Argie 15 with 420 mast, questions

[europa]

I will be finishing mt Argie 15 build this Spring. Building a wood mast seemed beyond my capabilities, so, as some have suggested, I purchased a fully rigged 420 mast and boom. I realize the stays that came with it will need to be modified or replaced. Can the stock 420 sails be used without modification? I assume the main is not a problem, but what about the jib. Also, can a roller furler be fitted to the jib? What mods would be needed, or would the jib need to be custom made for such an application?
Thanks very much,
John

 

[hdra]

You can probably answer the details better than we can, since you have the mast design and sailplan for the Argie, and you have the 420 mast to measure as well! For your jib question, what's the J and I dimension of the Argie vs. 420? You may also need to change spreaders, depending on the beam & location of the chainplates on the Argie vs on the 420.
The simplest way if you don't want to do any math or measuring is just to put the 420 mast in the boat and see how it looks. You can definitely put a furler on the jib, but if you're planning to store it rolled with the mast up, you should probably figure out a way to protect it from UV - either a hoist able cover (on the spinnaker halyard?) or a UV strip on the sail, which on that size sail won't be ideal for sail shape.

 

[europa]

hydra,
Thanks for reminding me of the need for a cover for a roller furling jib. So, a little more work to get going, not a big deal.
When I get home from Thanksgiving visiting, I’ll look up the sail measurements and try to figure things out.

 

[europa]

Just to clarify, I see that a traditional jib, rather than a furling one makes more sense. Especially without a spinnaker halyard to raise a jib cover.

 

[Steam Flyer]

Have you compared the geometry and measurements for the 420 mast step to chainplates? You can make short "leashes" to length the shrouds a couple of inches if needed, the wire & clamps are plenty strong. Or go to a good hardware/famr supply store for SS wire and clamps, if you get the measurements exact, they can do it. However make sure you watch their guy doing it, and help get the measurements exact. Some of them are good, some of them are not so good.

Roller furler- it's a tiny jib, but you can put one on if you want, -if- your jib has a wire in the luff.

 

[Roy166808]

spreaders are long asf on 420s lol

 

[skslr]

Have you compared the geometry and measurements for the 420 mast step to chainplates? You can make short "leashes" to length the shrouds a couple of inches if needed, the wire & clamps are plenty strong. Or go to a good hardware/famr supply store for SS wire and clamps, if you get the measurements exact, they can do it. However make sure you watch their guy doing it, and help get the measurements exact. Some of them are good, some of them are not so good.

Roller furler- it's a tiny jib, but you can put one on if you want, -if- your jib has a wire in the luff.

Before all: Congratulations to your cool project!

Some thin dynema with cover "going back and forth" several times between chainplates and shrouds is absolutely sufficient, provides a kind of primitive purchase and will allow you to try some different mast rakes etc. without going to a hardware store several times

For furling the jib you will need some "clearance" between the fastening point on the bow and the jib for the roller itself as well as some "clearance" between the jib and the forestay sheave in the mast for the special toggle that allows for rotation between its upper end facing themast side and its lower end facing the jib.

At the same time you need to keep the sheeting angle correct. So you might need a "smaller" jib just to resolve the geometrical constraints. I guess I would try to get on the water with the parts you got already first and then plan an upgrade with a furler for next winter.

We sail with a 420 jib on a furler on one of our dinghies. It is pretty small for an adults boat, so the advantages of having a furler are way smaller than with bigger jibs. Maybe it is less important for safety but it still is convient if you can furl the jib and thereby stop it form flapping loud and clear up the space in front of the mast e.g. when sailing with kids.

 

[europa]

Thanks to all. I will be fine with a non-furling jib. It is fairly small , after all.
I asked about furling because my only previous boat, other than a Sunfish, was a Dyas, a 23' keel boat, with trapeze. It had a roller furling jib and a spinnaker launching tube back in the 1970's!