Halyard Indicator

[Don Guillette]

I was thinking of this during the discussion on jib halyard. This is for guys who hoist at the mast - which is me. How many times have you had to strain your neck trying to look up at the top of the mast to determine if you are at full hoist?

Here's an easy way to avoid the neck strain. Place a small piece of black tape on both sides of the mast (for the main and jib halyard) a little above the cleat. Now go to full hoist with both the main and jib halyard. Then place another piece of black tape on both the jib and main halyard where they intersect the tape on the mast.

If you want to get fancy, drop the main halyard to the reef points and mark them also. You can imagine how fast this would make one part of the reef process.

 

[RichH]

A really good idea that is used by many of the 'race crowd'.

Not only can you mark 'full hoist' but also mark with differing tape colors, the halyard vs. mast position for varying wind strength conditions (halyard load). Works especially well with boltroped sails that need to be flown with boltrope 'stretched out', not 'just raised'.

If you have a block system for your outhaul ... can do that too.
;-)

 

[Alan]

As Rich points out, 'racers' have been using halyard marks forever. As he correctly points out there is not just one hoist position for the sail. Halyard tension is dependent on wind strength. As the wind increases halyard tension needs to be increased. Double braid Dacron line in particular will stretch quite a bit as the wind increases loosening the luff of the sail. This is just the reverse of what is needed.

 

[Stu Jackson]

And useful for reefing lines as well. We have a double line reefing system. We use black magic markers for the halyard and reefing points on the lines. Anything one uses for markers on a boat will eventually disappear from UV and exposure, so the nice job I did with tape back in the day eventually got replaced with a "Marks-a-Lot" or a wide Sharpie.

Of course, I need a fourteen page guidebook to keep up with all the different colored marks on the lines, 'cuz if I haven't been on the boat for more than a week, I forget...

 

[Don Guillette]

I was talking to a ship mate today regarding the jib cunningham set up I used and she (yup, gals are easier to talk to than guys because they are not trying to prove something) mentioned the posts of Rich H, Alan, Stu and Joe as examples of how complicated all the adjustments involved with adjusting the sail trim of the main and jib are for the beginner to intermediate.

My first response was no kidding but these guys weren’t born with the knowledge – they learned it. It is like learning to ride a 15 speed bike or learning the shift pattern for an 18 wheeler semi. It is not easy at first. There is a particular shift setting for the conditions they are riding and driving in. These settings pretty much stay the same. The same with sail trim. For each point of sail and wind condition there is a particular BASIC setting for all the controls on the main and jib. You may have to tweak them a bit but once you learn the basic settings your home and frankly you know more about sail trim at that point than 75% of the sailors worldwide.

Sail trim is not like nuclear research that goes on and on – once the sail trim adjustment lights go on that is it and your there. As I said, we are not born with this knowledge and if you want to get good at sail trim or anything you have to spend a little time learning what to do. There are very few self taught sail trimmers. Actually, I’m one of them but I would not want anyone to go through what I went through to learn how to sail a silly sailboat. It was very difficult for me in the beginning because I did not know where the beginning actually was!! In other words, if you starting messing around with the fairleads and have no conception of draft depth, draft position, twist and angle of attack then sail trim will never make any sense to you. You have no idea of the function and purpose of that sail trim control and how the adjustment you made affects the mainsail. In effect, you’re guessing and your results will be frustrating.

So what is the solution? One way is to find a good instructor who is a good communicator. This is very important. The first instructor I had confused the hell out of me. I had no idea what he was talking about and neither did the other students even though they were nodding their heads. Next the instructor has to have a systematic approach. As mentioned, if you don’t understand “the 4 elements of sail trim” he can talk to you all day about the traveler and you still won’t get it.

 

[JustDucky]

I mark my halyard for reefing with colored waxed whipping twine. They have lasted several years.