[Lantau]

I am trying to configure an alternative to the traditional genoa sheet turning block arrangement on my PS37. The typical PS37 has the genoa sheet coming aft through a turning block on the after part of the cockpit coaming top, then to the main winch. I cannot do this. I have secondary winches (used mostly for a preventer system) mounted aft of the main winches (between the turning block and the main winch), and on one side I have some other attachments to the coaming (for my Monitor windvane system). Right now I'm running the genoa sheet directly from the genoa track fairlead to the main winch, meaning that the genoa sheet is exactly where I put my foot each time I leave the cockpit. It works perfectly but drives me crazy each time I step on the sheet (and the lines I use for my boom preventer), which I invariably do.

With all that in mind, can anyone with a PS37 suggest an alternative arrangement to get the genoa sheet off the side deck. What I have in mind is a block mounted somewhere aft of the main winch, possibly on the outer side of the coming or the inner side of the bulwark. To test this, I have put a fairlead (another genoa fairlead from my inner track) on the after end of the outer genoa track so that the sheet runs from the forward fairlead to the aft fairlead, then to the main winch. It works fine, but I worry that the genoa track is not capable of taking the loads in strong winds. I need something similar that's completely reliable (very strong). I assume this will involve buying some burly blocks of some kind (the prices of those things are shocking, but it's a boat...).

Has anyone come up with an alternative to the usual coaming-top turning block that might work for me? Thanks very much if you do!

 

[knuterikt]

Some pictures of your deck layout would help

 

[brokesailor]

I normally go to the foredeck on high side so I don't have to try to fit my size 11 in between the loaded sheet and the bulwark. Also I think the PSC 37 primary winch is mounted to take the load from the direction of that rear turning block.

 

[brokesailor]

Have you looked for pictures of the PSC 44? I'm pretty sure they have 2 winches on the coaming. Also why don't you use the secondary winch for the headsail and the primary for the preventer when you are off the wind? When you are hard on the wind you don't need the preventer so use the primary for the headsail.

 

[Faster]

Not a PSC, but we run our jibsheets to a toerail block and up to the primary winch as shown below.. We do it to avoid the port side sheet chafing on the coaming as the sheet leads to the inside drum edge, and also to have a consistent lead angle to the winch regardless of where the car is set on the track.

This might work for you, though you'll have to mount the block in some other fashion onto/into your bulwark.

 

[Lantau]

Some pictures of your deck layout would help

Here's a picture of my current experimental layout, looking aft. As you can see, the coaming is busy.

I intend to attach a small block on the car/slider on the cap rail to lead the preventer line (red+white in photo) to the secondary winch. The question is what to do with the blue genoa sheet (blue in picture) before it arrives at the primary (fwd) winch.

 

[Faster]

Looks like you could mount a block on that sliding padeye that your preventer currently runs through, and rig the genny sheet through that block to the primary winch?

Or mount another purposed block on that same track for the genny sheet. Either would leave you with a similar setup to what I posted above.. and avoid the current cross-over of lines.

 

[Lantau]

Thanks Ron, and indeed everyone else for replies.

Yes, I can do that. That's my plan for the preventer line. What worries me is that the cap rail track is not strong enough to handle the loads of the genoa sheet. In a stiff wind there would be massive loads on the track. I think it can take huge loads fwd/aft, but maybe not side to side. In the photo I have a block on the track as far aft as possible to reduce the side-to-side loads, but when I look at it while sailing is scares me. It just looks like it could pull out. Sometimes I have my leg on the side deck when cranking the winch. If that block let's go, I hate to contemplate the condition of my leg. But maybe I'm worrying too much. After all, the cap rail track is designed to take loads from a flying spinnaker, so it must be very strong.

 

[Stumble]

Lantau,

The further forward the block is moved the lower the load will be on the block. As positioned you are almost doubling the load the block sees compared to the sheet load. In addition, unless the winch is mounted with the sheet coming from that far back you could be pulling against the directional bias of the winch.

 

[Lantau]

Lantau,

The further forward the block is moved the lower the load will be on the block. As positioned you are almost doubling the load the block sees compared to the sheet load. In addition, unless the winch is mounted with the sheet coming from that far back you could be pulling against the directional bias of the winch.

One of my objectives is to (as much as possible) replicate PS's original setup, which was to run the genoa sheet around the turning block on the aft coaming and then to the main winch. My setup now is in line with that. Moving the fairlead block on the cap rail forward puts the sheets back where I don't want them: on the side deck. Also, moving the block forward increases the side-to-side loads on the cap rail track, something I don't think it's designed for. An alternative, albeit a pain in the backside, would be to mount a block on the inside of the bulwark. I wonder if anyone else has done that.

Surely my PS37 isn't the only one with secondary winches on the coaming. Not everyone will have the Monitor windvane hardware there, but my question would be how they run the genoa sheets. It works just fine running the sheets directly from the fwd fairlead (inner or outer) to the main winches, but that puts the sheets right on the side deck where there's lots of foot traffic.

 

[Faster]

Can you get a fair lead to the winches from a block mounted not in the bulwark, but on the outboard sides of the foaming?.. Easier, I imagine, port side, but seems it would keep the sheets tight towards the inner deck edges.

This might require some imaginative engineering in the mounting - angles, height, maybe custom mounts or pads.