New sailor with my first sailboat, an Ericson 31 Independence! Cutter question…

[Enchantress]

Hey everyone, looking for information about where the tack of the stay sail is usually mounted on the cutter rig EI31. I’ve done a lot of reading and have worked on a sailing charter for the past three summers. I work as a chef and first mate on a Bruce Roberts 55’ ketch. So I’m familiar with most hardware and where it should be located. My question is if anyone has been on or owns one of these older 31C independence can tell me where the mount is usually found. There is a traveler mounted in front of my mast. It looks to be rigged for self tacking a jib. The previous owner did have a stay sale to give me for the boat that was from the previous owner to him. When I looked below the furler the last portions of the cable were attached to a bracket that attached to a car like it belonged on a rail. I can’t imagine this is the right mount. There is no other hardware on the bowsprit except for the head sail. I couldn’t see a chain plate in the anchor locker for a stay sail. Just a super thick stainless steel plate that all of the bolts for the bowsprit mounted to. Any other information on the rigging of the mast would be super appreciated. When I looked up my mast I only saw one block below the steam light. That also didn’t seem like the correct mount for the head.

 

[David Vaughn]

Welcome.
On our 31 Independence, the staysail stay is mounted to a short track that is through-bolted to the bowsprit. There’s no chainplate as such but given the heft of the bowsprit and its likewise hefty mounting to the deck, it’s probably not necessary. The mast mount is just below our steaming light, as you described, roughly even with the intermediate shrouds. And we have the same traveler track; the staysail is self-tacking.
Photos below show how ours is attached. I’ll be at the boat later today and can take more photos if it’ll help.

 

[Waayout]

The setup on mine is the same as David's. Check that small track for corrosion, last season the car holding the staysail crumbled, not a huge deal, I bungee corded the furler to the mast and went sailing anyways. Fixed it with a car purchased via ebay. I have what appears to be an aluminum backing plate as well.

 

[Enchantress]

Thanks to both of you! @David Vaughn and @Waayout . I’m really excited about this boat. I looked up a lot of information about it before I finally decided to purchase it. Ericson boats are really great and thoughtfully designed. At some point, the teak portion of the bowsprit was completely redone/replced and the track was not put back. I’ve already ordered another T track and car to put in place on the bowsprit.

 

[Christian Williams]

David and Timeless--

Enchantress' former owner may have decided he never used or needed the staysail. How important is staysail use on the Independence?

 

[Waayout]

Its a great question and I can see the former owner's point. In the past two seasons, I've used the staysail once on the way to Catalina when it started blowing over 15kts and I felt too lazy to bring the genoa cars back to flatten the genoa draft, drop the traveller, etc. It seemed easier to furl the yankee and pull out the self tacking staysail. My genoa feels like its huge, the boat points well, is stout and planted well into the teens so a staysail has limited appeal unless you count forcing me to develop gybing/tacking skills to clear it! If my boat came without it, I wouldn't add it, I'm also not inclined to delete it. And so it goes.

 

[Enchantress]

He may or may not have, I’m not sure what the former former owner did with the boat. I just know he kept a lot of records. The previous owner to me never sailed with anything but the head sail. When I put up the main sail for the first time it was like a Halloween nightmare exploded filled with spiders and hornets’ nests.

It’s not really about how important it is. I have sailed it with the sale so I don’t know how significant it might change the center of work while sailing. But my head sale is a Yankee, which does give me a little less sale area so the jib would be nice to have to make up some sail area.

 

[Enchantress]

David and Timeless--

Enchantress' former owner may have decided he never used or needed the staysail. How important is staysail use on the independence?

He may or may not have, I’m not sure what the former former owner did with the boat. I just know he kept a lot of records. The previous owner to me never sailed with anything but the head sail. When I put up the main sail for the first time it was like a Halloween nightmare exploded filled with spiders and hornets’ nests.

It’s not really about how important it is. I have sailed it with the sale so I don’t know how significant it might change the center of work while sailing. But my head sale is a Yankee, which does give me a little less sale area so the jib would be nice to have to make up some sail area.

 

[Waayout]

I'm probably using the incorrect term, my headsail seems to be quite large, I suppose it's not a Yankee but a genoa? Either way, its a great sail with plenty of power, I love it!

 

[Loren Beach]

If you are a "Facebook" member, you might check the club event photo pages at the St Helens Sailing Club site, closed off behind a Facebook wall now. This used to be viewable to the public, and I almost recall seeing an Ericson 31C in some photos. Perhaps.

 

[Enchantress]

I'm probably using the incorrect term, my headsail seems to be quite large, I suppose it's not a Yankee but a genoa? Either way, its a great sail with plenty of power, I love it!

No problem, man, if that head sail of yours goes past your main mast it is a Genoa. A headsail going to the line of your mast would be a jib. A yankee is similar to a jib but it is cut higher from the bottom. I assume for clearance of view below the sail. I’m not 100% on how it differs for performance when wind hits it.

 

[Enchantress]

If you are a "Facebook" member, you might check the club event photo pages at the St Helens Sailing Club site, closed off behind a Facebook wall now. This used to be viewable to the public, and I almost recall seeing this Ericson in some photos. Perhaps.

Hey thanks Loren! I have not been on Facebook for a decade. But I know it’s so useful for sailing forums. I barely use any social media, I was hoping this forum was enough since it is Ericson centric. Yes, if you’re in the Portland area you saw Enchantress for sale up until a week ago.

 

[Loren Beach]

Followup: I found this picture that I forgot that I had d/l off their site in 2013. So Classy!

 

[Enchantress]

Oh wow! Thank you @Loren Beach for that! That’s not the owner I met but that’s so cool.

 

[Enchantress]

Followup: I found this picture that I forgot that I had d/l off their site in 2013. So Classy!

With the staysail!

 

[Waayout]

Great looking boat, love the hull color. My friends tell me mine is rigged as a 'slutter', it comes back past the mast. They're wonderful boats, I learn a lot from the forum, its archives, books written by contributors, recommended by the same. I renamed mine based on a Bruce King design philosophy quote: "Technology is fleeting; it is constantly changing. Aesthetic beauty is timeless, and it alone provides the motivation for preservation."

 

[David Vaughn]

We’ve used our staysail fairly often.
Our yankee cut foresail is a bit small, maybe a 90, so we use the staysail for the extra sail area especially on a beam reach. That does two things: if the wind picks up, it’s easy to roll up the yankee before going forward to reef the main. With a reefed main and the staysail, we’ve been out in 20+ winds and the boat felt fine.
But more importantly, under full sail, on a nice reach, she is gorgeous. The staysail adds to that traditional charm that moved us to make the purchase.

 

[Enchantress]

We’ve used our staysail fairly often.
Our yankee cut foresail is a bit small, maybe a 90, so we use the staysail for the extra sail area especially on a beam reach. That does two things: if the wind picks up, it’s easy to roll up the yankee before going forward to reef the main. With a reefed main and the staysail, we’ve been out in 20+ winds and the boat felt fine.
But more importantly, under full sail, on a nice reach, she is gorgeous. The staysail adds to that traditional charm that moved us to make the purchase.

It was definitely a motivator for me as well! Thanks again for some really helpful info as I do eventually plan to get her into blue water again as she is intended to be.

 

[Enchantress]

Welcome.
On our 31 Independence, the staysail stay is mounted to a short track that is through-bolted to the bowsprit. There’s no chainplate as such but given the heft of the bowsprit and its likewise hefty mounting to the deck, it’s probably not necessary. The mast mount is just below our steaming light, as you described, roughly even with the intermediate shrouds. And we have the same traveler track; the staysail is self-tacking.
Photos below show how ours is attached. I’ll be at the boat later today and can take more photos if it’ll help.
View attachment 54942
View attachment 54943

Hey David, could you send me a photo of the rigging at the traveler for this sail? I’ve seen a few setups for self-tacking jibs but I only have two blocks on the track a cheek block slightly aft on the port side. I imagine that check block allows the line to run aft for quick trim adjustment.

 

[David Vaughn]

Here’s how ours is setup. As far as I know it is the factory setup.
The sheet is secured on the starboard side of the traveler, runs thru the single block on the car, up to a single block on the clew of the staysail, back to the car, then to the turning block just aft of the traveler on the port side. It continues back on the cabin top to a cleat at the cockpit. The car is attached to the green flecked line which also leads aft to the cockpit. That lets you drop the car further to leeward as desired. It’s not setup to go more to windward but not sure that would be necessary for a staysail.

Hope that helps. Sorry the pictures aren’t great. I took those as a reminder of how to reassemble things when we were taking everything apart, preparing to transport from her former home.