raising sails from the cockpit of a 1977 H25

[Tom Teagle]

I want to run my jib and main halyards aft so I can raise and lower the sails from the cockpit. Can anybody give me a heads-up to potential problems?

 

[Pops]

I did my 75 h25

I led my halyards back through some existing fairleads PO had installed on deck for spinaker control lines, very convenient. Everything was fine until I needed to raise the main quickly (newbies as crew) and I tore one of the fairleads out of the deck. I had done the easy wasy, not the right way. Make sure that what you do is strong enough to handle that extra load when you need it(I did not impresss the crew with my seamanship).

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

Add a clutch

Or whatever you call those plastic gizmos that restrain the line from slipping. Screw it onto the main as a temporary stopper so you can leisurely go back to the cockpit to crank up the last few inches.

 

[chris]

install rope clutches

I ran halyards aft on our previous boat(a catalina 22) and used fixed mast halyard blocks at the base, rounded aft thru deck organizers, put in #6 winches on the cabin top aft and cam cleats just after that. Our current boat (a hunter 27) has factory halyard thru the mast with halyard turning blocks built in to the mast base, rounded aft thru deck organizers, thru rope clutches and then to cabin top #6 winch. I like the rope clutch setup better because (1) the rope clutch allows tightening the halyard and it will not release if your hands slip (which has happened to my wife because she doesn't have a lot of grip strength) and (2) both halyards share the same winch and the rope clutch holds the halyard even while unwinding it from the winch, (3)rope clutch allows controlled release of halyard. What I would have changed on the C22 setup as well was using a block on a spring at the base of the mast instead of the fixed mast base halyard blocks. Despite very detailed and careful placement of the blocks before mounting I soon realized that under changing tensions of sail (and different jibs) the halyard positioned itself slightly differently. This caused the halyard to chaffe or not seat completely in the block sheave. Using a deck mounted spring block would have allowed the block to adjust to the slight halyard angle changes. Lessons learned! Additionally, I thru-bolted all the hardware as well as seating it with 4200 and never had a problem with it pulling out or stressing the deck. It is, of course, mentally challenging to drill that first hole, but after you sail the first time with the lines led aft you realize it was worth the anxiety!fair winds,chris

 

[Whisper24284]

consider a furler

I presume that you are primarily a single-hander and as such, the safety aspects of handling everything from the cockpit become paramount. I have a 1979 h25 that I have rigged for solo sailing. Number one was to add a roller furler to my head sail. This enables me to effectively raise/lower/reef my head sail without leaving the cockpit. This was first on the list. As such, the location of the head sail halyard was insignificant. Secondly was to run the main halyard back to the cockpit and, as has been adequately been pointed out, fairleads and clutches properly secured to the cabin overhead accomplish this task. I prefer to use a fully battened main which tends to bind when being lowered necessitating going to the mast to pull it down or using a downhaul run back to the cockpit or (heaven forbid) to use a partially battened main.