How to rebuild an SY/7

EPISODE 4 Masts and sails.

The paint has had time to dry and cure, the deck fittings and mast mounts are in place, now it is time to refit the mast, spars, rigging and sails. This section covers everything as if the masts have been disassembled for re-varnishing or fitting a complete new set. If you haven't any mast or spars, refer to "Technical", "Dimensions 71-90" for the sizes and "Sail Templates" for making your sails.

Here are the parts need for this restoration. 2 x 10mm and 1 x 8mm plastic ferrules, 6 x plastic bowsies, 3 large and 2 small brass rings, 6 x screw eyes and a piece brass wire for the top of mast rigging point.

Earlier SY/7s may not have had all the ferrules fitted, sometimes a brass ferrule just on the mast, this restoration is a later model with plastic items, also the amount of eyelets and sail emblem colour on the mainsail may vary depending on the age of your yacht. It's easy to make holes in the plastic ferrules, they are quite soft and if you don't have a small drill bit to hand, just a sharp point or a very small screwdriver will do. When trimming your cord, initially leave a couple of inches or more in length in case of adjustment, to be trimmed back later.

Starting with the ferrules, fit a plastic ferrule to the end of the mast, boom and bowsprit. Fit screw eyes to the mast and boom then join together by opening one screw eye coupling through then closing it, make sure the drilled hole at the rear of the boom is vertical. Fit the mast into the mast mount, using the mast mount hole as a guide, mark then drill a hole through the ferrule and mast, finally fix in place with a mast pin. Fit a screw eye at the bottom, front of the mast for the gaff cord adjustment.

Drop two brass rings down the mast for securing the mainsail and anchoring the gaff spar. Fit two screw eyes and the cross piece brass wire to the top of the mast.

Fit a screw eye through the ferrule on the end of the bowsprit then fix into position on the deck by opening the screw eye, couple with the anchor staple on the deck then close the screw eye making sure the drilled holes are vertical. Fit the mount pin.

Place the mast in a roughly vertical position, with enough cord, tie around the upper mast and through the brass wire, then downwards fitting a bowsie each side to the left and right deck staples to return to the bowsie and tie off. The nautical term for these cords are "Shrouds".

Get the gaff spar and at the bottom with the flat side towards the mast, thread a cord through the drilled hole and knot around the gaff spar then tie to the top brass ring on the mast.

 Some spars have a hole drilled roughly central, some don't, if you don't have one it would be better to drill one as it stops slippage of the adjuster cord. Now with a long length of cord, thread it through the gaff spar middle hole and knot around, then pass the cord forwards through the top hole in the mast and down to the bottom screw eye on the front of the mast, fitting a bowsie on the way down, leave a good length of cord over as adjustment is needed before you trim the cord and tie off, leave this last part until the mainsail is fitted.

You can now fit the outer then inner foresails keeping the mast in a vertical position by adjusting the shrouds. Leave enough space at the bottom of the sails for movement over the bowsprit mount, about 1/2" or more. I find it easier to tie the front of the sail first and then pull tight on the screw eye of the mast. Tie a cord to the front left deck staple then through the eyelet of the outer sail fitting a bowsie for adjustment and across to the front right staple to return to the bowsie and tie off. Repeat using the rear left staple, through the eyelet of the inner sail, fitting a bowsie for adjustment and across to the rear right staple to return to the bowsie and tie off. You may have to adjust either of the foresails for clearance, as I will have to in the photo below.

Now to the main sail, some models may have had small brass rings fitted through the eyelets to connect to the brass rings on the mast and boom but on this yacht I am using cord throughout.

Start by tying the bottom front eyelet with cord to the screw eye on the mast. Slide two small and one larger brass rings onto the boom. Moving to the rear of the mainsail, tie a cord through the punched hole in the sail and then through the drilled hole in the end of the boom, pull tight and tie the cord around the boom two or three times and lock off. Tie cords through the bottom eyelets to the smaller rings on the boom. Tie a cord to the larger of the rings on the boom, then downwards through the ring on the sheet horse, forward through the deck staple by the mast and then rearwards fitting a plastic bowsie, through the rearmost staple to return through the bowsie and tie off.

Go to the front edge of the sail and tie the eyelet to the bottom brass ring on the mast. Next, upwards to the punched hole at the angle of the mainsail, tie to the ring at the bottom of the gaff spar, then tie the upper punched hole of the mainsail to the top hole of the gaff spar, pull tight and tie off with a couple of turns of cord. Tie the remaining four holes in the top edge of the mainsail to the gaff spar, using a thinner cord if you have it.

Finally, adjust your gaff spar to it's uppermost position by pulling the cord through the top of the mast, then trim the adjuster cord and tie off.

Make any final adjustments, when you are happy with your work, trim all the cord ends back to about 1/2" and put a dab of PVA glue on to stop any fraying.

One last thing, don't forget to secure your mast pins with some cord so you don't lose them when sailing.

The finished SY/7 yacht, ready for many more hours of sailing.

 

This rebuild is also the same procedure as for an SY/5 or SY/6 as they have the same layout.