"Shaun Van Poecke" wrote in message
...
Hi All,
I have a 16' beach cat and the halyards are a source of bother for me.
Like most of the beach cats Ive owned the method of tensioning the
halyards is less than ideal. There are of course no winches. The only
thing there is, is 2 horn cleats; one for main and one for jib.

Its not so bad on this cat since there is a mast top halyard lock for the
main, then luff tension is adjusted by downhall, but for the jib it's
another story. It is very hard to get enough tension on that jib halyard,
I try the usual method of putting a half turn around the horn clean then
pulling out on the halyard (above the cleat) while trying to retension the
tail. By this method i can bootstrap my way to some reasonable tension,
but if the wind is blowing hard it's only a matter of time till that horn
cleat slacks off a little. It really doesnt take much loss in tension to
have the jib luff up there flapping in the wind.

How do people solve this problem generally? Whats the best method to get
some purchase up here so i can retension while on the water? i was
thinking maybe 4:1 or better yet 8:1, but hopefully something simple and
lockable.... maybe with a cam cleat rather than a horn cleat?

Thanks,
Shaun

I've fitted a highfield lever to both my dinghies. These make it very easy
to adjust the tension. I do have wire halyards for the jib/genoa though.

Regards,

Laurie.




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