Two questions from a newbie to J/24 sailing ...

Another thought occurred to me:
I had a little time three weeks ago to look the boat over in person, and I was checking the mast over for the setup of various rigging components, and realized I couldn’t find a topping lift.
Do J24 boats that are/have been raced eliminate the topping lift to save weight?
If I want to add a topping lift, I would probably ktry to use a wire rope for most of the length and a line at the end to allow me to change the angle of the lowered boom. Sound reasonable?
 
Can't speak to all J/24's but USA 4332 did not have a topping lift when I purchased her. The boats do no typically have a rod boom vang or boomkicker and it is certainly useful to have the boom held up when the main is dropped. My solution was to use 1/8" grey Amsteel (spectra). I put a small loop in the top end and placed in on the same clevis pin that the backstay is on, on the masthead crane. On the bottom end from memory again on my boat there was two small holes at the end of the boom and I ran the line through them. I made the line a few feet longer to allow for the ease when out sailing. Am sure there are lots of other solutions to this but just my 2 cents. As an fyi the wire would probably work fine for it, but might cause some addition wear on the main as opposed to using the spectra although the wire would be more durable.
 
I think my 1978 boat had a topping lift that we got rid of in 1996 when I took over the boat. Just unneeded weight. I never felt like we were missing anything. On the rare occasions I wanted the boom supported without the main, we used the halyard.
 
Leaving the halyard made at the clew end of the boom when the main is off or before hoist gives plenty of headroom for docking and maneuvering. It also helps keep from fouling with the other rigging. Same with jib halyard to the foredeck.
 
Anybody have a spare J/24 tiller available? Preferably located in New England - but whatever. The tiller that came with my boat has delaminated and is not useable.
 
Looking for a referral for a source for replacement parts for my standing rigging turnbuckles - specifically the threaded 'turnbuckle screw' (i think that's the proper name) for one of my J/24 lower shrouds. The rig is tightened by holding the two turnbuckles while turning this screw. The tjrnbuckle screw has holes on either end for cotter pins to secure the tension setting.

One turnbuckle screw (see photos) on my boat was actually broken somehow (it appears there was a collision leaving a bent stanchion and dings in fiberglass rail as well as this broken screw) and I am looking for a replacement. The screw is about 1/4 diameter and 6 1/4" long and connects to two turnbuckles - I only show the lower one in the photos.

I have searched, but haven't been able to find a source of replacements for parts such as this. I would be looking to buy one of these if anyone has one, or I would appreciate a referral to where I can buy one.
Many thanks!
Bill
 

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That's a Navtec style center screw. Made by Hayn, major supplier of standing rigging hardware. What I'll call the "single open-body" ones are more common than the "double open-body" ones like you have.
Hayn Marine by Hayn Enterprises, LLC and specifically: NAVTEC C550 Rod Turbuckle With Toggle by Hayn Marine
Plenty of rigging suppliers out there. I don't see 1/4 inch offhand at Hayn's website. You should make sure you know what size it is, then give them a call.

Vince
 
Wow! That was absolutely spot on guidance - even to finding the page number in the Navtec catalog!

Thank you so much, Vince! I would have (could have) spent hours and days search for the right part - and you directed me straight to it.
I am very grateful.

Bill
 
You're welcome. I often choose to look at images in the results of a google search. For something like this it can be very helpful.
-V
 
I have another question about setting up my ‘project’ J24:
I’m now at the point of putting in a battery and, based on the size of the empty battery box and photos of various j24s, I should put in a small configuration 12 volt battery. Is there a consensus choice for the best small battery to buy? Anyone have a recommendation? Thanks!
 
Sort of depends on what you are hoping to do with the boat. I have a group 24 deep cycle which is not overly small but on the other hand the boat is used on Lake Michigan and as a result I have a fixed mount VHF radio with masthead antenna, boat came with CD player and I do cruise the boat on occasion, so it was more important to have that extra capacity for nav lights, interior lights, cd player, vhf, etc. If you were just using the boat in protected waters for day sailing with no overnights, etc. then you could get by with a lot smaller.
 
Thank you, Thomas. In looking at photos, i have mostly seen only small battery boxes - evidently on boats that are mainly used for racing.
My uses will mostly be day sailing with limited electronic demands on the battery.
Much appreciate your insights! Thank you.
Bill
 
Time for another topping lift question ...

I want to add a topping lift to my almost-finished restoration of my 1986 J24. In an earlier post, it was suggested that a simple topping lift could be added by tying the upper of a small line end to the backstay clevis pin and a shackle on the other end to the aft end of the boom - very simple configuration, which I like.

My problem is that there doesn't seem to be enough room to squeeze a line next to the upper end of the backstay fitting. I can probably squeeze one in, but would it make more sense to add another clevis pin to the masthead bracket for the topping lift (drilling two holes in the bracket).
Would adding the holes for a small diameter clevis ping seriously compromise the integrity of the bracket? Would simply squeezing in a 1/4" line be safer option?

Many thanks in advance for your help!
 
I would get a boom kicker and when your done sailing use the outhaul and main halyard to act as a topping lift.
 
I'd say if you really want a topping lift, you have to use your intuition, engineering skills, and accumulated know-how on this one, or search out an original unmolested boat to see how it was done.

I have no idea how the topping lift was implemented when I dismantled mine.

Best wishes!
 
Got a new question for you all - What is the best (and, ideally, most economic) non through hull device for displaying boat speed and depth? My ‘project’ boat came with a KVH device that may or may not work for electronic compass readings, but I am really interested in affordable speed and depth. Many thanks!
 
I don't want you to think I'm ignoring you Bill, but I have no experience or knowledge to share. I see that they exist though. Good luck!

-V
 
Hi Bill,

Will kind of jump around a bit here. With respect to "real" depth under the boat the only way to get that is by drilling a hole/adding a thru hull. There are a few work arounds-from memory I have an ice fishing portable depth finder with a suction cup transom mount transducer but when I tried it once cruising I found it to be pretty useless with the transducer cable in the way. You could get either a hand held or built in GPS chart plotter which would show you where the boat is and what the what depth should be (subject to shoaling, tides, etc.).
On the speed side of things it is a bit more clear. On my J/24 I added a Velocitek Speed puck with Velcro on one side of the companion in the cockpit. When I am done sailing I just pull it off and put it down below. It works great and also when you push a button will display compass heading. There are a few caveats though. 1-It runs on batteries-AA if I recall 2-It is not backlit 3-They are currently going through a redesign of the product with no ETA on when available, that said there may be stay new ones on some chandleries shelf or eBay, craigslist, etc. Current new retail is 400ish-I do love mine though.
I have also made a new "J" addition and to that boat I added a Velocitek Pro start. It has many of the same features as the speed puck but has two lines so that you can see both speed and heading at the same time. There are other race centric features ("pinging" the starting line on each end to tell you how close you are to the line at the start), lift, etc. Again this is not backlit, runs on batteries and has been discontinued/replaced by a new version which is rechargeable and backlit albeit I think for about $200 more ($700 vs $900).

Depending on what you are doing I would probably do the following
1-Find a Speed Puck either used or new (if someone has one on their shelf)-I would also make sure you have some form of a manual/regular compass on board in case the batteries ever die/ you forget to bring some/fog rolls in/etc
2-If you are just days sailing the boat locally invest in a good set of charts/tide tables and get familiar with both. If you want to venture further I found the hand held mapping GPS super helpful when I did a week in the keys cruising with the boat.

Good luck and feel free to give a shout.
 

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