O'day 22 Forestay Fitting Reinforcement

I had some free time this weekend so I decided to tackle a project I've been thinking about for some time. On my other boat the forestay fitting is distorted from probably years of improper rigging tension or being inadequately fastened to the deck. I thought it would be a good idea to add some reinforcement to keep the rigging from peeling it back off the deck. I searched around the Internet and came up with a couple different ways to do it, would just depend on what the local west marine had in stock.

I decided to build an adjustable strut from the forestay fitting to the bow eye. I replaced the original bow eye with a heavy duty u-bolt for added strength before I trailered it to the lake.

The hardware was found at west marine and consists of a turnbuckle, couple 6" tangs with 3/8 pins, two misc L-brackets and some washers and cotter pins. It was the first time I walked out of West Marine spending less than $50, I resisted the urge to buy a marine BBQ.

I'm happy with the way it turned out and it should add some much needed strength. I finished up sooner than expected which never happens so I decided to take her out for awhile. It was the first time I've singlehanded this boat and won't be the last, had some good wind and a great time!