Dolphin striker

[Terje Sundboe]

I am in the process of rigging my Tiki 21 for the first time. I can not figure from the plans how the dolphin striker should be attatched. Where should the wire be attatched? I can not find any good pictures on the net. I have mounted the socket and the striker i finished. I just dont know about the wires.

[Terje Sundboe]

Ohh... my bad. I found it the plans. This will set me back a coyple of days. Is this absolutely necessary?

[Omar M. Rashash]

The Dolphin Striker is a Structural part of your boat's rigging.  While you may have some choices in the execution of some features on your boat, skipping them is done at your own peril.  Its purpose is to counteract the downward force from the mast on the center crossbeam.  Leaving out the dolphin striker may lead to failure of the crossbeam and/or demasting of the boat.

 

I'm sure one of the engineers here can compute the static and dynamic forces involved, but why bother?  Is the couple of days you're going to save worth finding out whether you really needed it? 

[paul anderson]

Think of it like a string in a bow.

[Raf]

Yes it is absolutely needed. Sailing without it will result in a broken beam, loss of mast, damages to the boat and you might get hurt. PUT IT ON

[steve martland]

I had a dolphin striker failure on a tornado one time .. result instant dismasting speed 20 knt to zero in a second and a long long paddle home .. PUT IT ON!!

[Terje Sundboe]

I launched it today without the dolphin striker. I will sail not sail in rough condition this season. Since we have a very short season in Norway, I will put it on next year. I will only have two moths of sailing now.

[Galway Bay]

Another boat in the water is always good news. Congratulations !

The max. load at the foot of the mast is approx. equal to boat weight - any more and you are swimming. My experience with my boat is that the "normal" load is approx. 25% of max. and "normal" max. in gusts etc. maybe 50%. This may help you to judge how much load you are putting on that beam.

As an aside I wonder about including details like dolphin strikers on "simple" boats. Much larger boats including larger Wharrams do not use them. Personally I would prefer to see a beam made strong enough to do the job without. A small increase in the depth of the beam for instance would give the added stiffness and be simpler ?

Enjoy your summer. It may be short but you are in a beautiful place.

[Rogerio Martin]

In SS flat strip...no wire...this tiki 21 have 25 years old...and no problem

[Raf]

Rogerio, clever way of doing it. I like the tensioning system. KISS at best

Cheers 

[Rogerio Martin]

If you aply one invert U in the screw peak, you can use SS wire, maybe more flexible and follow the wharram filosofy "build to strech", in TikiRio we do like below, but clamp sswire before, tension well:

[Raf]

Rogeiro, por favor, could you please say why the cable is going through a slot under the beam instead of being fixed directly to a chain plate, without the need of slotting?

Gracias.

[Rogerio Martin]

This cable is stuck in a wood with 6 cm thick. In Tiki 30, never in 9mm ply, and it has a length specific, it is a structural part of the beam of the mast

Raf said:

Rogeiro, por favor, could you please say why the cable is going through a slot under the beam instead of being fixed directly to a chain plate, without the need of slotting?

Gracias.