I hurt my shoulder back along and raising Arwen's mainsail is becoming increasingly more difficult so I have asked for advice on how to make it easier to haul up. The Welsford dinghy group, along with John, have come up with several suggestions. I am now trying to get my head around the arrangement of attaching a block to the top yard and running the main halyard up the mast through the mast sheave box down to this new block on the yard and back.........somewhere. It is the back to wherever bit which has me confused.
Sometime my own stupidity surprises even me............but the patience of the forum group, as always when dealing with me, will prevail and eventually the penny will drop and I will get it. The Internet is amazing. Also amazing is how many people out there give their time so freely to help others. Thanks guys, it's really appreciated.
6 comments:
I haven't seen your attachment points, but I assume the halyard goes up the mast, around a block and down to the yard? If so, you can double the purchase by replacing the block with one that has a becket (attachment point below it) Halyard could start at the becket, go down to the yard, through another block on the yard (probably the old one taken off, as above because it didn't have a becket) and then back up and through the first block on the mast and down to you.
Expressed from the other direction, from you it goes up the mast, through the top block, down to a block attached to the yard and through it, then back up to the mast block, attaching to the becket.
Hope this works for your situation.
Thanks Robert
That's really helpful. Appreciated.
There is one slight fly in the ointment
The current mast block is a sheave in a box at the top of the mast. So I guess the best way around that is to just put in a strop with the new block and becket and not use the sheave
Thanks for helping out, really appreciated.
Hold that ointment!
You may simply be able to use the existing sleeve, but adding an attachment point below it i.e. some kind of eye, pad eye or eye bolt for the bitter end of the halyard...which by the way will be need to be much longer because of the extra block.
Yup had a similar realisation about an hour ago. I had a spare strop with eye woven in already on the mast. I use it to move the sprit boom up or down the mast occasionally and as good luck would have it, it just fits over the bolts that protrude either side of the sheave box......which with a bit of luck means I could use this strop and eye for bitter end of halyard, run the halyard down through the block on the yard and back up to the sheave. I think the strop looks as if it will sit lower than the sheave box and not foul it either.
Could I really be that lucky.....?
Thanks for the help Robert.....much appreciated
Steve
Hi Steve,
Sorry to hear your troubles. Raising the main should not be that heavy work. Tightening it on its highest point is taken care of by the downhaul. But the Gaff boom does require a block to get good tension up there. Like Robert states, a purchase extra or two will do the job.
The technique to pull on a halyard outwards while it has been held fast in a cleat could also help getting the sail up there without any pulling...
Good luck and post some pics of your new setup please.
Thanks Rik. Shoulder is a pain, figuratively and in reality so anything that helps........thanks for the tip
Steve
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