Hi, again :{))

"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message
anews.com...

Wrong, Dumbo! You show what type of sailor YOU are with the above
dunderheadedness. (Can you say 'fair weather sailor') It just so happens
some us sail in gale or near gale conditions. Under those conditions
external halyards are slapping all over the freaking place when sails are
raised. It becomes even more of a whipfest when lowering the sails and you
know, Bruce, what goes up must come down. Duh! Everybody with those pile
of junk triangular mast loops will end up with a halyard tangled in them
when dousing sail. And, they will be stuck at the worst time with
flogging, flailing, out of control sails when they least want or need it.
This will require a trip up the mast CAUSED BY THE VERY STEPS that are
supposed to make it less likely that one will need to ascend the mast
under emergency conditions. Dumb, stupid, lame and bordering on the
pathetic, I say.

Speaking of pathetic...

I have well over 100# of mainsail. It's heavy enough that even jumping I
can't pull up the last foot or so; I winch it before cleating off, rather
than just tensioning the halyard. I CONTROL the line as I flake the sail.
That means I let it slip through my (bare) hand while I have my hand on the
sail to control how it falls. There is NO slack in the halyard, let alone
enough to go around a step.

And, you've not been paying attention, either. I only want _1_ more, so I
can stand at the top of the mast. If the conditions were so severe as to
cause my otherwise-taut (I keep it taut when I've lowered the sail, and the
weight of the sail keeps it reasonably taut as I'm lowering it) halyard to
managed to navigate a 5" (not counting the half-depth mast) step to foul on
it, at (you work out the math; the step will be about 2.5' down from the
pulley exit, which is about 1" off center, and the mast has an 8" cross
section) a reasonably broad angle. Carry that angle down even half
(considering the possibility of "catenary" due to the wind, which would have
to be abeam [thus providing a gravity equivalent so that the theory is
similar when turned 90*], unlikely when stowing sails), and it is probably
close to the shroud. Ain't gonna happen :{))

So, I conclude that the massive sail on that yacht of yours is more than you
can handle by controlling the halyard, and so you use folding steps that
only a child's shod foot can fit within (never mind the lack of a means of
not sliding off the side if you got the least bit of lift causing that
pitiful little edge on the plate they give you for safety to be meangless).

Maybe Jessica would come sail with you and handle that chore for you, and
you'd have this lovely, flaked, sail without burgeoning your tender little
hands....

L8R

Skip, down from the top of the mast today, stopping in the middle just for
fun (to measure how far that halyard would have to fly to get around my
step, of course!)