Tiki 46 alert

[Ann and Neville Clement]

We were the guinea pig for the Tiki 46 having bought our plans back in 1994 before Wharrams had drawn them.  We have hull number one.  So during the build and after we launched, we are the ones who discovered that some parts of the plans did not work out well and Wharrams changed the designs to address these issues.  But by the time we launched, Wharrams had been selling plans for the Tiki 46 for several years and the issues we discovered after our launch, were not yet discovered.  If you have an early set of plans, you might want to check the bow sprit to see if it is double or single thickness.  Ours is still single and later designs have a doubler under the long plank that makes up the sprit.

 

For 8 years now, we have managed safely with some strength elements Nev invented to overcome the problems of our single sprit board.  Nev put a large timber across the sprit and took the stresses down into the anchor rode boxes, I put extra large fillets in the webbing under the foremast, and we have done a few other things that Wharrams have seen and approved and our surveyor also approved.  We have done a whole lot of sailing and been safe.  But we were bothered that older plans had that doubler....and we did not.  I guess you could say we are always concernedto prevent problems and find ways to make the boat safe and secure always.

 

So Nev is now making a doubler plank to fit on top of our sprit plank and we will bolt and glue it in place starting just before the foremast and continuing forward to beyond the anchor rollers.  Nev found the timber he plans to use and we are designing it now, and somebody will likely visit and have a camera to take photos eventually. Maybe at the December Wharram meet in Florida (we are heading south in a few days). 

 

What I want to know is if anybody else has an early Tiki 46 and if so have you made any alterations to the foremast case having to do with the sprit?  Have you had any problems there?  What have you done to fix them? 

 

I do believe our boat is strong and so do Wharrams and our surveyor.  But the single plank on that sprit is like a wasp's waist where it crosses the crossbeam.  All that anchoring pull and the forestay pull (counteracted by the bridles, I know), but it just seems a bit thin to me.  We plan to stop in Norfolk, Va to do the work at the end of the Schooner Race.  It will be a nice feeling to get it done after talking about doing it for 8 years...  Ann and Nev