Jun. 21, 2006 - Spinnaker Halyard

Having recently fitted a pole downhaul, I almost have the kite set up ready to fly....

One thing that still needs sorting is the halyard.... prior to me fitting clutches, It was on a winch on the coachroof, and then to a cleat, which I was never comfortable with anyway because of the ability (or inability!) to release it quickly under load....

I have subsequently, just put it into a clamcleat, which while it holds it securely out of the way is also totally inappropriate as its difficult to lead it to the winch, and therefore really unusable....

I was hoping to fit it to one of the clutches on the coach roof, but the halyard is 14mm, and doesn't fit the clutch....

Its on the starboard bank, and I really need to have a look to work out the best way forward.... at the moment, the 3 clutches on that side cover the main halyard, the 2nd reef, and (I think), the pole uphaul....

Options therefore include, fitting another clutch thats is bigger, replacing the halyard with a 12mm one, and then fitting another clutch of the same size, or perhaps, slightly more cheaply, and my preferred option, to fit a jammer (or even use the existing clamcleat) for the pole uphaul, which doesn't have the heavy loads of the pole downhaul, and then replace the halyard with 12mm.... If the lines are long enough, I may even be able to swap the halyard and downhaul lines over, and be able to avoid an expensive new bit of rope.....

Given that the mast is 13m,the halyard must be 40m long, so wouldn't be cheap!

Best bet is for me to have a proper look......

No sailing again this coming weekend, school summer fayre duties call.... (guess who's doing the BBQ!)... but then a good run after that.... every weeekend, and then a possibility of a week on board, followed by a week back at work, and then a fortnight onboard.... result!