Jib Halyard Question

[Dave R1]

I was working on the rigging yesterday and came up with a question. The plans show the halyards belayed on cleats at the base of the mast. I have run the peak and throat halyards back to the cockpit on the cabin roof but I'm not certain whether I should bother bringing the jib halyard aft as well.

Any opinions?

[Mike Pennington]

Can't hurt, some guys have rigged a down haul too.

[Knut]

My answer is very simple: Don't hesitate for a second. Take the jib halyard back to the cockpit and install also a jib downhaul that can be operated from the cockpit (especially if you plan to use a larger jib than plans, which is also recommendable). This will give the opportunity to hoist and strike the jib without running around on deck. You will find that this is a great advantage, especially if the wind and the waves pick up a lot. Single handed sailing is another reason to use this solution.

I am in no doubt, but it is your choice, of course.

[capt jake]

Yup, I took mine aft as well. Simpleto do and no going forward to raise or lower (though I wouldn't know as i haven't had it wet yet! ).

jake

[SeaEagle]

I'm still in the building stages - but based on previous experiance I'm definately planning on running the Jib Halyard and Jib Downhaul aft.

On my Elliot 5'9 I had both back to the cockpit, and an additional advantage I found with that boat was that I could clip the Jib Halyard to the Jib Downhaul, cleat off the jib halyard, and winch the mast using the downhaul.

I don't know if this will be possible, or even necessary) with the Weekender, but it worked well with the Elliot.

I think I remember that Capt. Jake may have set up something similar for his dry boat :wink:

[T. Nelson Surbrook]

Why not just go all the way and install roller furler? I started out using the rig as discribed in the plans. After trial and error I have ended up with a system that works really good. It just takes a while.

[Dave R1]

Thanks for the suggestion guys. I guess I need to drill a few more holes in the boat. Nelson, I would like to add a roller furler and might do so next year. The goal of an August 23rd launch is looming over my head and I have plenty to do without adding that.

Here's a shot of the boat from yesterday. All rigged with that inexpensive braided stuff from Menard's so we could measure to buy the right stuff. I couldn't resist putting up the jib, though I think it is riding a bit higher than it should. I would have put the main up as well but it was windy enough I was afraid the boat would either tip over or sail off down the street. With casters on all four corners, I imagine the leeway would be atrocious.

[Mike Pennington]

Looking good and getting closer. Now, call in sick and get back to work on your boat

[Dave R1]

Hey Mike, why didn't I think of that?

[JTam]

Yes, I'd say you should run the jib halyard back to the cockpit. This is the first sail I douse when the wind starts to build.

The cleats I used on the mast were open based, so I used what normally would have been the jib cleat on the mast as a turning block, and ran the halyard to a cleat to the top of the cabin; as you did for the main halyard.

I also put a jib downhaul on this week and tested yesterday... it worked great especially with the plastic hanks on my jib. I put a small cheek block on the bowsprit just forward of the forestay eye, and ran a line from there back to just forward of the coaming where I mounted a small cleat. A couple of fairleads to keep this line from getting fouled and I was done...about 30 minutes of work.