Wednesday 7 September 2011

(13) Control Lines - main sheet and sheetlets

I have now fitted the control lines and a bit of playing around before I launch.. so I will not assume anything until then but some observations, first the main sheet...
The main sheet set up is more complex than the normal single on a bermudian rig,  seperate lines are needed to control the yard, boom and each batten (referred to as "sheetlets") and in turn, by a series of blocks, to the main sheet, this seems complicated but are:
(1) Full reefs. When want to fully reef down (or stow the sail) you could simply release the halliard and the lot will fold down like a venician blind, good in an emergency, but if you did this there is a good chance that the sheets and sheetlets will tangle up and rehoisting will mean going out on the deck to sort the mess out... which defeats the aim of  not needing to leave the cabin.. so the sheet should be pulled in at the same time.
(2) Partial reefs, as the weather picks up the great thing of this type of reefing is that because of the simplicity, you just let go a panel at a time... you not need to anticipate the what sort of reefing you will need before you set off (as you would do with a bermudian jobbie)... cool eh? But what I am not sure of yet is if the weight of the battens (etc) that have been dropped is enough to hold it down or if the downward pull on the each sheetlet progressively holds the yard/batten down ?
(3) Finally, when sailing and you pull on the main sheet ,the same pressure needs to be applied to each sheetlet to avoid twists.
There are so many versions on how you can set it up, I have decided to keep it simple and see what happens... photo time!!

The new stern arrangement to keep the main sheet blocks and lines above the hood... I had two plates welded on to bolt the contraption to the pull-pit and enable the fitting of two wire strops to give a bit of lateral strength...





















A close up showing the wires etc...



























A close up of the deck fittings:

















The sheet needs three seperate blocks on a mount (made from bolting a couple of aluminium angles together)....



Drill some holes add some shackles to attach the blocks and with a couple of "U" bolts, the lot was fixed to the stern gizzie..


I will add a picture of how the sheets n' sheetlets later!! In the meanwhile this is what my grandaughter Mia thinks about it...




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