Home

Alberg Mastheads


Starboard view of spinnaker halyard crane Port view of spinnaker halyard crane Wes Gardner shared these photos of an offset spinnaker halyard crane that a previous owner had added to the stock A30 masthead casting of Griffin's Faith, #196. The U-bolt welded to the stainless cap piece is 1/4" diameter. This offset crane provides some separation between the spinnaker halyard block and the forestay.

Surprise_spin_halyard_crane.jpg Gord Laco built a spin halyard crane for #426 Surprise's halyard which holds the spinnaker halyard block a few inches forward of the stay as is more normal in other classes. He reports it works very well, not so beautiful, but strong and functional. He's cut off the outer bale since this picture. He found we didn't need the block to be that far forward and figured the structure is stronger with less cantelever.

Circa 2003, some boats installed a custom made replacement masthead fitting through a group purchase organized by Stephen Sousa, owner of Carina Vela #114. This masthead can be seen here and here. Discussion of this masthead fitting may be found in the email list archives.


Offshore Sailing book cover Offshore Sailing by Bill Seifert with Daniel Spurr

We went to a Windjammers lecture to hear Bill Seifert and I was impressed enough to buy the book on the spot. I've heard a lot of people talk about ways to improve a boat, but I've never heard one person suggest so many good ideas that I hadn't considered. Part of the charm is the specificity of the suggestions. Everyone says you should secure your floorboards, hatchboards and batteries. Bill shows good suggestions on how to do so.

The suggestions are very practical for the do-it-yourselfer, too. Many show how to make or adapt inexpensive solutions. Tip #12 on closing the deck blower vents is one that will pay off for me without ever going offshore. I'll implement that one to stop the wintertime storms from finding their way belowdecks.

Besides modifications, the book also includes advice for operating offshore, cooking, boat selection, dealing with bureaucracy, and more.

Bill Seifert has worked at Tartan, TPI, and Alden Yachts. He's a veteran of many Marion-Bermuda races and now runs his own yacht management company. His tips are born of experience--not of book-learning--and it shows. He obviously knows his stuff.

(Note: commissions earned from this link help defray the costs of this website)




Amazon Associates logo

Privacy and other policies
Site copyright © 1995-2025 by George Dinwiddie, all rights reserved
Site history
Send inquiries to webmaster@alberg30.org
Page last modified: Friday 03-Feb-2023