Bowsprit for Zofia

Having purchased a second hand "Code zero"eand never used, it we decided to fly it on a recent passage to Fraser Island. It was a great experience, the sail just worked wonders and gave us extra speed. So we then started to investigate how we should set up a bowsprit so this magic sail could always be available for use.

We investigated a number of possibilities, which in the end, came down to three options.

OPTION 1

Diagram 1

To build or purchase a simple pole that would be attached to the bow. Selden make an off the shelf pole (Diagram 1) and several Jeanneau owners have home made variations of this design. Ironically Zofia was purchased with just such an attachment. It was intended for flying a spinnaker. We sold it almost immediately because of it's key disadvantage - they obstruct the use of the anchor locker.







OPTION 2

Diagram 2

Purchase a ready made bowsprit. Of those available, the Swedish Båtsystem design (Diagram 2) is the most attractive and very functional. This bowsprit can be tailored to the boat and has flexible design for sail attachments and anchor placement. The issue for us with this option was the cost. This was not only the purchase value but also the shipping costs.




OPTION 3
The final option was to design our own bowsprit and get it constructed in Australia. After a lot of discussion, this is the way we choose to go. So started the process of designing a bowsprit and getting quotes for its construction.


The first step was designing the bowsprit. The critical decisions were,  where to attach the bowsprit to the hull and how long it should be. For our boat and in our opinion, to maintain the line of the hull, the bowsprit needed to attach to the hull at the leading edge of the fairleads of the forward mooring ropes. To get the Code Zero sufficiently separated from the main headsail, the bowsprit had to be 1500 mm or 1.5 meters long. Once these parameters were set the rest was simple design juggling to get supports in the correct place so the anchor rollers would function and the anchor would not interfere with the bowsprit. The diagram below summarizes our final solution to the bowsprit problem.

Final design

Anchor roller assembly

QUOTATIONS

Having designed the bowsprit it was time for quotations. To do this we sent the following email, along with the diagrams above, to 7 different metalwork fabricators.

Please find attached the design of the bowsprit for our yacht. We envisage the main frame being constructed from approximately 42mm stainless steel that is 3mm thick. The inner supporting base would be approximately 34mm stainless steel. As discussed if you can see better ways of doing any part of the design then please consider this in your quotation. Finally we would be responsible for the fitting so you do not need to consider this when quoting this job.

Only 5 replied and their quotations varied from $3,000AUD to $1,000AUD for this job. We found this extremely surprising given the detail of the specification. After much deliberation we decided to employ Choice Stainless, a resident business at 'The Boat Works', Coomera, Queensland, to do the work. We were familiar with their standard of work and because they were on site already it seemed the best option. In the end the work cost just in excess of $4,000AUD, however, this included the fitting of the bowsprit to the boat, incorporating a support back to the bow and small adjustment in design to incorporate a new larger anchor that we purchased prior to the work commencing.

WORK COMMENCES

Images of Gene fitting the major frame. Great care was taken to maintain the line of the hull with Gene deciding to mount it slightly lower down the hull than we had specified. This was a good decision.







Once the major frame was constructed Gene fitted the other supports as specified. On his recommendation we removed the small support at the front of the bowsprit and took the central pipe through to the forward end of the bowsprit. This involved less welding and produced a better result, in that it produced a bigger space through which the anchor could rotate when being deployed or recovered.

Finally, Gene moved the small forward hull supports further forward than we specified. This gave greater stability, and although increasing the size of these structures, it was a good modification.

Image of major hull support. The workmanship was superb. All fastenings were internal with no visible nuts nor bolts. Internally large steel plates backed all supports.

Backing plate for major hull support

Forward hull support

Backing plate for forward support

Backing plate for Bow-to-hull support

  

Almost finished. This image shows the bowsprit in position and fixed to the bow. You should note the three small brackets atop of the structure. These are were to carry the anchor roller assemble and the spare roller. Originally designed to be below the supports, they were moved to the top to achieve better anchor alignment.

Also note the support to the bow. This was modified to be a single molded structure, welded to the bowsprit and bolted through the bow. The hull molding of this support was simple genius.









Image showing the anchor assembly in position. Once in place it was decided we needed a small rolled piece of stainless steel at the front of the anchor assembly to prevent the anchor chain from falling of the rollers. The alignment of anchor chain, anchor and the anchor locker entry was achieved with spacers ether side of the roller assembly. This required some trial and error adjustments being a very bespoke piece of work.

Chain guide on anchor assembly

The final outcome was fantastic and at the time of writing we have been able to use the anchor and it all worked VERY well. Due to travel restrictions associated with Covid-19, the real test of how it performs flying the Code Zero is yet to determined.