On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:17:41 -0800, "Capt. JG"
wrote:


They're better than nothing. If you have experience with self-tailers, you
won't call them great. Another data point... they degrade in the sun after a
few seasons.

Yes on both points. We installed them on our old 28 footer many
years ago and never found them to be very satisfactory. The main
problem is that they do not strip line off the top of the winch drum
the way a proper self tailer does. I'd never trust them to be a
substitute for a cleat for more than a few seconds.