Com-Pac Yachts are quality sailboats that can be customized for individual needs and various locations. They were assembled piece by piece and they can be disassembled the same way. Parts can be replaced and hulls and decks can be repainted. The cost of a boat that's been customized for the light wind of a lake or a long journey down the ICW is reasonable. A proper boat for your sailing location is super important if you expect to enjoy the sport of sailing.

Com-Pac is an innovative company that has produced several recent advances in sailboat design. The Mast Tender and Boom Tender systems are good examples of their design skills. Lots of non Com-Pac boat owners would love to have a system like that on their boats. The Sailboat Company takes many of their new ideas and components and put them to work on the old Com-Pac fleet. Some of the modifications can be adapted to any sailboat with a little imagination.

This is a big project. We have a company 23 that we use for modifications and it's been modified several times before with other projects. We like to make a modification and then test the results on the water and over time. The primary design concept for this modification is to install a mast tender system in a 23. The results at this point look very promising. A secondary goal was to raise the boom in the cockpit for more headroom under a bimini. Another goal was to increase the overall sail area for light wind performance and still have the right amount for heavy wind sailing. We want sailing performance to increase in the under 5 knot range.

The 23 has a passageway under the mast inside the cabin. This area normally has a mast stub for mast tender operation. That's why we don't have a factory-installed mast tender system on the 23. The other boats with the mast tender system have a mast stubs installed in the cabin. The basic hardware for the system is the same hardware used on the Horizon Cat. They share the same size mast and mast hinge. The area under the mast on a 23 is 2 pieces of 3/4-inch plywood that's bonded to the deck. The plywood bridges the space between 2 bulkheads and provide the passageway between the forward and aft cabin.

A socket made from carbon fiber and glass and shaped like a hollow mast might be the solution for a substitute mast stub. It would need stainless steel support as a backup for the epoxied socket in the 4 inches of the existing mast bridge. The pictures below shows the socket epoxied into the mast bridge with a stainless steel plate under the socket that's held in place by straps and bolts on the deck. Initial tests look good. The little line in the picture is a temporary line. When you raise the mast, the stub wants to come up. The screws for the halyard blocks will keep the stub in place when we finish the installation.

The sailing rig on this boat is from a Horizon Cat. The main sail area will be substantial. The jib will be on furling gear and will be a genoa. The 23 sails very well with only a headsail in big wind. Both sails should handle our local light air conditions when needed. A reefed main and full genoa should be just about right for a 15 to 20 knot breeze. If you are a little lazy like I am, the genoa by itself should work just fine at those wind speeds.

Because Com-Pac sells all the parts for their boats, we can buy a Sun Cat boom gallows from the factory. The Sun Cat boom gallows can be installed on other Com-Pac boats with a little bit of magic. Stainless steel tubes that can be adjusted for position and length make this modification possible. Our first challenge was to make the foot for the stainless steel uprights fit our deck angle. We did this by cutting the upright in half. Adding a 7/8-inch splice to the upright will allow us to rotate the bottom half until it is exactly vertical. We can also rotate the top half until the connection bracket for the teak is in the right position. We plan on covering the spice with another piece of 1 inch tubing to make the upright look like it is one piece of tubing. Since our boom gallows will be used as a mast gallows, we plan on adding another tube support from the upright to the deck. The picture below shows the splice and one upright.

Com-Pac uses stainless steel tubing that has a welded seam inside their tubing. It has to be removed to make the splice work. We use a 7/8-inch drill bit and a drill press to remove the seam. We also do a little polishing for a good fit. The stainless tubing that we stock doesn't have an inside seam and we don't have that problem with our stock.

The reason we are buying parts from Com-Pac and not making our own is cost. Com-Pac is located in a boat building area that has access to lots of resources they have really good prices. We think the Horizon Cat boom gallows may be the best fit for a 19 or 23 project.

An update to this modification: The gallows will work on 19s and 23s. We may change to the teak piece to Horizon Cat for a better fit on 19s abd 23s. The stern of a 19 and a 23 are almost the same. We didn't need the extra support piece for the uprights.

This is a group modification. The pictures below show several mods that are desirable changes. The first picture show some the details involved in outfitting a 16 or 19 with a boom tender system. The old 16 and 19 use the boom tender system and the 23 uses a mast tender system. The sail stays under a sailcover with the mast down and you don't have to bend the sail on in the parking lot. The third picture shows the rumble seat. It can be used on any boat that has a stern pulpit. Looking at your boat sailing from a comfortable position behind the backstay is wonderful. Changing to bronze or stainless opening ports changes a boat's appearance. A good change when done right. The little red boat was painted with Awl-craft paint. The paint is super hard and really wears well. This paint has the best shine in the business. The only paint that's suitable for painting decks. It's that hard. The last picture on the right is a custom rudder raising system for a 19. Com-Pac also makes rudder raising handles that work on older boats. The old way of locking the rudder blade down was too difficult. Most people didn't have arms that were long enough to do the job.

The Sailboat Company

Richlands, NC 910-324-4005