I want to add a jib downhaul to my 22. Yes I have a hank on jib sail and would like to know the parts list and line size/length from someone who has done it.
Thanks
Bobby
Thanks
Bobby
jib downhaul
- Thread starter e714753
- Start date
I was asking the same thing a few months ago. I can't say I've perfected a system though; my first few attempts at using it were clumsy and cumbersome, and didn't work well. I plan to revisit the issue before long though.
http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=164866&highlight=downhaul
http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=164866&highlight=downhaul
Hehe, two purposes. The eye splice on the end can get jammed in the masthead if I hoist it too far. And it makes it easier to direct the first mate. She struggles with the vocabulary. "Grab the basketball line for me, will ya?" There's a baseball on the main halyard and a soccer ball on the vang.
I'd get tongue-tied about which game was on, and she'd be trimming the soccer ball when the Yankees were supposed to be playing. 
Gotcha.
For headsails and mainsails, you normally want the halyard pull to be stopped by correct tension on the luff, and not by the halyard stop running into the sheave. If that happens, you probably do not have enough halyard tension. Probably because your sails are cut too long.
Those balls are really designed only for spin halyards. Because the tack/clew is normally not fixed on spinnakers, that ball stopping and the sheave is the only way to know you are at full hoist.
jib downhauls
My experiences about headsail downhauls are;
I would not add a downhaul unless the sail halyards run to the cockpit. If your boat has the halyards at the mast for raising and lowering, adding a downhaul would only allow one to lower the headsail from the cockpit but, would have to go forward to the bow to gather up the sail on deck to remove it or lash it down to something. When lowering the headsail halyard at the mast, one would only be two steps from the forestay for manually pulling the sail down, removing or lashing.
With the haylards in the cockpit the downhaul only gives you one extra breath of relaxation after the boat settles down before going forward to remove or lash the sail! With the halyards at the cockpit one would want the downlhaul line within easy reach of the sail’s halyard so one could work both lines at the same time if needed.
My boat has the factory halyards lead aft on the cabin top. I used a small vertical turning block at the bow to turn the downhaul from vertical to horizontal to match the deck, using a very small line. I feed the line through the bar supports on the base of the stanchions to keep this line on deck and near the gunwales to keep from walking on it. At the back of the cabin inboard of the headsail sheeting track I attached a small jam cleat with fairlead as an end point for the line. I keep the extra downhaul line coiled and thrown over the jib winch on the port side cabin top or stored in a halyard bag attached to the back of the cabin above the port side cockpit bench.
The line end at the turning block I have a large knot tied in the line so that the line cannot become disconnected with the block upon trailering. The end of the line is one foot from this knot and I have permanently tied it to the headsail shackle on the end of the jib halyard. With the downhaul always tied to the halyard I never have to worry about the halyard getting out of reach. I keep the jib halyard shackle attached to the forestay and keep both lines, the halyard and the downhaul stretched tight so that the shackle is about 3 feet above the bow when not under sail.
Jib or genoa, dump from sail bag at the bow, attach the tack to the bow and one at a time from the bottom up hook each sail-hank onto the forestay. As I get close to the head or top of the sail I weave the hanks around the jib downhaul till I get to the top of the sail. I noticed that without the weave of the downhaul straight down the sail’s luff the downhaul pulling down on the halyard shackle caused the headboard at the very top of the sail to pull over sideways above the top hank and cause some binding or excessive friction on pulling the sail down. I find just a couple hanks will keep the very top of the sail from falling over-sideways.
See weave in attached photo.
Now, because the downhaul is attached to the halyard and the shackle is on the forestay locating the end of the downhaul and the halyard is right there just above the hanked on sail for easy attachment. I then attach the sheet lines and somewhat flake the sail under the lifelines on either side of the bow pulpit to keep the sail from blowing off the deck until ready to raise.
At the cockpit, siting on the port side gunwale, I uncoil the downhaul into the cockpit, lift this downhaul line from the jam-cleat, keep the downhaul line over my left arm, standup on the cockpit port bench grab the halyard with my right hand and then my left hand and while puling the halyard allow the downhaul to feed over the top of my left arm as it feeds through the fairlead near the headsail track. Because I use a jam cleat, if I do not keep the downhaul line raised up it will seat itself into the jam cleat and you cannot raise the headsail any further. The flaked head sail under the lifelines will slowly pull out as you raise the sail. After the sail halyard is the right tension on top of the cabin and cleated, I reach down and stretch the downhaul back and jam it into the cleat. To lower the headsail, I uncoil the halyard into the cockpit and release from the cleat, while sitting on the port gunwale I reach down and grab the downhaul and pull with both hands. I then have to go forward to remove or tie up the sail.
My experiences about headsail downhauls are;
I would not add a downhaul unless the sail halyards run to the cockpit. If your boat has the halyards at the mast for raising and lowering, adding a downhaul would only allow one to lower the headsail from the cockpit but, would have to go forward to the bow to gather up the sail on deck to remove it or lash it down to something. When lowering the headsail halyard at the mast, one would only be two steps from the forestay for manually pulling the sail down, removing or lashing.
With the haylards in the cockpit the downhaul only gives you one extra breath of relaxation after the boat settles down before going forward to remove or lash the sail! With the halyards at the cockpit one would want the downlhaul line within easy reach of the sail’s halyard so one could work both lines at the same time if needed.
My boat has the factory halyards lead aft on the cabin top. I used a small vertical turning block at the bow to turn the downhaul from vertical to horizontal to match the deck, using a very small line. I feed the line through the bar supports on the base of the stanchions to keep this line on deck and near the gunwales to keep from walking on it. At the back of the cabin inboard of the headsail sheeting track I attached a small jam cleat with fairlead as an end point for the line. I keep the extra downhaul line coiled and thrown over the jib winch on the port side cabin top or stored in a halyard bag attached to the back of the cabin above the port side cockpit bench.
The line end at the turning block I have a large knot tied in the line so that the line cannot become disconnected with the block upon trailering. The end of the line is one foot from this knot and I have permanently tied it to the headsail shackle on the end of the jib halyard. With the downhaul always tied to the halyard I never have to worry about the halyard getting out of reach. I keep the jib halyard shackle attached to the forestay and keep both lines, the halyard and the downhaul stretched tight so that the shackle is about 3 feet above the bow when not under sail.
Jib or genoa, dump from sail bag at the bow, attach the tack to the bow and one at a time from the bottom up hook each sail-hank onto the forestay. As I get close to the head or top of the sail I weave the hanks around the jib downhaul till I get to the top of the sail. I noticed that without the weave of the downhaul straight down the sail’s luff the downhaul pulling down on the halyard shackle caused the headboard at the very top of the sail to pull over sideways above the top hank and cause some binding or excessive friction on pulling the sail down. I find just a couple hanks will keep the very top of the sail from falling over-sideways.
See weave in attached photo.
Now, because the downhaul is attached to the halyard and the shackle is on the forestay locating the end of the downhaul and the halyard is right there just above the hanked on sail for easy attachment. I then attach the sheet lines and somewhat flake the sail under the lifelines on either side of the bow pulpit to keep the sail from blowing off the deck until ready to raise.
At the cockpit, siting on the port side gunwale, I uncoil the downhaul into the cockpit, lift this downhaul line from the jam-cleat, keep the downhaul line over my left arm, standup on the cockpit port bench grab the halyard with my right hand and then my left hand and while puling the halyard allow the downhaul to feed over the top of my left arm as it feeds through the fairlead near the headsail track. Because I use a jam cleat, if I do not keep the downhaul line raised up it will seat itself into the jam cleat and you cannot raise the headsail any further. The flaked head sail under the lifelines will slowly pull out as you raise the sail. After the sail halyard is the right tension on top of the cabin and cleated, I reach down and stretch the downhaul back and jam it into the cleat. To lower the headsail, I uncoil the halyard into the cockpit and release from the cleat, while sitting on the port gunwale I reach down and grab the downhaul and pull with both hands. I then have to go forward to remove or tie up the sail.
