Internal Halyards

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Bill Lucas

For those of you with internal halyards, could you describe what hardware is used? Are the exits on the mast the stainless steel exit plates or actual exit blocks with a sheave. How high up are they placed? Do the halyards run through plastic tubes or is that just the mast wiring? How are the tubes attached to the mast? Is the spinnaker halyard internal also, how does it exit up top? Any help is appreciated, I'm thinking of running mine inside, assuming they stay quiet in there, is this true? Thanks
 
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Bob Fischer

1985 C27

On my 1985 model I have a double turning block inside the mast at the deck, on both the port and starboard sides. Up top there are blocks built in 2 side by side forward and 1 aft. If your boat doesn't have these you may be able to pull a pin on the masthead and slide a shieve in. The spinnaker halyard is external, running to a block hanging from the forward most pin on my masthead assembly.
 
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Tom Soko

Wander around a boatyard

Bill, Go to any one of a number of boatyards in the Mystic area. Most sailboats on shore have their sticks pulled for the winter and store them in racks around the yards. Find a few masts that look like yours, and study them. Besides the newer models, most Catalina masts are very similar, just different sizes. Notice that the exit holes are staggered on the mast, so as not to weaken the mast. Spinnaker halyards can be either internal or external. Your choice. Halyards do not run in any tubes. Only the wiring runs in tubes (conduits), to keep it from tangling with the halyards, and to keep it from slapping around (it is quite noisy otherwise). Good luck browsing!
 
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Bob Camarena

Is it worth It?

I don't know the answer to this question, but is it worth it? This sounds like one of those things that, if your boat has it already, great, but, if your boat doesn't have it already, you're probably better off spending your time and money on something else. I'd be interested in hearing from others on this as well as Bill's questions.
 
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Ron

Changed mine to internal

I switched mine last winter. I drilled out the masthead and used the existing sheaves. This gave me a spare halyard run on the outside for emergencies. No more slapping in the wind. I love it. It was cheap, maybe $25 for the hardware exit plates.
 
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Joe

My mast has...

...two double exit blocks on either side of the mast, an inch or so off the deck. The blocks are in a stainless steel housing bolted to the mast and provide structural support to it. Works fine, no additional deck block required, lines run directly to organizers. If were starting over, I would take a more traditional approach and lead each halyard through separate exit blocks at staggered levels beginning about 2 feet about the deck. They would lead down to a cluster of deck mounted blocks that would turn them towards the organizer blocks. This could lessen chance of any structural weakening and also allow a crew to stand at the mast and handle the halyard if it's too crowded in the cockpit, such as when you're racing. Whatever you do, try to mount the deck hardware so that the halyards and other control lines run without touching the deck. It keeps the deck and the lines way cleaner. The spinnaker halyard on my boat runs outside the mast to a block mounted forward of the headstay. Go to the Catalina 27 Unofficial website at http://www.geocities.com/catalina+27/ for rigging specs and a very informative diagram of the masthead.
 
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Hugh

Go the traditional way

I've got internal halyards and prefer to have them run the "traditional way" with deck turning blocks and the exit plates staggered up the mast starting at about 5' above the deck. This way you can jump the halyards rather than having to haul them all the way up from the cockpit and possibly through a winch to get them hauled all the way. When all the exit blocks are at the base of the mast you can no longer jump the halyards which to my way of thnking is a disadvantage. Also I have the Spinaker halyard run internally and it exits the mast about 4' below the top and is lead to a harken turning block attached to the top of the mast so that the spinnaker halyards is lead outside of the jib halyard. We have never had an issue of the Spinny halyard fouling the jib halyards. The advantage to having all the lines lead internally is 1. they don't slap around and 2. You can protect your halyard better by running a messenger line and pulling the halyards to the top of the stick thereby effectively "Stowing" them inside the mast. It's worth the effort. Good Luck
 
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