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Kenyon Spars End-Castings or New Mast and Boom

Sparky

New Member
I have a Morgan 384 Sloop rig. She is rigged with Kenyon boom and Mast. Apparently, Kenyon Spars are now owned by Rig-Rite. Without going into detail, their customer service is not geared towards the DIY sailor; I am being very kind to put it that way instead of how I really feel about my experience with several of their staff. I would love to avoid giving Rig-Rite one more dollar; even if I have to resort to replacing standing rigging and spars. That said, I would prefer a less expensive alternative such as casting my own end castings (3D print a mold?). I'd like to also avoid replacing my sails at this time too to fit a new rig. Does anyone on this forum have experience with replacing their Spars and Standing rigging recently?
 
Hi Sparky, and (if I haven't said it), welcome aboard!
That's funny (kind of): I had several years of trying to deal with Rig Rite, and I can honestly say they had the worst customer service of any company I've interacted with in at least 30 years, in many different countries of the world. In some previous post I think I declared that I would rather chew on glass bits than ever interact with them again.

We have a 384 also, and we had a couple problems with our boom:
1. the outhaul car (stainless) was fused to the boom (aluminum) and literally we took it to several machine shops, boat yards, welders, and nobody could get the thing to budge. The previous owner had apparently never moved it and it decided to make a permanent home.
2. we had a crack in the toggle, probably caused by some previous owner's accidental gybe. But the boom end-casting/gooseneck was also totally fused to the boom and we couldn't budge it.

After dealing with Rig Rite and exploring several other options, I ended up getting a new boom from US Spars (in Florida). They were super easy to deal with, and had some good suggestions. They had a discounted "blemished" boom that was supposedly scratched, but it was super minor and I probably wouldn't have noticed it.

I made a lame DIY toggle to attach it to the existing Kenton mast. But my DIY toggle only lasted about 1 year. Then I had a serious metal working boatyard make a new stainless toggle that is super wonderful and will definitely stay functional longer than I do.

Wow, it's amazing that was 6+ years ago.
Here are the gory details & photos:

 
Sparky, I have not had to replace boom or mast. For standing rigging, I went to Rigging Only in Massachusetts. Very easy to work with and top notch work. Even with shipment from Massachusetts to Oregon, the price was very reasonable.
 
Welcome Sparky, I too am a new member and it did not take me long to join the club of folks who would rather - fill in the blank - than deal with Rig Rite again. I was able to remove the aft boom end fitting and replaced the sheaves. I had to use an impact hammer and almost three weeks of trying but was able to unfreeze the SS screws frozen to the aluminum boom. I have to attempt the same for the gooseneck end this fall so I can replace the outhaul line. Good luck and wish me the same.
 
Welcome Sparky, I too am a new member and it did not take me long to join the club of folks who would rather - fill in the blank - than deal with Rig Rite again. I was able to remove the aft boom end fitting and replaced the sheaves. I had to use an impact hammer and almost three weeks of trying but was able to unfreeze the SS screws frozen to the aluminum boom. I have to attempt the same for the gooseneck end this fall so I can replace the outhaul line. Good luck and wish me the same.
If working on the outhaul is the only reason for removing the boom fitting, you can do everything you need to without that much work.

There is a block and tackle in the boom. The forward half is attached with a bolt that goes through the boom. Take a string and tape it to a long thin rod. Remove the nut from the bolt. Use the rod to push the bolt out, and push the rod through the block, and pull the string through, so that the string now holds the block.

Now, you can pull the block out of the back of the boom, and change out the lines. Make sure you have enough string so that you don't lose it in the boom. It needs to completely pass through the boom and block, and back out the other side of the boom. Once done, use the string to pull the block back into place. Then use the string to fish the original bolt back through the block.

It takes some finesse, but I have done it a couple times now.
 
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