We finally finished installing the new chainplates! We’ve been dreading this project since Day 1. What we thought was going to be a huge, fiberglassy mess inside the boat turned out to be a small fiberglassy mess inside the boat. With two of us working together, one on the Fein Multimaster and one on the vacuum, we were able to cut out the old chainplate knee-blocks fairly easily. The scary part was securing the rig while taking it apart at the same time.
**Caution: There’s lots of sailboat rigging jargon ahead. You may just want to watch the videos on You Tube instead.**
Original Design
Our boat originally had two chainplates per side. Both were doubles, meaning the forward lowers and cap shrouds attached to one chainplate and the intermediate and lower aft shrouds attached to a second chainplate. And all the chainplates penetrated the deck near bulwarks.
Many Tayana 37’s out there have three chainplates per side, separating out the forward lowers and cap shrouds. We’re not sure what the advantage/disadvantage of two vs. three chainplates is, but one Tayana owner contacted the designer, Bob Perry about it. Mr. Perry has said that separating the lower forward and cap shrouds won’t compromise the rig in any way as long as the cap shroud remains in line with the mast.
New Configuration
So that’s what we decided to do. We installed new G10 backing plates forward of the mast for two new chainplates for the forward lower shrouds. One is now in the hanging locker and one is in the locker over the settee. We did not move the other four chainplates, but we did remove the old knee-blocks and replaced them with G10 backing plates as well. The aft chainplates are still doubles for the intermediate and aft lower shrouds. We’re thinking of changing the intermediates to running backstays so they won’t be attached to the chainplate if we do. Cutting through the fiberglass was by far the hardest part.
We installed the two new forward chainplates first, then moved the forward lower shrouds. The cap shrouds we did one at a time, since we were scared the whole thing would come crashing down. We secured each shroud to a track car on the jib track while we were working. The two aft chainplates we did at the same time, securing the aft lowers to a track car on the jib track.
