"Ian Malcolm" wrote in message
...

snip
Your description, Garland, is also pretty tough to follow. I got there in
the end though and for those like me who haven't met this setup before
I'll fill in the gaps.

I type slow so tried to be brief


* It can only work for an external halyard.

True, but I hadn't considered internal halyards on this small a boat. Always
possible though.

* Its rigged as Garland described *EXCEPT* YOU DONT REEVE THE TAIL THROUGH
THE BECKET BLOCK UNTIL YOU HAVE HOISTED THE SAIL. 1:1 to hoist then 3:1 to
tension it. {otherwise you'd have *much* more halyard to coil, not less
:-) }

Well, you can't really reeve it before you hoist unless you are real tall !
But one other option is to just use a horn cleat as the turning "block" at
the base of the mast.(And then cleat off on the same cleat) Then the
halyard tail can be left reeved in the block. You just unhook the halyard
from under the horn when you are ready to lower. Just more friction than
using a block,.

I sailed a Cal 20 once that implemented this system very simply. There was a
flat oval bronze casting with a rounded flange on one side as part of the
casting, and a hole in each end This was used instead of the becket block I
have described, and the tail of the halyard was looped over this flange.
Similarly, the cleat at the base of the mast had a rounded surface under the
lowerhorn. Again, more friction, but this was very quick and effective, and
"wasted" a lot of halyard tail.


* The only disadvantages I can see is you cant have a stopper knot in the
end of the halyard and you have to reeve 1 mast length less a couple of
feet through the travelling becket block before you can get the tension
on. OTOH the travelling block will stop the halyard pulling through the
masthead sheave so the stopper knot isn't essential and in an emergency
you can always hoist and cleat off 1:1 to save the tiome it takes to reeve
the tail through the block.

I've got a tame skipper with a 22'er who's going to love this idea.
*THANKS*

I like your term "travelling block"

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.