Not sure I follow your description(s) of the main halyard, but regarding the
jib halyard, a common rig for getting more halyard tension is to cut the
halyard 3 or 4 ft (or less, depending on your rig) above the base of the
mast with the sail raised. Attach the head of a becket block to the now
shortened halyard, and the tail of the halyard to the becket. Reeve the tail
through a cheek block mounted near the base of the mast, then through the
becket block, and you have 3:1 purchase, and not as much halyard to coil.
You could have wire for the halyard, and rope for the tail.

"imagineero" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've got a caper cat that is in desperate need of updating. Im hoping
to sail it up the coast of australia, and have ben sailing it 3 times
weekly and updating what needs to be changed bit by bit, cleats,
rigging, shrouds etc etc, the halyards are a pain to me. The main
halyard clips in with a shackle on a bowline to a dinky little d ring
on the mast, then is tensioned with a downhaul rope through a pulley
then back up to a clam cleat. It takes me about 5 minutes to rig the
main on shore, and i'd have no chance of getting it down in a pinch if
i had to out in a big blow.

The jib is a bit easier to rig, just goes straight to a horn cleat, but
i cant get nearly enough tension on it, even taking a half turn and
pulling for all im worth. would also be slow to take down.

I've been looking around at other cats on the beach, but havent yet
seen anything i'd like. What i want is something thats fast to put up,
but super fast (and single handed, single action) to take down even
under load. I was thinking possibly a snapshackle on the main, but can
these be pulled under heavy loads?

The alternative i came up with (and bear with me hear, im from a rock
climbing background) is halyard, coming down the mast, alpine butterfly
tied into it with a D-shackle about 6" before it enters a small pulley
bolted to the mast then back up, thorough the D shackle on the alpine
butterfly, then back down to a clam cleat. This might sound a bit
confusing, and im hopeless at ascii art, so ill just hope you can
picture it and if not then i'll draw a picture. This would give me a
2:1 purchase and be quick to release,plus give me a bit of extra gear
for jury rigging but is there an easier way?

Thanks,
Shaun Van Poecke
14' caper cat
Sydney, Australia