A neat thing I saw

[Winkfish]

Two weekends ago, I crewed for a friend of mine, just the two of us, on a Rhodes 19 in a regatta at our yacht club. (We won, BTW.) As I was hanking on the jib in the morning, he handed me a thin line, maybe 1/4 inch, for me to clip on the halyard and hank it with the forestay. It ran through the deck and to the cockpit. What it was for was when we had to take down the jib to raise the spinnaker, you'd release the halyard and pull on this line and the jib came down much more easily and quickly. No need to go up on the foredeck to pull the jib down. Really cool.

He called it the "frackenator." I'm sure he didn't come up with the idea (maybe he did), but I'd never seen it before. Just curious, have any of you seen or used one, or still use one? It just seems like one of those simple ideas that does a great job.

 

[Ol Dave]

I used a variation of what you described, the Gerr downhaul. When you Google it you'll find a diagram that shows how it not only brings down the jib, but secures it in a bundle at the forest at. VERY useful if you are changing headsails in a breeze.
Ol' Dave

 

[py26129]

I used one on my Shakr years ago and it really worked well for me. I called is a job down haul.

Cheers

Matt

 

[Stu Jackson]

I think Matt meant JIB downhaul. Just connect it to the second hank down from the head of the jib, NOT the top hank.

 

[Winkfish]

Yep, that's the system, though this one was not nearly as high tech. We attached it directly to the jib halyard (not the top hank itself) with the head of the jib. Then just snapped the hanks around it as well as around the forestay. Then the line just went through a hole in the deck and back to the cockpit. Worked flawlessly.

 

[RAD88]

I used one on n O'Day 16' and called it the jib extinguisher. It ran from the cuddy cabin to a fore stay pulley and up to the jib halyard. It worked like a charm. Since there was not a lot of deck or any lifelines. it was the safest easiest was the douse the jib.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Jib downhaul

We attached it directly to the jib halyard (not the top hank itself) with the head of the jib. Then just snapped the hanks around it as well as around the forestay. Worked flawlessly.

Glad it worked for you. BUT, BUT, BUT, it simply WON'T work for many, because if you attach it to the jib halyard, when you pull it down the downhaul will cock the top hank and could very easily create a tight spot, making it hard if not impossible to pull it down at all. Plus there is absolutely no need to put the downhaul line through any of the hanks. Clip the downhaul line to the second hank from the top, lead it far down to the tack of the sail on the deck and a simple block and lead it aft, like the picture in the photo I provided shows.

http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=1045102&highlight=jib downhaul

 

[Tsatzsue]

This guy has it going on! Check out the diagram. I am doing this this year!!
http://www.widgetsailor.com/myboat/downhaul/

 

[Squidd]

Since I put a downhaul on my jib, I've cut my trips to the forward deck by half...

 

[rgranger]

Here are some diagrams of how I set mine up

The first one is mine... the second was from someone here on this forum

 

[trainmanjess]

hello all

the sailboat I sail on with my friend is a 1967 Sailstar Corinthian 19ft... we use the jib downhaul on it... works great on getting the jib down fast... we won many a races with his boat...

I agree... attach it to the 2nd clip or eyelet from the top, and then zig zag the line down between the opening on the hanks and it will lay the jib right down and fold it onto the deck at the same time...

sincerely
Jess

 

[Joe]

You don't have to weave the downhaul line inside the luff and hanks.... that's just time consuming.... especially if you have to change a sail on the water. The sail is attached already so there is no benefit to weaving the down haul line ... A small block at the tack fitting.... tie the line to the pulpit when the sail is off (you do remove your headsail, I'm assuming)... After hanking on the sail, tie the small diameter downhaul line to the first hank with a buntline hitch.... the other end of the line is routed back to the cockpit..... If you're single handing... steer the boat with the tiller between your knees, hold the halyard in one hand and the jib downhaul in the other.... then control the drop, steering the boat under the sail so it settles nicely on the fore deck. Once down, the cleated downhaul will keep the sail securely on the fore deck, and allow you to tension the halyard so it won't slap around. You will never have to go forward to handle the sail until removal or change. If you weave the down haul line along the luff.... there will be a lot of friction, and changing the sail will be much more time consuming and tedious.

The largest size line you would need is 3/16.... I have 1/8 in mine... the jib down haul carries very little load... does no hoisting ... its simple purpose is to control the drop and keep the sail securely on deck.

The "Gerr" downhaul system, the second picture of Granger's post, was presented in this forum at least ten years ago.... I rigged my downhaul that way and was quite disappointed in it's practicality. The downhaul is routed through a mid luff ring, back to the clew, then forward to the tack before running all the way back to the cockpit. The premise is that keeping the halyard cleated, releasing the sheet, and hauling on the downhaul allows the crew to "clew up" the sail for a temporary reef.... i.e. the clew is drawn up to the mid luff ring.... just like on a square rigged sail. If you keep the sheet cleated, and release the halyard, the downhaul will draw the sail down to the deck.... theoretically bringing the mid luff ring with it.... ANYHOW... it really doesn't work like that.... and there is a lot of friction with rings and clew grommets for the downhaul to thread through....The sail gets bunched up and the downhaul line gets tangled in it. I experimented with it quite extensively and decided that my boat was simply too big (27 ft) even with the blade (110) hanked on..... so I removed the gear and went with the simple down haul for the purpose mentioned above.... It has become an important part of my sail handling system.... especially when single handing.

The system might work on a smaller boat... under 20 ft perhaps... or something like a West Wight Potter... but not on a mid size or larger vessel.

 

[rgranger]

You don't have to weave the downhaul line inside the luff and hanks.... that's just time consuming.... especially if you have to change a sail on the water.

I guess it depends on how you are using it. I would do it this way (weave) and if I needed to put up a smaller sail I could down haul the existing head sail, pull one of the sheets tight and the sail would sit flaked and taught against the gunwale (the sheet kept it taught). I'd leave it hanked and just hank my storm jib over the top. I had a 1' pendent on my storm sail so the foot of the storm jib was high enough off of the deck. The advantage of weaving the down haul is that by keeping the down haul taught and one of the sheets taught, there was no risk of the sail blowing off. the deck. I could leave it there and deal with it later when things calmed down.

I agree that if you were rigging the down haul with each sail change, it would be a pain to weave.

 

[Joe]

I guess it depends on how you are using it. I would do it this way (weave) and if I needed to put up a smaller sail I could down haul the existing head sail, pull one of the sheets tight and the sail would sit flaked and taught against the gunwale (the sheet kept it taught). I'd leave it hanked and just hank my storm jib over the top. I had a 1' pendent on my storm sail so the foot of the storm jib was high enough off of the deck. The advantage of weaving the down haul is that by keeping the down haul taught and one of the sheets taught, there was no risk of the sail blowing off. the deck. I could leave it there and deal with it later when things calmed down.

I agree that if you were rigging the down haul with each sail change, it would be a pain to weave.

My point is that if you are leaving the sail hanked on.... you don't need any help from the downhaul line.... I know I tried it that way and it gave no advantage .. there could be more opportunity for jamming... plus it took more time to rig it... again for no advantage, because the downhaul line is only attached to the top hank... and not any other part of the sail. Even if you disconnect the halyard, the downhaul line and the top hank provide the sail's security, not anything in between. You might try it without the weave next time out to see what I mean.

As far as using a pendant.... there is a very excellent article in a book I have where the author describes keeping each of his sails' hanks connected to a short pendant. When he brings a new sail on deck for a change the pendants keep the hanks organized in order when bringing down the old sail and attaching the new..... It's a neat way of keeping things organized at night or in busy seas..... I'll try to find the article ... If you like the security of hanked on sails, which many cruising sailors prefer... you'll want to see this system.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Joe's right, don't weave it. More work, more friction, unnecessary.

 

[StinkBug]

I use a length of very thin spectra line with an eye spliced into the end when I'm single handing. I put the eye onto the uppermost hank (which is below the head of the sail) and run the length of it through the hanks alongside the forestay. It works perfectly with virtually no drag and no binding, and it takes about 30 seconds extra to rig. I've tried it outside the hanks and when the sail is up the line flops around and just seems sloppy. Through the hanks it works perfectly and is virtually invisible. Different methods work on different boats differently. Saying one way is the right way for everyone is just kinda stubborn and not necessarily correct.

 

[kpgraci]

This guy has it going on! Check out the diagram. I am doing this this year!!
http://www.widgetsailor.com/myboat/downhaul/

FWIW, I tried that setup when I rigged mine a year or so ago...TOO MUCH FRICTION! The concept is brilliant, it just does not work. I run a 1/4" line clipped to the second hank passed through a steel ring mid luff to control the lazy downhaul. Very effecitve in dousinhg the jib. If your jib is over 100% then you will need some system to keep it on deck and out of the water when doused, if you have lifelines this should do it. I don't but I use a 100% and with one of the sheets tight the jib stays on deck.

 

[Joe Blizzard]

Saying one way is the right way for everyone is just kinda stubborn and not necessarily correct.

Agreed. Personally, I attach my jib downhaul to my halyard shackle and run the line through all my hanks. I would advise others to do what I did, and try various configurations until you find the one that works best for you.

 

[StinkBug]

For those saying too much friction, I'm wondering what kinda line you're using and how big it is. The spectra/amsteel/dyneema/whatever line that I'm using is so slick it's almost difficult to grab onto, and so thin that it easily fits through the hanks with plenty of room to spare. It's not like this line really gets any load on it, so there's no reason for something heavy duty, regardless I think the line I'm using is still rated for 500lbs or something silly.

 

[Winkfish]

The boat I was on, a Rhodes 19, had the snap on hanks made of sail material. Very loose around the forestay, so not friction issues. The downhaul line ran right through the hanks, not weaved, and attached directly to the halyard along with the head of the jib. It was like an "extension" of the halyard. No binding or jamming at all when the jib was taken down. We had between 10 to 15 knots of wind. We weren't changing jibs, just went back and forth from jib to spinnaker 3 or 4 times during each race.