Your H30 mainsheet setup

[kito]

I am starting to think about my running rigging on my project boat now. I picked up a Profurl B29l for a good price. Also bought a new in box Spinlock XTS double rope clutch for $31.....one of the best deals I ever got on Ebay. This boat did not come with any mainsheet or much of any running rigging for that matter. Just would like to know the setup for my mainsheet. I am leaving the traveler in front of the companionway for now.The boom just has one bail. Did this orginally have a double or triple block on the boom?......or fiddle block? On the traveler I am guessing it had swivel block with cam cleat. Just would like to hear some input on your setup. I am thinking about maybe adding one or two more boom bails to spread the load.

 

[John T1594]

Vang

I had a 1980 H30 for many years. The mainsheet was a 4 part vang attached to the traveler and with two blocks on the boom.

 

[H30Gary]

Re: Vang

Kito - I'll try to post a photo of the setup on my boat later today. The traveller is in front of the companionway as on your boat. There are three bails on the boom, each holding a single swivel block. There's a fiddle block on the traveller car and no cleat. The bitter end of the mainsheet dead ends to a pad eye located near the starboard end of the traveller. From there the mainsheet weaves through the various blocks with the final leg going down from one of the blocks on the boom to a turning block at the port end of the traveller, then aft to small (#6) winch and horn cleat, mounted on the deck just forward of the cockpit.

The system works well. The mainsheet is easily adjusted from the cockpit. The loads are symmetrical athwartship, so the boom stays centered over the traveller car when close-hauled. The winch may be a bit of overkill, but it helps when the wind picks up. (I suspect the winch was not original. It is thru-bolted thru the deck and head liner, rather than just bolted to the aluminum plate embedded in the deck, which is how the factory would have done it I think.)

Hope this helps!

 

[kito]

Thanks Gary. A picture would be great!. Your setup sounds like what I need. Just have to add a couple more boom bails. Probably one of the changes Hunter made after 1979. I do have a small winch port side a couple feet aft of the jib winch. Must have been a Hunter standard back then.

 

[rardiH36]

Kito:

Not the same boat as yours, but Hey it's still a Cherubini!

The attached URL contains pictures and operation description of my mainsheet setup which works extremely well for me. See post #3 of the thread:

http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=1024855&highlight=main sheet

But here anyway are a couple of the pictures.

 

[kito]

Nice setup Rardi. I would like a cabin top traveler one day. The rope clutch is a nice touch but may not be suitable for lake sailing.

 

[rardiH36]

Kito:

I very seldom use the rope clutch. It's open when I sail. The cam cleat is my "tie off". The rope clutch is there because it's the usual setup for mid/large boats with cabin top travelers. Also it's there for the very infrequent times that I might want to use the winch to really tension the main sheet. Normally, the 6/7 to 1 purchase is enough for me to get enough "recreational" tension by hand pulling from behind the wheel. Then I drop it into the cam cleat. And if I find myself over-powered (not uncommon with the blustery winds on San Francisco Bay), I can quickly release the sheet to let the sail out.

I do close the clutch before leaving the boat, however. That plus the cam cleat ensure that the boom is tensioned and won't get lose when I'm not around.

 

[H30Gary]

Kito - Here are some photos of the setup on my 1980 H30. It works well. I'd eventually like to get a self-tailing winch and get rid of the horn cleat. - Gary

 

[kito]

Thanks for the pics Gary. I sure wish I had your setup. My traveler is in the cockpit across the entry into the cabin. Probably why there is only one boom bail. If I used 3, then it will interfere with the bimini. If I installed the bails forward then the lines will hit the cabin bulkhead. I may have to go will my initial thought of a double block on the bail and a fiddle block with becket and cam cleat on the car. May not be enough purchase though...

 

[H30Gary]

Didn't realize where your traveler is located. So yes, single bail makes sense. Think you probably need more than 4 to 1 purchase though, especially with no winch. So probably want triple on boom and triple with becket and cleat on traveler car. If you could find a fiddle with three pulleys and a becket and cleat, that would be even better for on the car, but not sure they make such a thing.

 

[kito]

I don't have an adjustable traveler either which kind of stinks. Just have stops on both sides that adjust manually with spring loaded pins. You talked me into using triple blocks.

 

[H30Gary]

Maybe a cabintop traveller will be in your future

 

[kito]

Well guess what I found at the bottom of my pile of crap........the original mainsheet. It's a 4:1 system with two fiddle blocks, one with a becket and cam. I just bought 2 triple blocks off Ebay too. I like the 6:1 better though. I was looking to make a boom vang anyway so the original mainsheet will be perfect. Just need to find a good way to attach the fiddle block with cam to the bottom of the mast or deck. Any suggestions?

 

[rardiH36]

kito:

Since no one has replied to you boom vang attachment method question, you might do your own internet search. Lot's has already been covered many times. Below is one link.

I myself had already thought about suggesting the method that is described towards the end of the url.

To mount a moderately robust pad-eye, drill/tap at the forward side base of your mast for couple of say 1/4" bolts. Then run a loop of (say dyneema/amsteel) through it, around each side of the mast and connect to your lower boom vang block. The pull forces on the vang are at say a 35-40 degree tangent, so really the pad-eye mainly serves to prevent the loop line from riding up the mast. Of course, you would have to determine if anything else you have along the lower foot or so of your mast might interfere.

Attached is a picture of my boom vang set-up. (Admittedly it is a bit of over-kill, but I had the extra block and also the boom already had two bails I could use.) As you have observed, unused ex-mainsheet blocks can serve well for boom vang use, which mine are. I added my vang in 2007 when I bought my 1980 Cherubini Hunter 36 because for the previous 27 years, the boat had been sailed without one! I did add a bail at the bottom of my mast. But also because I wanted attach points for several other rigging modifications. (Cunningham, mainsheet and vang blocks for re-routing back to cockpit, and better leads for the reefing lines.) If it was only a boom vang that I had been considering, I probably would have opted for the simpler solution of a pad-eye.

Anyway, just a suggestion. Should work. Inexpensive. And other than two new rather small holes added to the mast base, no real serious modifications.

One downside is that the loop line will rub on the side of the mast eventually wearing through the paint.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f116/boom-vang-attachment-advice-38173.html