Spin pole downhaul block placement

[cmj]

Hi all,

A co-owner on our 27ft racer wants to move the spin pole downhaul block back to the base of the mast from its usual position halfway between the mast and forestay, as we''ve recently broken the pole''s wire bridles due to cranking the pole back without releasing the downhaul (oops).

Moving the block back to the base of the mast seems dangerous to me as it''ll be under the bowman''s feet during jibes, and the downward tension on the bridles won''t be balanced. I''ve also never seen this on other boats.

Can anyone advise as to whether this is safe / a good idea?

[BenDaniels]

This is a common arrangement on smaller boats such as the J-22''s that I also sail on. Workable and you do not have to adjust the downhaul or topping lift when moving the pole lateral position. BUT, there will no longer be anything pulling the pole forward; that is, in a jibe the pole tends to run back along the guy to the shrouds. Many of the boats with a mast-base arrangement use twings/tweakers to remedy this. I will leave the downhaul block forward on my 30'' ULDB; less of a task to adjust the downhaul than to adjust the twings on a boat this size. IMHO.