In this case, the One Ring to Rule Them All is the deck ring. It sits around the mast in the deck, and all halyards, reef lines etc are attached to it. We have one of the best deck ring manufacturers in Sweden: Seldén. So I ordered their largest deck ring a while ago.
Our nice carbon mast does not have any runners, this is an important part in making handling under sail simple. However, as a consequence it is quite wide. So it turns out that the largest available ring is too small for the Journeyman. So we have two alternatives: Build a completely new custom solution, or make the ring larger. We decided to try making the ring larger. This is more difficult than it sounds, because the aluminum in the ring is a casting alloy, quite different from the welding alloys we use. So welding is complicated, and the final result can potentially crack due to different thermal expansion between the two different types of aluminum.
So again: Keep your fingers crossed!
(Oh and in other news, the keel box looks quite promising now, I’ll be back with more news on that in a day or two).
[UPDATE!] The operation was quite successful. Not sure if it was due to your crossed fingers or the skilled fingers of Reimo our welding lord…
