the downhaul on the straight spreader cats is very simple and very low powered. don't get carried away by people talking about 10 to 1 or even 20 to 1 downhaul controllable from both sides of the boat as far away as the trapeze!
those are swept spreader boats where the diamonds are cranked up so much they have pre-bent the mast aft. 20 to 1 downhaul working through a strengthened sail and stronger halyard lock will then control the mast bend
i think the downhaul on my straight spreader cat is only 3 to 1 which only has enough power to pull the wrinkles out of the leech, and without the pre-bend hauling on that would only bend the mast sideways and do the opposite of a more modern mast. a pic of my mast lower and airbourne's?
the downhaul sheet starts at the downhaul hook
goes down to a harken cheek block on the mast
up to 1 of the 2 rollers in the hook
and back down to a jam cleat on the mast
retrofitting a 10 to 1 downhaul and wailing on it might even pull the grommet out of the sail!
to make use of that 2nd roller on the hook i will soon fit a 2nd cheek block to the other side of the mast to get 5 to 1. this should give me 5 to 1 and be a little easier to?operate solo when i'm on the opposite side of the mast from the jam cleat
edited by: erice, May 25, 2010 - 08:31 AM