[davidpm]

I was helping a guy with a Bristol 32.

He has a roller furling jib.
It has one winch on the port side of the mast.

The port side halyard is connected to the jib and tightened with the winch.

The starboard side halyard is connected to the main and we have to sweat it to get it as tight as we can.

I was thinking that since I believe his halyards are tied on the sail with no shackle or splice I could easily switch halyards to get the main halyard on the port side.

Is that what is usually done?

I could just route the halyards currently connected to the side I want but that would mean they would cross at the mast head.

What do I do just sweat the jib halyard as tight as I can get it?

 

[Alex W]

Are the halyards external or internal? If they are internal it wouldn't be a big deal to have both exit on the port side and have clutches before the winch.

A boat of that era would typically have a sliding gooseneck and you would use a multi-part downhaul to get luff tension instead of putting the halyard on a winch.

 

[christian.hess]

halyards are tied? just a knot?

since the jib is on a furler its really only tight once and be done with it...tighten as needed doesnt need a winch for sure especially with the furler...

I wouldnt cross the halyards at the sheaves, if you can switch them over...shouldnt be that hard...

I dont really need a jib halyard winch on most boats under 35 so the reasoning is good to have it for the main, as well as a hauling winch for a dinghy or whatever.


cheers

 

[MarkSF]

My Bristol 31.1 has the same arrangement, except that the main halyard is brought back to the cockpit to a winch. You might think about adding this feature. You need a stand-up block, a flat block, and a winch.

 

[davidpm]

Are the halyards external or internal? .

External

 

[eherlihy]

The halyards go through sheaves that are either forward of the mast or aft of the mast... The ones that go forward are for the foresail, aft are for the main... I don't think that you can switch them... Why not add another winch to the mast?

 

[Alex W]

External

I also asked if the boat has a downhaul. Does it? Can you use that instead of a main halyard winch to tension the luff?

You could get by with one winch and dedicate it to the main halyard if you added a tensioning system for jib luff tension. I disagree with Christian Hess that you can do that on a medium sized boat without a winch or other multi-purchase system. Adding a jib cunningham to a roller furling system isn't very easy.

 

[christian.hess]

Im confused I never mentioned anything about a jib cunningham

all Im saying is I have seen plenty of boats with no winch for a jib halyard leaving the one winch for the main halyard, simplicity, cost cuttint, not needed thats for the designers to argue about.

in any case davidpm you need to find out at the mast sheaves wether you can switch or not

you might not be able to...

however you have said halyards are external making a change easier.

good luck

 

[Alex W]

Sorry, I didn't mean that you said anything about a jib cunningham. I can see how my wording did cause confusion.

I disagree that you can get appropriate luff tension on a mid-sized sailboat with no tensioning system for the jib.

There are more tensioning systems available for the main (downhaul, cunningham, halyard tension) than for a roller furling jib, so I would keep the winch dedicated to the jib halyard and use one of the other systems for the main halyard.

I do adjust jib halyard tension on a regular basis, even with roller furling. It makes a significant difference in the jib's draft, which can make a big difference in boat performance. I don't adjust it multiple times per day, but usually adjust it once.

 

[christian.hess]

hey david found a pic from bristol 32 kestrel

http://www.kestrelboat.com/SeaMe.JPG

you will not be able to swap as like mentioned you have extrenal and fore and aft pulleys(not sheaves) so you wont be able to switch

what I would recomend now is to add a winch on the side you want...however that is more involved than just drilling holes...a good installation has backing plates and or a raised flat section welded on.

 

[christian.hess]

Sorry, I didn't mean that you said anything about a jib cunningham.

I disagree that you can get appropriate luff tension on a mid-sized sailboat with no tensioning system for the jib.

There are more tensioning systems available for the main (downhaul, cunningham, halyard tension) than for a roller furling jib, so I would keep the winch dedicated to the jib halyard and use one of the other systems for the main halyard.

I do adjust jib halyard tension on a regular basis, even with roller furling. It makes a significant difference in the jib's draft, which can make a big difference in boat performance. I don't adjust it multiple times per day, but usually adjust it once.

alex he has a furler, most furler installations and part of the reason I dont like many of them is they offer no way to adjust luff tension correctly, most are pull tight and let it be...or the foil can warp, bend etc...

btw I agree...I think he is better off leaving that winch as it is now and start finding ways of adjusting luff tension on the main...

a nice adjusteable track for the gooseneck or a nice cunningham etc...

 

[davidpm]

hey david found a pic from bristol 32 kestrel

http://www.kestrelboat.com/SeaMe.JPG

I'm pretty sure that is not what this boat has.

It looks like two shivs for and aft side by side.

 

[christian.hess]

good then that means indeed you can...

is the boat a bristol sloop or yawl rig? maybe that is why this pic is different...

weird however as this pic is from a bristol 32...would be good to know what the boat really has

 

[Alex W]

alex he has a furler, most furler installations and part of the reason I dont like many of them is they offer no way to adjust luff tension correctly, most are pull tight and let it be...or the foil can warp, bend etc...

This depends heavily on the furler model. It is not fair to say that most furlers have this downside.

I'm not always a fan of furling, but having a furler doesn't mean giving up luff tension control. Chances are that this boat has other luff tension controls for the main sail.

 

[christian.hess]

true again...not fair but the reality...the reality is most guys with furlers never tension their luff...to say they do would be nonsense...they install furler and leave it like that.

regarding the mainsail I looked hard and long and couldnt find a pic of the gooseneck...dont know why I usually have luck finding pics...

so I dont know if it has a track or means to add a nice downhaul or whatever

in any case

 

[davidpm]

Thanks for all your comments.

I talked to a rigger and he tells me that since it has a sliding goose neck with a purchase to pull it down the boat may have been rigged that way originally.

IOW

Mast winch to tighten the jib and 3.1 purchase to tension the main by pulling the boom down.

Since this answer is the easiest for me I'll go with it for a while.

Next time I'll release the down-haul, pull the sail up as high as I can then tighten the down haul. If it starts out tight then gets baggy I'll know it it line stretch and I'll have the guy change out the halyard to VPC instead of sta-set.

Thinking about it I would not be surprised if the boat originally did not come with a roller furling jib. Then the boom winch for the jib would make even more sense.

 

[Gladrags1]

I'm confused. The winch is on the side of the mast, right? You might need to rerun the main halyard so it exits the block up top from the other side but then bring it down to the winch, passing behind the spreaders. What am I missing here? Is there a problem doing that?

Tod

 

[eherlihy]

you will not be able to swap as like mentioned you have extrenal and fore and aft pulleys(not sheaves) so you wont be able to switch

I don't mean to be pedantic, but on a boat, they would be called blocks.

 

[davidpm]

I'm confused. The winch is on the side of the mast, right? You might need to rerun the main halyard so it exits the block up top from the other side but then bring it down to the winch, passing behind the spreaders. What am I missing here? Is there a problem doing that?

Tod

No problem at all. The question is should it be done. The answer apparently is that it was designed to be run so the jib halyard is on the winch the way it is and the main halyard is tightened with the down-haul.

 

[Gladrags1]

How many cleats does the boat have at the winch? Perhaps the easiest solution is to add a cleat above the winch; tighten the jib halyard, remove from winch, cleat on cleat added above winch. Then use winch to raise main halyard, clearing off below winch.

Tod


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