Oday 222 Main Halyard back to the Cockpit

[KAC222]

Right now I am looking for new Z Spar sheaves to replace the split one at the mast top. When I do replace it, I want to bring the main halyard back to the cockpit (using the sheaves at the base of the mast). Does anyone have examples of how they brought their halyard back? Pics work great as I am less familiar with hardware terms and placement of the hardware is limited on the 222. I would love to hear the pros and cons of your choices so I can make the right choice. Thank you!

Kacey
1988 ODay 222

 

[Joe11688]

Right now I am looking for new Z Spar sheaves to replace the split one at the mast top. When I do replace it, I want to bring the main halyard back to the cockpit (using the sheaves at the base of the mast). Does anyone have examples of how they brought their halyard back? Pics work great as I am less familiar with hardware terms and placement of the hardware is limited on the 222. I would love to hear the pros and cons of your choices so I can make the right choice. Thank you!

Kacey
1988 ODay 222

Hi Kacey!
Rudy has these sheaves. http://www.drmarine.com/ The pin for the sheave is pressed into the mast head, so
you may need to knock it out and use a stainless steel bolt and lock nut for the sheave axle. The bolt should only be threaded near the end. In other words, the sheave needs to turn on the smooth part of the bolt.
I take it that you're not too keen about standing on the cabin to work your Mainsail, and that's understandable but the question arises, about how you are going to reef your sail from the cockpit. Also, you'll need to cover and uncover your sail. What if the sail doesn't come all the way down when you let the halyard off from the cockpit? If you're really adamant about doing this Kacey, I would suggest that you install a sheave for your topping lift and run a line back for that too. If the Main sail won't come all the way down by itself, you could always rig up a Mainsail down haul very similar to a Jib down haul, and lead that back to the cockpit also. You still won't be able to reef your sail or shake out the reef from the cockpit without extra control lines for that purpose. When you get through doing all these changes you'll have an O'Day 222 with all the features of an O'Day 272 LE. It's something to think about. It wouldn't be bad if you could do this stuff without having to drill holes in your boat. I'd like to mount something to the top my companionway hatch to hold my sunshower in place, but I dread having to drill holes because holes can cause possible leaks.
I hope that you are having a great sailing season. Take care Kacey!
Regards,
Joe

 

[RichBone]

Leading the halyards back to the cockpit is a good idea and can make raising and lowering the sails easier and more convenient. Rudy at D&R Marine- http://www.drmarine.com/default.asp can give you advice on the hardware and placement. I'm not familiar with the 222 (cockpit led controls was probably figured into its design) but I'm working on leading my halyards back. Are there are other boats in your area or marinas where you can see how other boats are rigged?
There have been other posts on this subject and you might be able to find them using the "search"- haven't had much luck with it myself.
Good luck with it.
Rich

 

[RichBone]

Kacey, Do you have winches mounted on your mast or cabin top?
You said you already had sheaves mounted at the base of the mast?

Rich

 

[Joe11688]

Leading the halyards back to the cockpit is a good idea and can make raising and lowering the sails easier and more convenient. Rudy at D&R Marine- http://www.drmarine.com/default.asp can give you advice on the hardware and placement. I'm not familiar with the 222 (cockpit led controls was probably figured into its design) but I'm working on leading my halyards back. Are there are other boats in your area or marinas where you can see how other boats are rigged?
There have been other posts on this subject and you might be able to find them using the "search"- haven't had much luck with it myself.
Good luck with it.
Rich

Rich,
Where you haven't tried this on your boat yet, you can't really be sure whether you're going to like it. What I would suggest that both you and Kacey do to your boats is set it up temporarily with sheaves and ropes tied to the bottom of the mast and from the base of a lifeline stanchion at the bale. You can always snub the halyard off at a cleat somewhere. If it works to your liking, then go ahead and make it up permanent. After you've drilled the holes for the blocks and those expensive rope clutches, it'll be too late to turn back. I can honestly say that halyards lead back to the cockpit works great on certain boats like small Sturdee Cats. The one that I had really wasn't stable enough to walk on the cuddy or the bow, but the sail could be handled from the cockpit.

 

[adirondackbob]

I ran my halyards back to the cockpit of my 1983 O'Day 23 this year, and my wife and I love it. It makes hoisting and dowsing sails far easier and safer than our old set-up, which required us to go forward to the mast. I know Joe is a big proponent of leaving the halyards at the mast and using a roller furler and autohelm to facilitate raising and lowering sails, but for us running the halyards aft was a more feasible (and affordable) option.

FYI, two years ago I installed a utility plate under my mast step (purchased it from Rudy, so it fit perfectly without requiring any alterations or additional drilling). I attached blocks to the plate on either side of the mast to turn the halyards out, and I installed cheek blocks near the forward end of the grabrails to turn the halyards aft. I also installed Lewmar rope clutches (because they can be released under load). Since my jib is hanked on, I use a downhaul to bring it to the deck. I run the downhaul through small blocks that I installed at the stanchion bases to a small cleat at the stern on the port side. Works great.

By the way, I bought all the hardware new. Total cost was about $300.

I don't have photos to post, but I may be able to take some next weekend.

Good luck.

Bob

 

[OdayDave]

Kacey -

I added the organizer plate to the base of my mast as well. D&R Marine is the way to go precisely because all the holes lined up perfectly. It was a couple hour project all total. Then I run the main halyard through a block at the base, and then back to the winch and cleat on the top of the cabin top. It works pretty well.

I also took Joe's advice and added an autopilot and I will set that up if I'm single-handing and the conditions are a little rough (or if I'm single-handing and know I'm going to want to get away from the tiller from time to time). Those little autopilots are a great add-on and I wish I had done it years ago.

I'll get some pictures next time I'm at the boat. Finally we are supposed to get some wind. It has been great weather from the standpoint of temps, but no wind. I'll have to go after work tomorrow.

Dave
O'Day 222

 

[Joe11688]

I don't think that Kacey has the same type of mast step on her 222 guys. She has the same cast Aluminum mast step with the sheave at the bottom for the Jib halyard that I had on my old mast. That doesn't mean that she can't have a utility plate installed under it, but new holes would need to be drilled into the plate to make it work. I'm happy that this system works good for you guys and that you like it, though. I just took my boat off the trailer today and put it on stands. I feel so achy, like someone just threw my of a building.
Joe

 

[Mich222]

BOB and/or DAVE:
I would like to run halyards back to the cockpit in my O'Day 222. Would you post a picture of the organizer / utility plate under mast step, attached blocks to the plate and cheek blocks, Lewmar rope clutch placement (Bob) and cleat on the top of the cabin top (Dave)?
Much appreciated,
Mich in Minnesota

 

[adirondackbob]

Mich, I don't have photos, but I'm hoping to sail this weekend. If I do, I'll take some photos and post them.

I should add that my O'Day 23 did not come with cabin-top winches, and when I was making these changes, I went back and forth about installing winches there. I was unsure whether I would need them to raise the sails. In the end I didn't. The sails are manageable without winches, and I took care to keep friction in the system to a minimum. Also, I chose the Lewmar rope clutches because they were the only ones I could find that would release under load. If I'd installed winches, I probably would have used a slightly less expensive rope clutch (I looked seriously at Spinlock). However, the system I installed works great, and we've had no problems, even in stiff winds.

Bob

 

[Mich222]

Thanks. I hope you get to sail over the weekend.

 

[adirondackbob]

Halyards Led Aft

Mich, we did get to sail yesterday (gorgeous fall-like day, light winds), and I took a few photos of my halyard set-up. I shot the port side because of the angle of the sun, but the set-up is identical on the starboard side. I run my jib halyard on the port side and main on the starboard side.

As you can see, I installed a pad under the cheek blocks to make sure the lines cleared the deck. Placement of these blocks was tricky because there was so little room between the cabintop hatch runners and the grab rails. Once I figured out the placement, installation was fairly easy. I used oak for the pads. I sealed them with polyurethane and stained them to try to match the teak grab rails.

I hope this helps.

Bob

 

[Mich222]

Re: Halyards Led Aft

Bob:
Glad you had a nice time sailing. Thank you kindly for the pictures. You sure made nice clean upgrades. We are going sailing today and I will take your photos and instructions along. I will let you know how it comes out. I probably won't get to this project until the winter. Best- Mich

 

[Joe11688]

Right now I am looking for new Z Spar sheaves to replace the split one at the mast top. When I do replace it, I want to bring the main halyard back to the cockpit (using the sheaves at the base of the mast). Does anyone have examples of how they brought their halyard back? Pics work great as I am less familiar with hardware terms and placement of the hardware is limited on the 222. I would love to hear the pros and cons of your choices so I can make the right choice. Thank you!

Kacey
1988 ODay 222

Kacey,
Check out a book by Wallace Ross entitled, "Sail Power." This book has all the deck layouts and can answer any questions that you may have of sail control. You might find this book in your local public library.
Joe

 

[LordNelson]

my boat is set up similar to adirondackbob's, but without a winch i couldn't seem to get enough tension on the headsail for my liking. also, on occasion the lowest hank would hang up on the turnbuckle. the main worked ok, but i still needed to go forward to adjust the downhaul. since i am on a mooring and have to go forward to release the mooring lines anyway, it turned out easier to just raise the sails at the mast.

 

[adirondackbob]

Interesting, Lord Nelson. I worried about this very thing when I was running the halyards aft, but it may be that we haven't had this problem because our headsail is relatively small. We have a 100% working jib. No genny. We haven't had any trouble getting sufficient tension.

Bob

 

[LordNelson]

i think part of the problem with the tension is that a former owner installed cam cleats directly on the cabin roof. if they had been raised up on a piece of teak, i think i might have gotten a better bite on it. a newer halyard might help also.

since i have been raising them at the mast, i haven't bothered to change them and try it. i used to have a cape dory typhoon set up like that with the cam cleats on a piece of teak and i didn't have any problems raising the sails from the cockpit.

 

[adirondackbob]

That makes sense. I have to say that the Lewmar rope clutches are great. They sit up high, and the ability to release them under load makes dowsing the sails very easy. The internal mechanism, which does not use a camming device as most clutches seem to do, holds extremely well without seeming to damage the line.

By the way, how's the sailing been on Seneca Lake this year?

Bob

 

[LordNelson]

sailing on seneca has been off and on this summer. july was 3-4 days rain followed by one good day with or without wind. August got hot, but the lake was like glass alot of the time. the september has been great. virtually no rain and we have had wind, sometimes almost too much as have run with reefed main have the time.