Swift 18 Owners

I launch and retrieve my Swift single handed but with difficulty. The mast is heavy and tends to tip up when sliding the foot into the tabernacle. I lift it using the trailer winch and an A Frame with guy ropes through the genoa car blocks for stability. I park my car on the level at the top of the ...

Since my last note on this topic my keel lifting mechanism bush stripped. As I had suggested previously I disconnected my trailer sub frame, jacked up the main frame and supported it on concrete blocks and axle stands. It worked a treat and I got the boat high enough to expose the bolts securing the...

Hi Mike, Saw your mail and couldn't resist a reply. I managed to repair my keel with a length of 20mm acme threaded rod and bronze bush, As I couldn't get the original fixing off I put my bush under the existing one after reaming out the thread on the old bush. There is room if you measure carefully...

Hi Mike,

Moore International will supply 20mm stainless acme lead screw cut to length and also bronze bushes to fit.

Having spent hours looking for a lead screw and bush to repair mine which stripped I ended up buying the basics, a 20x4x300 acme threaded stainless lead screw and a bronze bush from Moore International for £62.92 I then had to cut, drill and grind to size myself but it was worth the effort. They wou...

Hi Pauline, I,ve had similar problems having bought a boat with a damaged rudder. I made a spare out of 1" marine ply, 3 foot times 1 foot. It worked well but snapped in a heavy swell in Poole Bay. I replaced it with the original which slowed the boat down appreciably and had to be angles with the u...

I had a similar problem with a bent bolt. See section on keel repairs for an explanation of how I repaired it at minimal cost.
John (Taranaki - Poole Harbour)

Thanks Rob, I've got an A Frame so can experiment with block and tackle. John On 15/05/2011 23:36, robvega wrote: John, The boat is moored to the bank when raising or lowering the mast, not under way. I have a pole & block & tackle to raise & lower it. See picture which was taken on the shore as you...

Interesting photo. How do you raise the mast while under way. I can do it using the trailer winch but haven't tried it on the water. Thanks John On 14/05/2011 09:16, robvega wrote: Hi Martin, There are signs everywhere telling you where you can & can't moor on the broads, personally I look for the q...

Hi, I've been thinking about lifting my swift to examine the keel. How about loosening the bolts holding the subframe for the wheels, lowering the front of the trailer to the ground, inserting axle stands at the rear of the trailer, jacking up the from and inserting axle stands for support, moving t...

Hi David, The line is the length of the boat plus the length back to the cleat. I would get 10 metres to be safe, go for good stuff with minimum stretch. When I renewed my forestay I was given an unused replacement from a cobra 750 which was twice as thick as the original. I had to alter the fitting...

Hi, I bought my swift as a project and the forestay had snapped near the mast. I checked on the forum and discovered that some folk thought that the original stay was under weight and prone to problems. Fortunately a friend had a replacement stay from a cobra 750 which he gave me. I had it cut to si...

Hope your epoxy sets in the snow, minus 5 is rock bottom recommendation. John - patiently waiting for warmer weather to repair rudder blade. On 29/12/2010 14:13, Kevinbwilko wrote: Thanks, will take your advice and go cutting, snows gone and can see boat again on local farm! Post generated using Mai...

You may remember I was having problems with my rudder's weight. I modified the gudgeons so that I could lift both it and the stock off when I leave the boat. I eventually discovered that the rudder was full of water and when I split it found that the ply inner was sodden. As a temporary measure I ma...

Thanks for all the tips and comments. My new rudder stock was a good copy but underweight, as a result it bent so I had to strengthen it by riveting alloy plates on either side. My original blade had a leak and became too heavy to lift so I made a blade out of half inch marine ply which has worked w...