The only Garhauher gear on BlueJ is a nifty mastbase plate to hold blocks at the FRONT of the mast. Only 15 bucks! With a double ended vang and every mast control line coming back to the cockpit, we have lots of turns.
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- Thread starter Don Guillette
- Start date
And the different colored lines is a nice touch. On my boat, it's the "white one"...no, the other "white one" 
Looks like the back of the mast, i.e., behind the mast, unless I'm missing something.
Yea. I think there are 22 control lines coming into the cockpit. You do what you can to help keep them straight.And the different colored lines is a nice touch. On my boat, it's the "white one"...no, the other "white one"
JD you are making me feel better about how my tubby old Catalina is set up. I have 17 control lines lead to the cockpit with 6 more at the mast. (mostly different colors.)
David: I don't have a drawing but there is a picture of it posted on my website (www.sailtrimproducts.com) under Don's mod's. For some reason the picture won't enlarge - I'm not a computer person and the person who designed my site is no longer available and I don't know how to fix the picture problem.
Don,
I did something very similar on my O'day 25. Worked very well. Thinking about doing the same on my C30 since the lines are lost inside the boom. Getting them out is a project for next winter.
How did you attach the block at the boom end? On my boom there is a tang with one hole for the topping lift. It doesn't look strong enough to not bend if I attach the shackle to it. I couldn't tell from the small pic on your web site.
I did something very similar on my O'day 25. Worked very well. Thinking about doing the same on my C30 since the lines are lost inside the boom. Getting them out is a project for next winter.
How did you attach the block at the boom end? On my boom there is a tang with one hole for the topping lift. It doesn't look strong enough to not bend if I attach the shackle to it. I couldn't tell from the small pic on your web site.
This is a bit off topic but relates. My main was built with a foot bolt rope which I have always ran in the boom foot groove. Can I use this sail as a loose footed main just by not threading the bolt rope into the boom and just using the sail slug that is at the clew?
In general yes. But you still have to have a way to keep the clew attached the to the boom; NOT just the outhaul. This can be a velcro strap around the boom, a strong slug, or even the last 4-5 inches of the bolt rope.... just cut it with an electric heat knife.
My sail has a 2" long sail slug at the clew before the bolt rope starts. I am guessing that it might not work quite as well as a sail purpose built to be loose footed because it will not have the shelf built into the foot to prevent wind from spilling under the bottom but it would make outhaul tension easier to adjust. With an 8:1 outhaul I can tension just fine but when I want to ease the tension, the rope hangs up and I need to go forward to pull the sail forward to get the shape I want.
It might be OK, but straps do a better job of spreading the load and make it easier to adjust. BTW, the sail does not need a 'shelf' or 'skirt', indeed most modern loose footed sails do not have them.
Any sailmaker will make/sell you one. Just call a local loft. They will want to know how big the sail is, and how big around your boom is. I know people that have made them themselves.
I don't have a sailmaker other than my wife Sue but we have a well stocked sailmakers shop. She made the spinnaker in my avatar, the 135% genoa and all of our canvas so she could probably make one with material on hand. Can you post some close-ups of your strap and what it is made of? I assume that it is basically nylon flat strapping with Velcro but what is done to minimize abrasion on the painted boom?
I guess I don't understand how that strap will slide on the boom. Doesn't it bind up when making adjustments? I've done without, relying on the sail slug to slide, but there is significant friction. I decided to end my sailing season over the weekend when a pin came loose inside the boom and left my outhaul non-operational. I sailed on Saturday by simply hauling the clew as far back as I could with some "small stuff". Luckily, I didn't have to flatten the main too much.
The strap is Dyneema from Sailrite and it slides like butter on the boom. The strap is about 24" and there's 2" nylon velcro sewn to it, which was the hardest thing I've ever sewn, the velcro is like hard plastic and the Dyneema slides around in the machine like you never saw. Suffice to say the stitching isn't very straight. I didn't want to put binder on it as it's out in the sun. This is the only picture I have. The Dyneema was measured from the clew, all the way around, through the sail and all the way around to the clew, and the velcro is all the way around except for 2" where the Dyneema passes through the ring. It's attached such that the velcro is "inside" the two strips of Dyneema.
There was a LOT of discussion about the Velcro. It's odd, you can peel it apart with your little finger, but try to pull it apart (sheer) and it won't come apart easily.
There was a LOT of discussion about the Velcro. It's odd, you can peel it apart with your little finger, but try to pull it apart (sheer) and it won't come apart easily.
Don,
Thanks for the response. The quality of the image is such that it can't be enlarged without it distorting. Oh well, you tried. Thanks.
Thanks for the response. The quality of the image is such that it can't be enlarged without it distorting. Oh well, you tried. Thanks.