Stern Cleats on 2007 42DS

[colonelbob]

I recently acquired a 2007 42 DS in great shape. Slowly working off my personal gig list like AIS to the chart plotter and LED lighting throughout. Most of my marina tie-ups are stern-to with cross ties but the stern deck cleats are ill-suited for this. I would like to add cleats on the flat of the stern, with generous backing plates. Fiberglass appears to be about 1/4" in that area.  Will this work safely?

[Meshuggana]

I would highly discourage you from doing that. The 1/4", if you are lucky is not even close to thick enough not to mention, what gives cleats most of their strength is that the load puts deck cleat hardware in sheer. By the sounds of what you are doing, you want to put the hardware in tension under load. Even with huge backing plates, I would advise against that. You can put additional cleats on the deck further aft as there is easy access to those spots, although you may screw up your plans to add an arch down the line.

[vasko]

hmm you may try to add fair-leads that will guide the line to the proper place...

[Tafika II]

We have a 2008 SO42DS with an arch. I would definitely concur with the above assessment NOT to attached structural loaded cleats to the transom. We use the existing aft cleats with line chocks aft of the cleat near the edge of the deck/transom transition. They are bolted through the deck with large SS backer plates. The access is not easy, but doable.

[Syrah]

I have just purchased a 2007 Jeanneau SO 42 DS. I'm hoping to come up with a solution that will enable me to have crossed stern lines. I'd love to better understand what you have done on Taffica II. It sounds like a great solution. Regards Wayne

[hoppy]

I recall that there was a discussion about the strength of the transom (don't know which model) and i'm pretty sure that someone had spoken to the designer or Jeanneau and that the conclusion was that they are pretty strong. I think this discussion was regarding solar arches 100% mounted on the transom as opposed to transom & deck.

I recently tried to search for the thread but failed. Maybe someone else will have better luck.

[rene460]

A lot depends on why you are using crossed lines.  We moor bow in, in a narrow pen with the stern piles 3 or 4 meters back, so our normal stern lines are nearly parallel.  Consequently they provide no side restraint for even the slightest breeze across the pen.     I use fenders when we are on board as removing the crossed lines to get out is a pain, but when we are away, in addition to our parallel stern ropes, I also rig crossed lines.  No clear run aft on the deck for the them, partly my own fault, as I did not anticipate this requirement and so placed the solar panel cable entries in unfortunate positions.  There is also not much room on the deck back there for extra cleats.  I also feel that fair leads in the appropriate position, used with cleats further forward, is the preferred arrangement, but I blocked the location.  Our pen is in a very sheltered marina with virtually no fetch to build waves and the accompanying snatch loads on the mooring line.  Also, boats all around, buildings and even trees further distant mean no waves and moderated wind loads so our mooring loads are very low. I rig the crossed lines across the centre of the transom, each to the winch on the opposite side. A foam fender on the seat across the transom takes any rubbing.  I lock them off with extra half hitches and don't rely on the self trailer to hold them.  Also the lines I use are a bit more stretchy than the main stern lines, and I rig them with a bit of sag.  The boat lies, even in the worst wind direction, with the load shared by the main lines and the crossed lines due to the action of the bow lines.  I am sure not the preferred winch loading, though the lines are rarely loaded anything like the jib sheets with wind in the Genoa, and most of the time they are quite slack just providing minimal sideways restraint to keep the boat off the pen side wires.  Definitely would not be recommended in locations where snatch loads due to waves or the wake of passing boats, but in our very benign location, it's a suitable measure until a better solution presents.

Definitely would prefer cleats on the side deck and fair leads aft, perhaps even with an elastic keeper over the fair leads to ensure the lines don't flip out of the leads.  I may have to move those cable entries and do some fibre glass work to make room for those fairleads.

rene460

[Syrah]

In our case, we are bow-in to a 14m pen. Stern lines are very short and not offering much protection from strong winds. There is no clear path on the 42DS to cross stern lines. 

[shawnkaplan]

Does anyone have a picture where they added a new fair lead to their 42DS? I just moved to a new marina and prefer to stern-in, so will be criss crossing lines.

[Mistroma]

Jun 27, 2017 0:15:59 GMT vasko said:

hmm you may try to add fair-leads that will guide the line to the proper place...

The existing fairleads are pretty close to the stern and difficult to add anything further aft on the side. I guess you are thinking of putting them on the stern. There is just about enough room to fit a fairlead across the stern and that would probably work for crossed lines required by OP. It might be a bit tight getting backing pads in place as there are fillers right at the stern on both sides and there's very little space on either side of the fillers.

I'd agree that it wouldn't be a great idea to fit cleats where pull wouldn't be in shear. I suspect that snatch loads would either break the hull deck joint at the stern or just damage the gelcoat and GRP.

[NZL50505]