Just curious, why do some of the A-class cats (and seemingly nothing else) have mid boom sheeting? What advantages does it provide them?
i am very curious about this too. Seems to me you would lose leverage and at least some of the effective reduction from the block. I looked on Harken's site and they do show mid boom configs but do not explain the why
I've heard that one reason is the boat is single handed and the skipper is usually at the middle/front part of the tramp.
With mid-boom sheeting the blocks are forward, this lets the skpper handle the sheet with one hand and tiller with the other forming a nice stable triangle.
Mid boom sheeting also allows a slight easing of the mainsheet in a puff, by movement in the tramp. There are also F18 teams using mid boom sheeting.
I have sailed an A-cat and they are SOoooo unbelievably light and weight sensitive that in many instances you are sitting on the front beam and mid boom sheeting MAY allow for sheeting without accidentally pulling the boom IN along the travler... the mainsheet needs almost no strenght to sheet in (same with the travler) even at the top of its wind limits (15knots)
Many Tornado teams (and similar team boats) use mid boom systems because the crew actually does the sheeting... the skipper ONLY steers.
Some F18's (Capricorns) use a block in the middle of their tramp that comes out of the boom.