running rigging (aka. main controls)

madmike · **Joined:** 06 Sep 2020 10:08 **Posts:** 112

We've finally finished reconfiguring the deck hardware for main controls and the centerboard.

On port side, we've got the main halyard, mainsheet, and vang. Starboard has centerboard and two single-line reefs (color coded for Yellow Alert and Red Alert. Third reef (if we add one later) should be brown.) Both sides have triple Spinlock rope clutches and Lewmar self-tailing 40 winches. We got rid of the centerboard's 2:1 purchase.

Still some cleanup work to do where we took off the old cheek blocks and filled screw holes. And yes, it really is time for a new dodger.

jfalsone · **Joined:** 06 Aug 2020 09:02 **Posts:** 142

Looks clean. Without the 2:1 on the CB can you lower it by hand without having to wrap on the winch? Can the clutch be released without witching with all that tension?

madmike · **Joined:** 06 Sep 2020 10:08 **Posts:** 112

Dropping the centerboard without the winch is easy.

Un-clutching without the winch is also easy, although I've heard that releasing the rope clutches under load tends to chafe the cover of the line. So it's better to pull some tension onto the winch before releasing. We end up doing that most, but not all, of the time.

Mainsheet at the helm? That'd be nice if we were racing, but for comfortable cruising seems like an unnecessary complication. Especially since responding to puffs & lulls I tend to use the traveler more than the sheet. I've never liked double-ended sheets: just when you need it, you find out all the extra line is at the other end.

BTW, Lunacy, I think you have a typo in your post: You have "crew" mis-spelled as "guests." Must have been a bogus autocomplete.

WayneH · **Posted:** 11 May 2021 18:06

madmike wrote:

BTW, Lunacy, I think you have a typo in your post: You have "crew" mis-spelled as "guests." Must have been a bogus autocomplete.

I wondered if it was just me that saw that. Snicker

puffcard · **Posted:** 13 May 2021 13:40

Mike, take another look at that stbd pic. I would not sideload a snap shackle with the main sheet block. Maybe take it straight to the bail on the mast.

madmike · **Joined:** 06 Sep 2020 10:08 **Posts:** 112

Lunacy, this isn't a bad place for that post. It shows how everyone's situation is different, and where to run the lines isn't "one answer to rule them all." We aren't expecting to ever have guests like that, so our system works for us.

Good catch, Puffcard. The snap shackle and it's hanging block are both for the vang. It's a temporary setup using what I had aboard while we figured out how to run everything without snagging the liferaft. I lost track of needing to clean that up into something more secure.

The next step in the master plan is an upgrade to a rigid vang and get rid of the boom topping lift. From reading on this board and internet window shopping, I'm thinking Garhauer is the right manufacturer, but we might need something a little extra-custom to clear the liferaft.

puffcard · **Posted:** 14 May 2021 23:55

Best thing we did was the solid boom vang and removing the topping lift.

Maineiac · **Posted:** 21 Jul 2021 09:17

I know this is a May thread, but I was going to rig a couple reefing lines, vang and outhaul. Got any pictures of boom and reefing setup? Turns up at the boom? I was thinking bringing the outhaul to the deck and "forgetting" to ease it when necessary might cause it to bind or break on a jibe or tack if not properly led to the deck.

Whatcha got? Anyone?

Oh, and I added Garhauer halyard lift blocks at the deck just aft of the traveler each side to bring the traveler controls down and straight back to the jam cleats.

madmike · **Joined:** 06 Sep 2020 10:08 **Posts:** 112

This photo shows most of what's on the boom. Both reefing lines start tied to the boom-topping lift padeye on the port side of the boom end. Then up through the leech cringles and down to the Schaefer track-mounted cheek blocks (I think they are original equipment) on the starboard side. At the starboard forward end of the boom I installed a Garhauer curved base double cheek block (part number 25-23 SB). It was important to keep that far enough aft to get a fair lead up to the luff. Our main has dacron strops with rings on both sides of the sail for the reefing line. From there it's a straight shot down to standup blocks on the deck (shown in my first post).

Of course there's more friction than we'd like, mostly at the leech cringle and luff ring. But we're able to reef from the cockpit. It works be better to leave the halyard a little high while tightening the reefing line. Then after the leech is tight we can make small adjustments.

I'd like to have one pair of fairleads mid-boom to keep the slack reefing lines from draping all over the place, but I haven't found a good way to get that past the lazy jacks and outhaul.

I change the outhaul cleat from the original horn cleat to a cam cleat and removed the boom winch. The base plate for the winch is well welded to the boom by 42 years of corrosion. I still have one more horn cleat to remove.

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running rigging (aka. main controls)

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