Relieving the Load
In an ideal world, any boat that needs to move her genoa fairleads forward when reefing would have dedicated purchases for the job. The trouble is, lots—like mine—don’t have them. The horrible old standby is to ease the load by jamming a foot down on the sheet between clew and fairlead. On a quiet day, this lets you lift the pin and shunt the slider along the track. When it’s windy, just thinking about this brings me out in a cold sweat. The seamanlike solution is to grab a short length of suitable line, attach it to the clew of the sail, take in all the slack and secure it to the midships cleat. Next, ease away the sheet. When all the load is on the “switch line,” move the fairlead. Now crank the sheet in again and ditch the switch. If you can’t reach the clew on a bigger boat, feed the lazy sheet round and use that. And don’t forget to adjust the car on the windward side before you tack.
Cheeks and Bolsters
These tips are supposed to be of general relevance, but last week in the boatyard bar I met a guy who wanted to know more about how a traditional rig differed from his production boat. I explained what happens at the hounds, and he was astonished, so just for fun I’m sharing it with everyone today.
The hounds of a gaff mast make a bold contrast with the tangs and toggles of a modern yacht spar. The leathered shrouds are looped over the masthead to rest on hardwood bolsters. These sit on top of cheeks let into the face of the spar. The system is pretty much foolproof, and it’s so easy to build that a competent amateur can manage it.
October 2024
