What diameter wire rope in your forestay? At what tension was it set?

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

Thanks stormalong. I'll search my back copies of CW and also search on-line.

What diameter wire rope in your forestay? At what tension was it set?

My inner forestay is a 1/2 inch pin. I don't remember the wire diameter. All I can say is that there is a lot of force on the lever to properly set the inner forestay tension. The forestay is 3/8 inch.

[Eastward ho 24]

Noted

[boatnerd]

I have an abi lever that i modified. I didnt like the inner turnbuckle. Looked weak and didnt need to adjust on both ends. I found an old navetec turnbuckle that fit nicely inside and improved the funtionality. I put a bronze ring around top to lock handle and keep hanks and sail out. Works great, easy and fast. I tension it a little less than forestay.

[Eastward ho 24]

Can you show me what you did there? You used a navtec threaded eye is all? I have a ring to go over it and I’m still young and strong enough I feel I can handle the leveraged handle.I agree the threaded eye that comes with it the threads don’t seem to be very tight . I’d like to replace/improve that

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by stormalong

My inner forestay is a 1/2 inch pin. I don't remember the wire diameter. All I can say is that there is a lot of force on the lever to properly set the inner forestay tension. The forestay is 3/8 inch.

I've worked through my 1998-2000 copies of Cruising World (not a complete run - I discovered I've two copies of a couple of issues while other months, particularly from 1998 and 1999 are missing. I've not read through my 2002 issues yet. Keep getting distracted finding interesting stories.

I figure that my (inner) forestay is 9/32" and carries 870 pounds tension (which I think is only 10% of SWL). I need to put my Loos tension gauge on the wire again to check the current tension.

If I'm right that the forestay is only carrying tension equal to 10% of SWL, I might consider increasing tension a little (to 12% of SWL) to see if that improves performance (and reduces luff/stay sag) from the staysail.

I've not calculated the leverage in the over centre lever configuration. But I think the big advantages of an over centre lever include that the force needed to move between the two stable settings (open and closed) is relatively constant instead of being a single peak.

I usually remove and replace my forestay when at anchor or at dock (i.e. not while sailing). I don't recall any particular stress doing so other than being startled the very first time at the noise from the mast and the rest of the rig when the bit of prebend induced by the forestay tension was released.

[boatnerd]

The mod i made was with an old navtec turnbuckle. I recall i found it at Minnies consignment in a bin of parts. It was a challenge to find one that had proper thread(RH or LH i cant remember to screw onto 1/2" threaded stud. My has 1/2" pin, 1/2" thread.. I dont use too much tension on the inner stay as it's a solent setup. It is suffient enough for good staysail luff tension. Also, removes very quickly if i want or need to short tack.