Gary Pick wrote:
I was thinking of attaching the sail to the boom and yard then fitting the battens and parrels as I go.

I fitted my sail on a calm day.  I started with the yard, and then raised a bit of sail, put in the batten, added the parrel, etc, etc, setting up the topping lifts as the end.  It was fun :-)

I may have a problem with the polypropylene rope I've used for my halyard, in that it maybe a bit stiff for the 5:1 set up. Too much friction when lowering. I'll know when the sail is on anyway.

Polyprop, in my experience, softens quite quickly with use and as it's a lot more slippery than polyester, should reduce the friction, if anything.  Are you using Silverstrand?  Hard to get here, but great stuff and lasts for years.

Gary Pick wrote:

Paul Thompson wrote:Looking good! Are you planning to assemble the sail on the boat? Because for a sail of Redwing's size, it's probably easier to assemble on land then just take the bundle down to the boat.

BTW I'd run lines (halyard etc...) straight from the mast to the deadeyes that you put on the raised section of your coachroof and skip any attachment to the lower part.

Do you mean say fitting turning blocks to the mast?
I've skipped the deadeyes on the fo'ard cabin top.
I was thinking of attaching the sail to the boom and yard then fitting the battens and parrels as I go.
I may have a problem with the polypropylene rope I've used for my halyard, in that it maybe a bit stiff for the 5:1 set up. Too much friction when lowering. I'll know when the sail is on anyway.

Gary, the way you've done (as far as I can make out from the photo's) is basically just fine. It's just (as far as I can see) you are running the halyard through a block on the lower cabin top and then through the bullseye on the upper cabin top. I'd lengthen the tail on your mast base block and run the halyard straight to the bullseye on the upper cabin top. It would also help with the interference that you are (it seems) getting from your fore hatch.

You should always try to lead your lines in such a manner that you use the absolute minimum of blocks, bulleyes etc. You also want to keep your runs as straight as possible and your leads as fair as possible. Every deviation from the above adds friction and it is accumulative (and costs).

Not trying to tell you what to do, just passing on what I have learned (mostly the hard way), If you sail a gaffer with minimal winches you learn very quickly and junk rigs are much the same in that sense.

Looking good! Are you planning to assemble the sail on the boat? Because for a sail of Redwing's size, it's probably easier to assemble on land then just take the bundle down to the boat.

BTW I'd run lines (halyard etc...) straight from the mast to the deadeyes that you put on the raised section of your coachroof and skip any attachment to the lower part.

Gary Pick wrote:Finding suitably thick stainless for the base plates is the problem. None in stock and I only need two bits 80mm x 80mm. I'm thinking of buying two stanchion bases and using those.

That's what we used on Badger and they were just fine.

Thank you David.