CS17 -- lines runnning aft

[Charles Neuman]

Is it really necessary to have all those lines running aft? Typically, there are two: the snotter and the downhaul. You could also add a halyard. How often do you adjust the downhaul while sailing? How about the snotter? That one seems like it might be of more use, but I haven't sailed a boat with this kind of rig before so I'm not sure.

I might consider setting up something to keep the tiller steady so I can go forward and mess with the lines when necessary. (The fear of what might happen would make the sailing adventure more fun!)

I'd prefer not to have those lines all over the place if I can help it. I don't intend to race, and I'm not super-fussy about sail trim.

Any opinions?

Charles

[Brent]

Charles,

I have the halyard, snotter, and cunningham running aft on my boat. I consider this essential for my style of sailing, which leans towards the performance oriented end of the spectrum.

If you have in mind a more casual style of sailing, where tweaking the rig for maximum performance in changing conditions is not all that important to you, then running the lines aft wont do that much for you. You may find pleasure in the less cluttered deck space. Your boat --- your choice.

[Bruce Leonard]

I've sailed my CS 20 maybe 25 times since it was build for me last summer by Ray Frechette in Maine. My boat has mast tracks . I've come to appreciate these since I often reef when sailing singlehanded on Narragansett Bay. It takes 30 seconds to thread the sails on to the tracks, so I can't understand why so many people think this is difficult or time consuming. And when you wamt to douse the main quickly, there's no better way.

In order to do needed sail adjustments underway, I highly recommend leading the downhaul and sprit adjustment aft. It makes the boat a lot easier to sail well in most conditions. I'm not so convinced the main should be led aft. The main halyard can easily get fouled going through a block, a bullet and a cleat (as Graham lays it out). I'm considering cleating my main further forward with less hardware.

I love my CS 20!

Good Sailing!

[Designer]

I rigged my BRS15 with the main snotter on the sprit and I enjoyed the simplicity, but I was always running up forward to adjust it. Because the sprit winds around the mast when you let out the sheet, it flattens out the sail a little and the reverse when you sheet in. I typically found that when I came up hard on the wind that the sail was fuller than I like it. I never bothered to change the snotter as I never raced the boat seriously and I am fairly agile.

I changed the rigging on my CS17 to bring the three lines aft to the helmsman and the racer in me enjoys having the ability tweak the sails to my satisfaction even when I am just cruising. I also rigged a sail track and have a halyard, and like Brent said in an earlier post, my first reef when the wind pipes up is to ease the halyards and take up on the downhauls to lower the sails which reduces the heeling force on the boat. All of this can be done without leaving the helm.