Important note: The information here is not warranted. Each writer has contributed his or her own opinions and experience for the benefit of other Nor'Sea owners and does so with the caveat that should you have difficulties implementing these suggestions or as a result of using them, the writer accepts no blame nor offers any warranty or redress. Please proceed at your own risk.
All material here is used by permission. They may be printed out for your own use. They may not be printed out for others or for distribution, however; if you wish to use them for this purpose, separate permissions must be obtained from each writer. Thank you for observing copyright protection.
Want to turn the Nor Sea 27 into the cutter we ALL wanted?
Well, after 22 years of brainstorming(I'm real slow sometimes) I finally did it. The truth is you can only turn the 27 into a "real" cutter by moving the mast back 14" and that as we all know would play havoc with the interior. But, the good news is that you can get most of the benefits of the cutter rig and eliminate a lot of expensive equipment. This whole thing worked out far better than I had imagined and it works really well.
The Advantages of the Cutter Rig are:
The Disadvanyages of the Cutter Rig: None, in general!
However, the Nor' Sea was designed as a sloop and (1) Unless you build it as a cutter from Day One and build your interior around it you have a problem if you move the mast. (2) The Nor Sea deck layout is a bit too small for all the extra equipment namely 2 extra winches, extra track, etc.
The Dilemma: How to get most of the good for the least clutter and expense on a small platform.
The Result: The Whacko Zacko Rig!!
I made up a new forestay with Norseman fittings and had a metal shop fabricate the mast and deck fittings. The mast fitting is mounted down 32" from the top of the mast. The deck fitting is approximately 32" aft from the back hole of the stem head fitting (just aft of the bowsprit). The foredeck is narrow enough at this point that you get good support without any bowing. Just to make sure, though, I did back up the deck with a 1" oak beam. For double safety I had an inner plate made for the deck fitting so I could run a wire to the interior bulkhead to transfer the load. So far this does not seem necessary.
I use a bronze turnbuckle with a toggle and circular rings instead of cotter pins. This is easy to disconnect and takes just a minute. It saves the Big Bucks of a high field lever. When the stay is not in use I stow the turnbuckle in the cockpit locker. The stay "lives" at the base of the starboard middle stanchion attached by a 1/4" turnbuckle. It is under just enough tension so it does not bang around and make noise. The tension is also good because if you grab the stay as you move around the boat it is somewhat secure and is not tenuous hand hold.
I did have to put a bit of chafe guard on the spreader to eliminate wire sing as it rested on the spreader. This has worked out well as the stay is just the right length. You don't have to bend it to stow it. This saved the expense and clutter of a "wheel" mounted on deck.
After a summer in the Bahamas and a fall in New England here is the report:
1. At 32", the forestays are so close together that you cannot tack the large head sail, but I foresaw that. I just remove the inner stay when I know I'll be doing a lot of tacking.
2. Stowing the stay in the manner described was no problem at all. I never noticed it unless I wanted it.
3. It sets up in less than a minute.
4. We tried the standard working jib in 20 knots and the storm jib in 35 knots and the boat sails very well. Maybe even better than it did before!
5. To use it, furl the Genoa. Next, take the sheets and cleat them to your foredeck cleats to tame them. Or, in our case we have cleats installed on the inside face of the foredeck coaming. Hank on and raise your sail. Use the existing winches, cleats, and track as always. You do need a second set of jib sheets.
6. To lower sail, lower away and tie off the sail. Unroll the Genoa on whatever tack you choose. Now, undo the small sail and stow and lastly, remove and stow the fore stay. It really works!!
7. An added feature is that you can even move the bottom of the foresay up to the stem head fitting aft hole and hank on a big drifter. If you get the measurements right the new stay ends up just aft of the roller furling drum and does not interfere with the furling gear at all. NEAT! It will be 2 ft. shorter on the luff than your standard drifter but we made up for it in the body and overlap. And by moving the forestay forward for the drifter, we can maximize sail area. In drifter conditions, the balance of the boat is unaffected.
Besides all of the advantages of the real cutter rig you also get the following:
1. No running back stays.
2. No extra chain plates.
3. No big wheel to stow the fore stay when not in use.
4. Twin head sails if you want them.
5. The staysail halyard doubles as a spinnaker pole topping lift.
6. The new fore stay makes lowering the mast a lot safer if you have roller furling. You can drop the extrusion before lowering the mast and still have a fore stay to support the mast.
I have also re-designed the topping lift so it is adjusted from the cockpit. This frees the old topping lift to be used as an spare halyard. A real advantage if your jib halyard is permanently tied up with your furling gear. More on this later.
Disadvantages: Aside from not being able to short tack with the stay in place, none that we know of as yet.
The entire project took about a week at a total cost was about $250.00. Most of that was for the mast and deck fitting. I had them made BIG!