How to add second head sail halyard to small boat

[Boulter]

Hi:

I have a Sandpiper 565, a small fractionally rigged boat. I currently have one head sail, a genoa furled on a wire luff that suspends a couple or 3 inches inside the forestay. The halyard block is externally mounted by a loop held to the mast with 4 rivets. It is a Harken 304 wire halyard block with a 1/8 inch SS cable running over it.

I wish to add a second head sail halyard such that I can:

-furl the genoa and hank on a smaller sail, then optionally lower the furled genoa
-run wing and wing downwind

It is unclear to me as to how this would be done. Is the goal to get a second 304 side by side such that both are offset from the center line slightly. If so what common off the shelf bits do I need to do this?

Or does a dual wire block exist (never found one yet) that can suspend from the existing loop?

Or am I looking to mount the second halyard above the forestay, perhaps at the masthead, and then have one of those blocks (which name escapes me) to turn the halyard immediately above the forestay?

Something else?

Any guidance most appreciated.

Cheers,

Boulter

[psk125]

You may want to take advantage of this opportunity to replace your wire halyard with synthetic line and add your second halyard of the same synthetic. (Perhaps in two different colors?) You can then get a double block to replace the single sheave block you have now. The loop that holds the block in place should allow enough "give" so you can hoist with either of the halyards. Despite the temptation to go with really small-diameter line for your new halyards, remember to get something that is comfortable to pull.

[Boulter]

Originally Posted by psk125

You may want to take advantage of this opportunity to replace your wire halyard with synthetic line and add your second halyard of the same synthetic. (Perhaps in two different colors?) You can then get a double block to replace the single sheave block you have now. The loop that holds the block in place should allow enough "give" so you can hoist with either of the halyards. Despite the temptation to go with really small-diameter line for your new halyards, remember to get something that is comfortable to pull.

Thank you for your suggestion. I might run with it if no better idea turns up.

Regards,

Boulter

[Boulter]

Hi:

As I already had the wire and second 304 block, I soldiered on without going to a new materials solution.

In the end, I took out the original loop and installed a new one a bit lower as the furler hardware at the top was touching the forestay on account that the 304 block is a larger diameter than the failed one. Then I mounted a new loop and 304 above the forestay mount and offset to starboard about a half inch from the center line so that the running rigging does not drag on the lower block on the way down the mast.

Other than a bit of worry about the loops being strong enough (new loops are the same thickness material about 0.060" but only have 2 3/16" aluminum rivets holding them in as opposed to 4 on the original part), it looks like a workable scheme.

Boulter

[wellin]

Quick thought. It needs to be strong enough to take YOU to the top not just the sail.

Sent from my SCH-I415 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Boulter]

Originally Posted by wellin

Quick thought. It needs to be strong enough to take YOU to the top not just the sail.

Sent from my SCH-I415 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

As a general principle I agree with you. However in this particular case nobody is ever under any circumstances climbing this mast. The boat is way too small for that. All mast work is done on the ground: I have the solo up-down cycle down to about 10 minutes. Anyhow I think the fitting will hold some hundreds of pounds which should be good enough for 75 square feet of head sail.

Boulter