So… I’m not perfect. Shocking, I know. I thought I had a solid system for keeping track of blog posts, published articles, and pitches — but this one? It slipped through the cracks. And that’s a shame, because it’s a damn good write-up that could’ve brought a ton of traffic to our site.nBut hey, it’s here now. And it’s also live over on Cruising World Magazine and YouTube. This piece covers one of our most sought-after projects — which brings me to this little gem of a hook: If you’re good at what you do, why not profit from it?

Since finding ourselves at the successful end of many well documented projects aboard Avocet we often get asked if we are “for hire.” Although Chris and I are a great team, he is definitely the mastermind behind our projects and their execution especially when I still had my silly 9:00 to 5:00 job that separated us for the day. In my absence, Chris tackled numerous boat projects for ourselves as well as others, creating quite the reputation around our home port in Ventura as he delivered excellent results in a timely manner… even if that meant putting our own projects on the back burner. 

A Bit About Bowsprits

In 2020 our friends Baron and Heather purchased a 1980 Hans Christian 43’, Remedy, that had a compromised bowsprit. Although Chris had reinforced it for the previous owner using G10 under the sampson post, he recommended replacing the bowsprit entirely as it had severe termite damage and was the weakest link of the rig. Having experience with the boat and its situation our friends asked if Chris would be willing to create the new bowsprit. After some gentle convincing and research Chris agreed to take on the project. 

Hans Christians are pretty easy yachts to spot; the 33, 34, 36, 38, 41, 43 and 48 designs all share the very traditional look featuring a substantial bowsprit that pokes out in front of the front of the bow, carrying the lines of the large bulwarks that make for a stout blue water cruisers. The rigs differ from ketch, sloop, and cutters but they all share the concept of getting as much sail area as possible, utilizing the bowsprit. For example, the 33’ has a relatively small footprint on deck but sports the rig and sail area of what you would normally see on a 40 foot yacht. This idea is implemented for a number of reasons but primarily it gives the boat enough square footage of sail to compensate for the very heavy displacement, which means the bowsprit is just as much of an important piece of the rig as it is decorative. 

A bowsprit gets its strength from a triangular design that is very similar to the mast on a sailboat just on a horizontal plane. This triangular design consists of 3 parts: the bobstay, the whisker stays, and the forestay. The bobstay is the wire that exerts downward tension from the bowsprits kransiron to the cutwater which is usually located at the base and front of the bow near the water line. The whisker stays come from a connection at the kransiron and connect to both port and starboard sides of the bow and on Hans Christains they are usually fastened to the bulwarks and finally the forestay, which connects the front of the mast to the kransiron. Given that all these connection points are very stout this makes for a rugged, tried and true method for a very strong sail plan that has been used since the beginning of maritime history. 

Although a bowsprit is a very well known robust design, your rig is only as strong as your weakest link and (as mentioned) Remedy’s weakest link was her ‘sprit. In the 41 years Remedy spent afloat, her bowsprit had been neglected to be removed and inspected like other rigging commonly is, so termites took up residency throughout and wood rot staked a claim at the base of the bowsprit where water pooled easily. In addition to the bowsprit’s material compromisation, the sampson posts (the physical stopping point for the back of the ‘sprit to tee into) had separated from their lateral support underneath the deck. We also noted that there was a classic case of stainless steel crevice corrosion that had claimed all of the bowsprit hardware: kransiron, cutwater, staysail chainplate and bobstay fittings were all unsafe for further use as there were hairline cracks, pitting, and bent tangs. Due to all of these factors, we knew the right plan of action was to completely rebuild the bowsprit and replace all of her hardware – but where would we start? 

The Remedy for Remedy

A lot has changed since Remedy was splashed 41 years ago. Materials have improved, technology has evolved and new concepts have come to light after proving their worthiness. There were a lot of things to consider when it was decided that a new ‘sprit was to be built: We could stick with wood and basically just recreate what was already there, or do something like make a fiberglass bowsprit. Using the old ‘sprit as a mold, we could build something that was impervious to rot, stronger and lighter than its wood counterpart. Or we could ditch the traditional bowsprit entirely and build one out of aluminum which wouldn’t sport the exact same design but with a material so much stronger and lighter you wouldn’t have too. (our pal Peter did this for his HC38t, Kessel). It could physically be a different shape and be better in many different ways. After weighing the pro’s and con’s of each option, Baron and Heather decided to go with the traditional method of building it out of wood. 

Despite the many advances in the maritime industry, they still don’t build boats like they used to and that is because the materials like old growth wood are simply not available. So, unable to carve a new bowsprit out of a single piece of timber like the original meant we would have to utilize other building techniques such as laminating. Having finished our bulwark project not long before this one, we had a good experience working with cumaru and given its strength it was a much better candidate than the teak we looked into that was dimensionally big enough for the footprint of the bowsprit.

Despite our valiant efforts, getting a minimum of 8.5’’ wide timber by 14’ long that was kiln dried was proving to be more difficult than we thought so Baron and Heather found a lead on Sepele, a breed of mahogany. Sepele has higher tensile strength than teak and better gluing adhesion,but it lacks the oils that teak has for fighting off rot and most importantly, bugs. However, given the general lack of wood on the west coast, we decided it was our best choice. So with Chris’s approval the Remedy crew pulled the trigger on ten 14’ x 9 -11’’ wide sapele boards. With the wood ordered Chris set out on his humble mission to translate all of the measurements from the old bowsprit to paper where he could dimensionally see where he could improve the design. 

Sticky Details

When Hans Christian made the original bowsprit they built it quickly and efficiently, leaving details like perfectly straight lines, 90 degree cuts and appropriate spacing as an afterthought, or rather, not-a-thought at all. With this in mind (and a completely blank canvas) Chris added notes where material needed to be added and taken away to create a perfect upgraded version of the ‘sprit. Once the draft was written out on a yellow legal pad, Chris laid out his tools and got busy turning the 5’x5’ boards into a bowsprit. 

As I am sure you can imagine, this was a messy project. Not only were we dealing with a large amount of dripping resin but there was a fair share of dust and shavings that wouldn’t be appropriate to manage dockside. Fortunately, our friends at the Ventura Harbor Boat Yard allowed us to set up shop in a small corner of the yard. This is where Chris created a workspace encapsulated with a tarp to control the dust and temperature. Inside, we used a couple of box fans for circulation and got to work shaping the new ‘sprit, utilizing the old one as a 3D blueprint. 

From the initial concept we knew that the hardest part of this project was going to be cutting a 8.5×8.5’’ cube with a taper out to where the kransiron is attached, but the solution was simple. Instead of trying to cut an entire solid piece of timber, Chris opted for cutting the 10 planks into the shape of the bowsprit before gluing them together. When he cut the boards he intentionally left about ¼’’ of extra material on all sides to act as a buffer while gluing everything together and to also allow for enough material to be planed away during the shaping process. Once the boards were cut into their desired shape, it was time to glue them together. 

Laminating wood with many layers introduces an incredible amount of tensile strength to the lateral forces upon such a beam like a bowsprit. That’s if of course you can keep the layers well bonded for the life of the beam. When researching timer lamination for maritime use, you will surely come across a number of horror stories where laminated beams on a ship have come apart due to the wet environment. Of course these stories can be disheartening to someone about to tackle something similar, but if the job is done properly it will be way stronger than if we were to use a single timber like the original bowsprit. After speaking with a few experts, the unanimous consensus was to use Smith & Co Oak and Teak Glue which is an epoxy product but by far the stickiest, strongest, and goopiest epoxy we have ever seen. After a quick run over with the orbital to raise the grain of the wood and a wipe down with acetone, Chris and Baron began applying the glue with a 4’’ filler spreader. 

This was arguably the most stressful part of the entire project, for a few reasons. Due to a country wide epoxy shortage, we were doing our best to conserve epoxy while also liberally applying it to the boards which was a bit contradictory but necessary to ensure a proper bond would happen. Not only were we dealing with an epoxy-dichotomy but we were also racing against the clock. It was critical that all of the boards were clamped before the epoxy “kicked off” (aka the green stage/the initial cure phase) or else the epoxy would no longer be workable, locking the boards in place. When the last clamp was placed Chris and Baron lifted the old bowsprit on top of the laminated boards for more downward pressure. With the epoxy curing well underway we draped a tarp over the bowsprit(s) and plugged in three space heaters to increase the ambient temperature from the low 50’s into the high 90s-100 degrees (Fahrenheit) to assist in the curing process. 

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*We did not leave the heaters unsupervised – we checked on them every hour on the hour and removed them the following day 

The ‘Sprit Takes Shape

Two days later we removed the clamps to get a good look at what was now one cohesive piece of wood, feeling overall pleased with the results. With the epoxy cured we cleaned up our work space and prepared it to shape the laminated wood into a proper bowsprit. The first tool Chris grabbed was his trusty grinder with a 5’’ sanding pad attachment to get rid of all the epoxy that squeezed out between the boards, leaving a flat surface suitable for a hand planer. With the excess epoxy ground away, Chris struck a centerline and started marking the sides of the bowsprit where the final dimensions would lie. The least amount of material he had to remove was about ¼’’ and the most was about 4’’ around where the bottom edge of the ‘sprit tapered from the middle section up to the very front where the kransiron mounted. This confirmed that his initial cuts in the individual planks were correct, leaving enough material to shape and fine tune as anticipated. 

After lamination the bowsprit was roughly over 300 pounds, which was a stark contrast in comparison to the light, termite infested bowsprit that we began with. Although shocking at first, the weight decreased with every inch of material Chris shaved away leaving the final weight being around 270 pounds. This is where a lighter option like fiberglass, carbon, or aluminum would be great to consider if you are concerned with weight allocations. Once the bowsprit was between ⅛” and ¼” of the original spec we felt ready to put our time in the Boat Yard behind us, and relocate to the dock where the final shaping would be minimal in comparison to the piles of sawdust and epoxy globs created in our corner of the Yard. After deep cleaning our corner, Baron and I moved the ‘sprit with a mast mover all the way down the dock where S/V Remedy (which we had nicknamed “stumpy”) had been for the past month without her best feature. 

To say we were nervous was an understatement. I could see Chris visibly concerned over whether the monster he had crafted would gracefully replace the previous bowsprit, which subsequently made me anxious. There was only one way to put our nerves to bed, and that was to lift the ‘sprit and see if she fit, which she didn’t at first but that was okay! We had anticipated an improper fit which is why Chris left enough material to continue taking it away, finely tuning it to the boat herself. Determined to make it fit, Chris grabbed his wood planer and contractor square then proceeded to shave off another ¼” off the sides where the ‘sprit went into the staysail chainplate. This process repeated about three times, the fourth being the golden ticket where the bowsprit slid with no resistance into place with a very rewarding “thunk” into the sampson post notches. 

The bowsprit was dry fit to Remedy but the work was far from over. Chris intentionally left the mating surface (where the sampson posts and the ‘sprit made contact) proud so he could strike a final line on the ‘sprit once it was in place. This ensured that the bowsprit would make full contact and not pressure load on any specific points. After this was complete it was time for the tedious shaping of the kransiron tip and install the other hardware such as the bow pulpit which laid over top and around the bowsprit – which was easier said than done. 

Chris had spent weeks wracking his brain on how he could execute shaping the round tip where the kronzeiron slid over the bowsprit. The complexity of shaping a completely round and tapered cone from a square piece of wood is a challenge in and of itself, but mounting a stainless kransiron that took the entire weight of the mast added additional pressure to really get this right. The surface where the kransiron stops on the bowsprit is one of the most impactful and important sections of any bowsprit. If you take a walk down a dock, the usual thing to see is that overtime the stainless or bronze kransirons start to create harm to the wood.

Usually due a compression slip fit over the nose of the ‘sprit the wood eventually starts to compress letting the kransiron dig its hard edges into the wood. This was the case with Remedy’s original ‘sprit and kransiron as the mating surfaces had some severe damage not only over time but from a collision to the bobstay that ended in the kransiron denting and offsetting this important notch. Not only do you need full engagement of the metal fitting for equal pressure but the placement of the kransiron itself also has to be perfect or else it could prevent the forestay from fitting.

Since Baron decided to get a new kransiron made Chris took the opportunity to re-engineer the fitting to have a large ¼’’ thick backing plate welded to the back mating surface. This would make full contact with the forward leading face where the ‘sprit went from cone shape back to a 4 cornered square. After multiple measurements taken from the old bowsprit Chris slowly carved the wood into its final shape, using the new kransiron as his template for not only the cylinder front end but also the wood stop that the kransiron would mate against. 

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The ideal way to make a perfect cylinder with wood is utilizing a lathe, but trying to maneuver a 12′ 270 pound bowsprit on a lathe was a laughable request. So, Chris did it by hand. After a quick trip to his favorite woodworking shop, he returned with a nice spokeshave and a set of Veritas French curves which would help him accomplish the task. Using a circular saw to remove the bulk of the material by cutting many slits in different depths from fore to aft Chris then removed the necessary material and repeated this process along all four sides until he had a tapered square in the correct dimensions. Using the Curves he created some lines on the end of the bowsprit for the final shape, then used the spokeshave to remove the hard corners while leaving the middle sections since they were the appropriate size already. Armed with his Bosche orbital Chris attacked the areas where the spokeshave couldn’t reach, and just like that the seemingly impossible had happened. A perfectly round shape, created by hand, was ready for its hardwear. 

Finishing Touches

By far the most intimidating part of this project was drilling for the fasteners. Chris had thought about using a mobile drill press but the holes he had to recreate in the bowsprit had to accommodate the original hardware (like the pulpit) and those holes were not all uniform in where they went in and came out of the sprit. For example: the two ½’’ bolts that go through the saysail chainplate go into the wood at about a 60 degree angle. So, we took it old school and laid the hardware down on the ‘sprit exactly were we wanted it and marked both sides of the hole, then used a handheld ½’’ drill to cut the holes in both sides until they connected in the middle.. this ended up working pretty well but again, there’s still a level of guess work in this stage that just felt wrong after too much attention to detail in the project thus far. 

Once all the holes had been drilled, Chris oversized the holes slightly and inlaid G10 tubes for the bolts to go inside of. By adding this upgrade to the original design, the hardware didn’t need to be bedded since the G10 was epoxied in place. This also meant the bolts couldn’t oval the wood over time which would lead to water ingress, a very common point of compromission. After the tubes had been installed and bedded with thickened epoxy the entire bowsprit was saturated in Penetrating Epoxy and then finished with 9 coats of awlwood. 

As we have said before, your rig is only as strong as your weakest link which is why we urged Baron to replace all of the hardware including bolts, staysail chainplates, kransiron, bobstay fitting, and whiskers stay fittings; fortunately he took our advice.

Considering the age of the boat, this was a wise choice especially since the old stainless steel had been presenting small cracks and bends from years of use. WIth all new hardware, a beautifully varnished bowsprit and a blue water cruiser ready for adventure we waved Baron and Heather off in October of 2021 as they set their course south for Mexico. It was bittersweet to watch our friends sail away, with one of Chris’s finest pieces of work nonetheless, but we were able to catch up with them 2 seasons later in Agua Verde where Chris could inspect his work to ensure it held up – not only did it hold up structurally, but it still looked great! 

So yeah, this blog post might be nearly five years overdue (oops — my bad), but hey, better late than never, right? As always, be sure to check out the accompanying YouTube video, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about your own projects. We are always happy to chat, share what we’ve learned, and help however we can.