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Hartley-
It really depends on the boat and the design of it... some booms were designed for end-boom sheeting and aren't strong enough to take the loads imposed by mid-boom sheeting. It also depends on the size of the sails and the mainsheet gear being considered.
On your boat, I'd probably stick with end-boom sheeting, since IIRC, that's what it was designed with. Generally to reduce effort, you have to increase the mechanical advantage, and so you reduce the strength needed, but increase the length of the rope needed. Your boat could probably get away with using a four-to-one tackle, since the sail isn't that big... and hauling in the mainsheet would be pretty easy...
If you went with a three-to-one mainsheet, instead of needing to haul in 16 feet of rope to adjust the sails, you'd need to haul in only 12 feet of rope to get the same adjustment, but you'd need 33% more strength to do so.
On some of the larger boats, you'll see a dual mainsheet tackle setup to multiply the leverage and allow relatively easy fine-tuning of the mainsheet. Often the large adjustments will be made using a six-to-one block and tackle system, and there will be a four-to-one tackle attached to the six-to-one, allowing the fine trim to be made at 24-to-one.
What is the sail area of your main sail? What are the typical strength of winds you sail in with the full main sail up? How much effort are you willing to exert to trim the mainsail?
__________________
Sailingdog
Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
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