Mainsheet Cleat
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Re: Just like Truckman!!
Silvio, what is your hull #? Interestingly, the platform for the clutches is much wider on my boat-#294, I have plenty of room strbd of the clutches to install the new cam cleat. Yes PaulJ, I am labeled (fairly accurately I think) so little to fear from the label police.
Harry
Silvio, what is your hull #? Interestingly, the platform for the clutches is much wider on my boat-#294, I have plenty of room strbd of the clutches to install the new cam cleat. Yes PaulJ, I am labeled (fairly accurately I think) so little to fear from the label police.
Harry
Yea no dodger, would not have one for the type of sailing I usually do and would rather have better visibility.Witzend,
You must not have a dodger installed then? With the lines running under the dodger I don't think I would be able to release a clam cleat on the traveler. I have only really eased the traveler in fairly heavy wind to spill wind and reduce heal. Other than that I haven't used it much and the clutches work fine in that circumstance. Most fiddling around I do regarding sail sape and twist is with the solid vang and the occasional tweaking of the traveler. I am by no means an expert sailor so "fiddling" is really all I'm doing with the sails
Having free access to the traveler is a must for me, could not imagine not having it for dumping air in a puff. On a hard down beat having to work the main sheet would be a pain. I believe Ray may have a setup that may help you overcome the limitation if you're interested, I'm sure he will pipe in about it. If my memory holds me correct he races his. In any event the lines could be reeved in a manner to bring them to a set of clams located just aft of the wheel on each side, you may need to cut an access hole in the Dodger to accommodate. I seriously thinking of adding this capability to clean up the clutter while under sail.
Cam or Clam??? Seems there's some confusion, or maybe just typos.
This is from: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2417.0.html
OK, I, too, have had the fun of figuring out the differences.
Here's the definition:
CAM cleats have two movable jaws.
CLAM cleats are fixed usually plastic line holders under pressure from the standing end.
JAM cleats are offset regular cleats, usually used in Europe that have absolutely NO place on a boat - I think they're dangerous, because if improperly used, with the standing or bitter end on the lower edge, they will not release without unusual pressure, which "ain't good."
This is from: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2417.0.html
OK, I, too, have had the fun of figuring out the differences.
Here's the definition:
CAM cleats have two movable jaws.
CLAM cleats are fixed usually plastic line holders under pressure from the standing end.
JAM cleats are offset regular cleats, usually used in Europe that have absolutely NO place on a boat - I think they're dangerous, because if improperly used, with the standing or bitter end on the lower edge, they will not release without unusual pressure, which "ain't good."
Witz, Silvio, I do usually sail with my Dodger on. It has slits cut into it to allow me to work the traveler lines and pop them out of the cam cleats when I need to. Still working on modifying my traveler to get the lines to one side. When racing it would be a big help to the crew to have the controls for the traveler on one side. All of the new boats (309 and 355 for sure) have them set up that way. As for the main sheet I have my addition with the jam cleat and the cam cleat both there using the original holes. I just don't have the talent of a PaulJ to tap a new hole for just the cam cleat everyone else is doing, but my tablesaw helps me look a bit more talented.
FWIW, I use physical labels on all of my control lines. I recall they were around $6.00 at West Marine; Admiral likes them a lot.
Harry,
Mine is #223. I purchased the boat in December from the original owner. Everything that I have encountered looks like it came from the factory. The PO may have made requests of Catalina that I am not aware of, but it all looks original and not modified. I never met the gentleman in person but looking at the boat it would appear that he was set up for single handing which works with me since I am usually solo.
This weekend will be my first outing with the new set-up. I suspect it will work really well for my sailing style by giving the option of cam cleat or winch to control the main. I don't race or sail very agressively, mostly I go from point A to point B ,fire up the grill and toss out a fishing line. One thing that I did notice while adding the cam cleat is that the rope clutches were all individually aligned but they don't seem to point very accurately. Makes me wonder if the PO may have juggled a couple of the lines in the clutches, I have them now so they are leading as fair as I can get them without re-bedding all 9 clutches.
HAHAHAHA, excellent label !!Silvio
Did not look close enough.
paulj :troll:
After seeing the pics that I posted, and the other magnificent labels displayed, I actually removed the labels from my rope clutches, cleaned off the black sharpie writing and re-labeled them all (straight thistime). Talk about peer pressure
Hey Stu,
The 310 comes standard with a CLAM cleat on the cabin top to control the main sheet, many of us are replacing this Clam cleat with a CAM cleat, either with a swivel or an extreme angle fairlead to get a fair lead to the winch. It is WAAAAYYYY too easy to make a typo when talking about the two. The first pic I posted is my original set-up from Catalina using the CLAM cleat, you may notice that the cleat is missing the spring rope keeper, probably due to the lateral loading it would be subject to the first time the sheet is loaded and led to the winch. I am probably not alone in thinking that this is a horrible design from Catalina. :naughty:
I should make clear in my last post that I am not implying that the main sheet should be led UNDER the spring keeper on the clam cleat, only that the mainsheet applies pressure to the side of the cleat when led either to the winch or the helm with the factory set-up. I could find only a VERY limited angle that leads the manisheet OVER the clam cleat and it was nowhere near a winch.
OK, now I'm just bitching about the darned cleat
OK, now I'm just bitching about the darned cleat
Truckman, this thread has offcially been hijacked...
Truckman, sorry to hijack your thread.
Had the chance to try out the new cam cleat set-up this weekend. Saturday morning I went under the Destin east pass (stupid bridge, gauge showed over 50 ft and I still rattled my vhf) and out to the Gulf of Mexico. Winds were light and seas were running 1-2 knots eastward with waves about 1 foot. The cam cleat worked really well in the light winds as I worked my way off shore. I seemed to be constantly tweaking the main from the helm as I tried to keep the main working while dodging the fishing boats. By the time I got 2-3 miles out the wind was stiffening and developing a southerly component, about as good as I could hope for. I headed for Panama City aiming for the St. Andrews entrance. The winds picked up and stayed around 12-16 knots with the seas following 3-4 feet. Most of the time I kept the main sheet on the cabin top winch. Occasionally I would push the main sheet into the cleat so I could use the winch for tweaking the boom vang or something. The cleat was easy to engage with the main sheet loaded and on the clutch, there was no need to pull the sheet, a gentle push and in the cleat it would go. When I put the main sheet back on the winch the cam cleat would disengage as I tensioned the sheet on the winch. I couldn't be more pleased with this set-up. The fairlead on the cam cleat is the biggest improvement of all. The main sheet works as it should on the winch and leads nicely to the helm in light winds.
So, I headed out to the Gulf around 0800 and I dropped the hook just outside the Navy Dive School around 2100 (not the quickest trip but I spent a good bit of time goofing around not making way). It was a long day but beutiful sailing, thankfully the darn autopilot held a heading even with the Low Battery alarm going off every couple minutes. Came home Sunday up the ICW. Nice views of un-developed area. A little narrow at time but deep, not crowded, and 65 foot overhead clearance. So, 4-5 hours motoring and then sailing again across Choctawhatchee Bay. A nice weekend trip that I will definitely be making again. Next time I might find a dock and explore Panama City a bit.
Truckman, sorry to hijack your thread.
Had the chance to try out the new cam cleat set-up this weekend. Saturday morning I went under the Destin east pass (stupid bridge, gauge showed over 50 ft and I still rattled my vhf) and out to the Gulf of Mexico. Winds were light and seas were running 1-2 knots eastward with waves about 1 foot. The cam cleat worked really well in the light winds as I worked my way off shore. I seemed to be constantly tweaking the main from the helm as I tried to keep the main working while dodging the fishing boats. By the time I got 2-3 miles out the wind was stiffening and developing a southerly component, about as good as I could hope for. I headed for Panama City aiming for the St. Andrews entrance. The winds picked up and stayed around 12-16 knots with the seas following 3-4 feet. Most of the time I kept the main sheet on the cabin top winch. Occasionally I would push the main sheet into the cleat so I could use the winch for tweaking the boom vang or something. The cleat was easy to engage with the main sheet loaded and on the clutch, there was no need to pull the sheet, a gentle push and in the cleat it would go. When I put the main sheet back on the winch the cam cleat would disengage as I tensioned the sheet on the winch. I couldn't be more pleased with this set-up. The fairlead on the cam cleat is the biggest improvement of all. The main sheet works as it should on the winch and leads nicely to the helm in light winds.
So, I headed out to the Gulf around 0800 and I dropped the hook just outside the Navy Dive School around 2100 (not the quickest trip but I spent a good bit of time goofing around not making way). It was a long day but beutiful sailing, thankfully the darn autopilot held a heading even with the Low Battery alarm going off every couple minutes. Came home Sunday up the ICW. Nice views of un-developed area. A little narrow at time but deep, not crowded, and 65 foot overhead clearance. So, 4-5 hours motoring and then sailing again across Choctawhatchee Bay. A nice weekend trip that I will definitely be making again. Next time I might find a dock and explore Panama City a bit.
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I installed the new cam cleat yesterday. It is a huge improvement over the stock and I appreciate all of the commentary on this thread.
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Yup, they're still using the clam (cLam!) cleat on a lot of new boats, not only the C309. It's dumb, dumb and dumber.
This idea for the cam cleat is wonderful, and parallels my use of the sheetstopper (clutch) that I discussed earlier.
The fairlead to the winch is the most important part of the whole deal.
This idea for the cam cleat is wonderful, and parallels my use of the sheetstopper (clutch) that I discussed earlier.
The fairlead to the winch is the most important part of the whole deal.
Nice Job!
Nicely done! I wonder how many folks are sticking with the original set up from Catalina vs how many have made this or a similar modification.
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