David wrote:
[...] it seemed to me that the middle of those upper 3 sheeted battens was being pulled more than the battens above and below, which would suggest that the sheetlets are incorrectly set up, and to me, too short. [...]
After trying to convince myself otherwise for a few years now, I finally understand that my upper sheet spans are not long enough. I recently reworked the sheets to use Pilmer style sheeting. With this setup I can now clearly see the thimble on the upper-most sheet span getting jammed into the thimble on the next lowest sheet span.
Unfortunately I cannot make the top span longer. There is not enough boat to mount a block farther back.
So it looks like building a bumkin or an arch or something will be top of the list for the upcoming off-season work.
Right now I think a bumkin is the way for me to go. I am wondering if anyone can suggest an appropriate size, for strength. I do not see any specifics in PJR.
I am thinking about using 2x4 dimensional lumber (Pine / Spruce / Fir) tapered to be about 1" x 1" at the far aft end of the bumkin, and 10% of the bumkin buried into the transom of the boat. Held in place with epoxy and glass, I think this should be strong enough.
Would anyone like to share their opinion about my plan? It is too big, to small?