Re: Mutiny prevention

Eric Pederson (eric@winternet.com)
Tue, 10 Nov 1998 08:42:55 -0600 (CST)


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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It has been rumored that James Leith said:
>
> After nearly falling overboard last weekend while hauling up the
> mainsail, my deckhand said some very unladylike things and
> threatened mutiny unless the mainsail halyard gets run back to
> the cockpit very soon.

Your concept is basically correct. I ran main halyard, two reefing lines,
the vang, topping lift, and a mainsail downhaul back to the cockpit last
season. I put way more holes in my cabin top than I ever thought I would,
but we did a good job and everything works well with no leaks.

I have six turning blocks clustered around the base of the mast (using two
doubles and two singles), two three-line deck organizers to turn the lines
back to the cockpit, a triple rope clutch to starboard and a double rope
clutch to port. The cam cleat that is part of the mast raising system is
used to cleat the topping lift line.

The only thing I plan to re-do is going back to 1/4" halyard and reefing
lines. I went up to 5/16" when I had to get longer lines, and that's the
maximum size for the blocks I'm using. After almost a full season of use,
I think the 1/4" line would have been fine for the job, while causing less
friction at the blocks. That added friction is the reason I added a mainsail
downhaul. Going back to 1/4" may remove the need for the downhaul.

I don't really have any good pictures of the setup, though the positioning
of the clutches can be seen at http://www.winternet.com/~eric/boatmods.html

-- 
Eric L. Pederson
P-19 #970, Necessity
Bloomington, MN