Relocating mainsheet?

[Tom Richards]

Typically when I'm sailing, I'm either singlehanding, or with my family (and in the latter case, my wife is often occupied with the kids, so I'm essentially singlehanding!).I find it a little awkward to trim the mainsheet, in its current location. The boat has a traveller mounted on the bridgedeck, a few inches back from the companionway. The mainsheet, however, runs to a winch and cleat on the port side of the cabin top. This is unreachable from the helm, and usually involves climbing over one or more kids or guests, the cockpit table, etc. So sometimes I find I must sail with the main trimmed less than optimally (and this is hard to do, for someone with a bit of a competitive streak ;-)So, has anyone found a way to route the mainsheet back closer to the helm, or, to replace the blocks on the traveller with a set that includes a cam cleat (I had this setup on my Beneteau 235)? If I did the latter, I wonder if I could handle the mainsheet in a stiff breeze (not having a winch)?

 

[Ed Schenck]

Single-handing.

The one advantage of my old '79 with the traveler on the bridgedeck is single-handling. I did something similar to what you suggest Tom. My mainsheet also went forward and back to the winch. I bought new Garhauer fiddles, one with a cam cleat. I also added a small inside block to give me 5:1. So the mainsheet is right at hand in the cockpit.I think you would have to add more purchase. Then have the block with the cam cleat at the back of the boom. Properly done you could have two arrangements, one for single-handling and one to the winch for when you have crew aboard. I am always trimming and really like having the mainsheet at the helm.My Simrad WP30 autohelm will actually let me trim from anywhere. But I don't think I would replace the fine tuning that I get from having the sheet and the traveler in the cockpit.

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

Alternative

Try single-handing by standing beside and slightly to the front of the wheel instead of behind it. Not all the time, just some of the time when the helm is okay. You'll find you can step forward quickly and easily to work the traveler or the jib winches.

 

[Martin Cole]

Using a cam cleat

I'm not sure if the solution I came up with will help you out any, but here is what works for me. On my Hunter 28, the mainsheet runs to a winch on the cabin top, well forward of the helm. There is a line clutch forward of the winch. I mounted a heavy cam cleat between the winch and the line clutch. When I'm single handing, I run the mainsheet through the cam and back to the helm. I find that I can stand at the helm with the line draped over the pedastel and when I need to trim the main, all I have to do is tug and lift to release the main sheet from the cam, trim appropriately, and then lock the line back into the cam.

 

[Sanders]

Cam cleat works for me

The previous owner set it up this way, so I claim no credit, but the mainsheet runs down to a cam cleat. That makes it very easy to manage from the cockpit, even from the helm with a little extra tail on the sheet.With the sheet going to the back of the boom, which is the case with the traveler mounted on the bridgedeck, it takes less muscle to control. The rigger told me that was a better setup than to move it to the coach roof, as some prefer. Only drawback: my dodger is pretty short. But, so am I.S.