Cockpit

A closer look at the cockpit, the boom vang, and the beach towels I used to keep the mast from banging the hull when I was setting up the standing rigging.

On the right side of the image is the mast and boom. You can see the socket for the main halyard winch on the mast between the gooseneck and the mast step. The boom vang connects to a tab at the bottom of the mast, and runs up to the boom. It's a 3:1 system.

Just below the mast, the hull number is molded into the gel coat. A couple of inches below that is a manufacturer's plate with the hull number stamped on it as well. The plate is riveted into the boat. In my case the rivets need replacing.

The center section of the cockpit is raised to give clearance between the hulls in the water. On either side are foot wells that run the length of the cockpit. Inside each well is a dagger board trunk. More on that when I photograph the dagger boards. At the fore end of each foot well is a little storage compartment. Mine has drain holes. I don't know if the drain holes are stock, but they're a darned good idea.

Between the storage compartments and the mast step are Jib Mystery #1. It turns out that's where two swivel blocks with cam cleats are supposed to go so you can cleat off the jib. There were some bits of hardware that came with the boat that might once have been swivel base blocks, and there are bits of cam cleats attached to them. But none of it was serviceable. I ordered new ones from Sail Care that were made by Viadana.

At the aft end of the cockpit is the traveler track. It's in reasonably good shape. The traveler car itself is not. I'll get to that more when I talk about the traveler rigging.

Just below the side stay, you can see two wire loops that are riveted into the hull. I'm almost certain these are for the trap wires. The next time I raise the mast I'll have the trap wires on, and will be able to start putting those back together.