An S30 sailor wants a jockey pole for his cruising Square Metre Boat for spinnaker sailing at closer angles. Together with matching eye plates to hang on the side of the mast, this is no big deal. Boom and fittings are inquired from the leading mast builder Seldén via the Hamburg agent Herman Gotthardt. Seldén probably supplied the rigging for the S30 Cruising Skärgårdskryssare Version or cruising Square Metre Boat in the 1970s.
An E-Mail from the manufacturer in Gothenburg states: “Due to our records, it appears that two mast profiles were used for this type of boat: E 170/115 and D 137/113.” I am obtaining the order number of the eye plate that are supposed to fit with both profiles. Order, pick up, pay, press the eye plate on the spar, drill holes, rivet it. Done?
If anything, it is a P-profile, which is not available in 170/110 at Seldén – photo by Swedesail
Boat owner advice part 2: a closer look
A brief look at an old Seldén mast brochure at my office reveals that this cannot be. The S30 has a teardrop-shaped P-profile. An E or D cross-section does not match to what I know of the S30. So I asked the owner to measure the length and width of the spar profile and make a template right away. The profile is 170 mm long and 110 mm wide. Unfortunately, Seldén never made a 170/110 mm profile. Being busy with such particulars already, I am eager to learn which spar the boat manufactured by Fisksaetra Varv in Sweden has for my further advice to other S30 sailors.
Is it possibly one of the English Proctor rigs popular at the time? After inquiring at further Swedish contacts, it turned out to be a “Gullmars” spar, whose manufacturer has long since closed down. There are neither documents nor parts available. So a stainless-steel plate has to be obtained, a metalworker needs to bend it accordingly, cut it out, drill it, deburr it, weld on the eyes and finally polish it. An expensive custom solution.
The lateral curve of the existing S 30 mast determined with a circle – Photo Swedesail
Standard solution saves money
So the only option is a standard solution off the shelf. Gotthardt kindly helped with a construction drawing of the Seldén mast fitting, specifying several radii. I printed out a photo of the template 1:1. Apparently, the mast has a radius of 139 mm at the side where the eye plates are mounted. Presumably, a particular variant of the usual Seldén eye plates will fit. It just needs to be mounted slightly tilted aft. The slight variation of the radius will be compensated by the rubber underlay to avoid electrolysis of the aluminium. So I order the parts for the customer and hope that they do actually fit, as measured at the desk in the office.
The following weekend, I received the above photo from winter storage. It proves that the fitting sits well on the old gold anodised mast. Even a simple thing like ordering a jockey pole and two eye plates is best done in the winter months with plenty of lead time — and an advisor familiar with to matter. Updated May 13, 25.→ Subscribe the free newsletter.
