Why are the sheets led back to the rear of the cockpit and not to the forward portion?

  • 09 Sep 2015 10:29
    Reply # 3516952 on 3505505
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Richard, I agree with you that one is never immune against fooled sheets. Still, by designing and rigging in a couple of details, the likelihood of getting in trouble when tacking or (long-) gybing will be much reduced:

    ·         Make and rig the sail with the leech vertical, or even leaning a tiny bit aft.

    ·         Keep the aft batten ends flush with the leech.

    Your method of making the gybes short by pulling in the sheet is of course good, and this also guards against the dreaded fan-ups (with reefed sails in strong winds).

    Cheers, Arne

     

  • 09 Sep 2015 09:57
    Reply # 3516943 on 3505505

    My Coromandel, Tammy Norie, has a pretty much textbook HM rig.  You can see the distance and angles between the leech and the sheet blocks in this photo (sail down) and this one (sail up).

    The angle is reasonably generous but the sheets do occasionally foul on a gybe. The spans sometimes get caught under lower batten ends, and sometimes a whole section of the sheet gets caught under the boom.

    My solution is to gybe in a more controlled way taking in the sheet, or hauling the whole sheet bundle back by hand (in light winds).

    So I don't think any angle will make you immune!

  • 02 Sep 2015 01:32
    Reply # 3506227 on 3506147
    Richard Hicks wrote:

    Hi



    Hi David, I think I found you....China Cloud!!  Wow.  I'm moving up to Tacoma or Olympia Wa at the end of the year.  R

    Nope! My boat is Tystie, and I'm now in New Zealand, so no chance of meeting.
  • 01 Sep 2015 23:17
    Reply # 3506147 on 3505505
    Deleted user

    Hi



    Hi David, I think I found you....China Cloud!!  Wow.  I'm moving up to Tacoma or Olympia Wa at the end of the year.  R

  • 01 Sep 2015 22:53
    Reply # 3506135 on 3505505
    Deleted user




    David, what is the name of your boat?  I thought I might like to see a pic in the photo gallery if there is one.  R

  • 01 Sep 2015 22:48
    Reply # 3506129 on 3505505
    Deleted user

    Thank you David for your time spent on my behalf.  I'll give it a go.  Hope to meet you sometime; supper is on me.  My best, Richard 

  • 01 Sep 2015 22:00
    Reply # 3506097 on 3505505

    That's a minimum of ten degrees from the top sheeted batten, which may be about three feet from the clew by the time you get down to the foot of the sail. This is an arbitrary figure; the closer the sheet to the sail, the more the chance of the sheet spans fouling behind the batten ends, but the fouling is just as likely to happen when tacking in light airs, ie, whenever the sheet is slack.

    What you should do is to try a lash-up first, before moving the lower blocks permanently. Just tie the blocks to a point where you think you can make a strong permanent fastening, go sailing in light breezes, and see what happens.

  • 01 Sep 2015 21:12
    Reply # 3506049 on 3505505
    Deleted user

    Thank you David.  If I give the ten percent space as you suggest, and I gybe the boat, might I be in danger of some sort of a tangle with the sheets?  Hence, a minimum of ten percent or more might be required.  Is my thinking correct, or am I just chasing imaginary dragons?

    Again thank you for your help.  Richard

  • 01 Sep 2015 20:28
    Reply # 3505941 on 3505505

    The sheet needs to make a minimum angle of ten degrees with the leech of the sail, and it sounds as though you can achieve this easily. It's actually counter-productive to set the deck blocks very far aft, as then the sheet tends to haul the sail aft, rather than in, when close hauled. Also, I wouldn't want to have any chance of the mid-air sheet blocks landing heavily on top of the solar panels. I would certainly try sheeting from the forward end of the frame, if the sheet blocks are still below the clew of the sail.

  • 01 Sep 2015 18:36
    Message # 3505505
    Deleted user

    my pilot cutter (24') on deck has a small cockpit (5'x8') with a stainless steel cage over it.  There is (7') of standing space under the cage which on top is the frame for the solar panels, it extends over the entire (5x8) space. It is a small space complicated by wheel steering in the center of that space.  Not much room to move around in.  From where the bundle ends aft, over the trunk cabin, and passage way to below, to the beginning of the cage there is 3' of distance for and aft.  Is there any reason why the sheets cannot be led down from the sail/battens to the forward end of my cockpit and the lines secured there?  

    There maybe an obvious answer to this but I'm so new at this and I haven't located anyone in the San Francisco California Bay Area that can help me with this.  I appreciate any assistance you might be able to spare.

    Richard


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