How many lines to your cocpkpit?

[oysterman23]

I solo 90% of the time and have been planning to rig somethings differently on the boat this spring to allow better control from the cockpit. My Halyards and a jib downhaul are accessible already but am thinking of ways to alter the topping lift (tied off on boom!) and the downhaul for the boom (used like a cunningham) to come back near the helm. I guess the big one is the topping lift which given the substantial length of my boom is quite a pia when reefing in a sea(I currently have to head up and haul in the boom to get to it!)
Anyone out there re rigged to solve this problem?
TIA
Cod

[bljones]

my toppiung lift is rigged through a sheave at the mast head, down the mast to the deck and back to the cabintop clutch farm. When raising the main it's a simple matter of popping the main halyard clutch and, as the winch takes tension, popping the topping lift clutch.

[Siamese]

My old boat (26 feet) had a topping lift that just ran from the top of the mast to the end of the boom, where it attached via a cleat. No adjustment offered. All I did was tie a loop into the line a couple feet from the boom and tied the end of the line to the cleat.

So, when I wanted the boom up, I just pushed the boom up and slipped the loop over cleat. When I wanted the topping lift loose I just pushed up on the boom a little and pulled the loop off the cleat. The topping lift went slack, but remained tied to the cleat.

It was just a matter of fiddling for a few minutes with where to position the loop, and where to attach to the cleat, but once set, required no further fussing.

[Gary M]

You can also go to a rigid vang and eliminate your topping lift.

[Faster]

A supporting vang will deal with that issue, something as simple as a boomkicker.

http://www.boomkicker.com/

We have everything but the reef tack and clew run aft, (no topping lift) and our furling line and pole downhaul run through our SS handrails - a clever 'Nicholson' touch. Don't know why more builders don't do that.

Given that our reef lines are still dealt with at the gooseneck it would probably make more sense to leave the main halyard on the mast too, but doublehanded it's manageable as is..

[oysterman23]

Hi Gary and Faster...yeah but this is a low aspect main with a four foot overhang from the transom which translates to a boom around 16' long I guess the simplest thing will be to reverse the topping lift to the masthead and down to the deck and back...that will have the advantage of being where all else needs to be done at reefing time. Thanks though...sometime Ill have a modern rig where a hard vang will be a very beautiful thing!
Faster your signature mentioning Monstserrat;s Cruel Sea took me back to my dad;s library and reading it when I was about 10...think I should grab a copy again...
Cod

[Faster]

Originally Posted by oysterman23

...
Faster your signature mentioning Monsserrat's Cruel Sea took me back to my dad;s library and reading it when I was about 10...think I should grab a copy again...
Cod

I recently re-read that book, I too had read it as a child. Have you ever read his 'Master Mariner' series? He actually died before it was completed, but his widow finished the 2nd book. It's a great imaginative story.

End of hijack......

[oysterman23]

No I havent... but I will and I wont hijack this thread no I wont I reeelly will not nope/ Thanks all when it warms up this minor quandary will be a great excuse to get to the boat and hangout playin with things...thats half the sport at times!
Cod

[Barquito]

Rigging a topping lift to a block at the masthead will also give you an emergency main halyard.

[zz4gta]

port jib halyard
strb jib halyard
spin halyard
main halyard
Pole topper
down haul
2 tweekers
vang

Basically no need to go forward unless we're doing a sail change. We do a good bit of distance racing and it's a lot easier to adjust things from the cockpit. I have 2 cabin top winches that make halyard adjustments easy.