Cleat for Outhaul?

[Daniel Reichman]

I have a 272LE.... The outhaul is threaded forward through the boom to the mast, but it was led down out the wrong hole under the boom near the gooseneck, and currently does not have that metal "lever cleat" that can lock the outhaul.

It seems that re-threading the line through the correct lead is very difficult without taking off the boom, so i want to investigate other ways to lock the outhaul:

I currently have a block at the base of the mast directing the outhaul aft, and am thinking about buying a cam cleat to place on the deck a few feet away from the base of the mast to lock the outhaul.

Questions: a) what kind of cleat would be the most effective?
b) where on the deck behind the mast is the fiberglas reinforced so that i could attach a cleat
c) are there any other suggestions of how to lock the outhaul? I'm sailing slowly these days because my sail is so baggy.

Thank you,

Dan Reichman

 

[Davidasailor26]

Dan,

I'm not sure if running the outhaul line down from the gooseneck to a deck mounted cleat would work as you change points of sail. I'd be concerned that when it's tensioned, the outhaul line would put an unnatural strain on the gooseneck and prevent it from moving freely. I crew on a boat that has the Cunningham run down to the deck, and it prevents the boom from rotating out onto a run when it's under tension.

For what it's worth, if the boom on the 272 is anything like our 28, it's not too hard to take off. Pretty much just take off the main and 2 clips on the gooseneck, and lift the boom until it detaches. It is a 2 person project, but my guess is that it's easier than drilling to add a cleat to the deck, and would cause less problems down the road. Remember that if it's an extra hour of work but doesn't introduce an extra hole for water intrusion into the deck, or other complications then it may be worthwhile.

-David