1974 Venture, Page 2 |
A 5-pound Hi-Tensile anchor mounted on a homemade bracket at the after end of the cockpit is always ready to use. Its permanently attached rode feeds through a deck pipe to an area under the cockpit sole walled off by foam panels. Originally conceived as an emergency anchor, we frequently drop this anchor from the cockpit and then bring the rode forward to the bow. The stern anchor is especially useful when beaching the boat to take the kids swimming.
Both anchors are painted white to make them easier to see underwater. Strategically placed cutouts in the portion of the rudder above water serve as an emergency boarding ladder.
Standing Rigging
I modified the original cutter rig slightly to accommodate larger light-weather sails. The upper attachment point of the outer forestay now reaches all the way up to the masthead, making both forestays parallel. This opens the slot between the jib and staysail and allows use of a larger jib or spinnaker. The upper shrouds were also lengthened and connected near the masthead, the spreaders were moved up 3½ feet, and longer lower shrouds were added. The mast is stiff enough that running backstays are not essential, but I added them anyway with a 4:1 tackle at their lower ends. They have proven to be a real boon. For normal sailing, their lower blocks are snapped to the original chain-plates on the hull about 18 inches abaft the mast and do not have to be touched when tacking. In heavy air, they are moved aft to padeyes near the cockpit rails to keep the inner forestay straight and strengthen the overall rig. Their greatest usefulness, however, is when raising or lowering the mast for trailering. When snapped to precisely located padeyes on deck, they provide side support for the mast as it is pivoted up or down.
