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Old 22-08-2013, 15:16   #16
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

If your reefing is at the mast, keep the halyard winch there. No advantage to having just the halyard at the cockpit and actually a big negative when you are reefing. Personally, have set my boat up with double line reefing and halyard at the cockpit. Super easy to reef in the comfort of the dodger. Under most conditions don't have to leave the cockpit for anything. It does cost close to a boat unit to do that, 2 four line deck organizers, 2 four gang line clutches, 2 winches, 4 Harken medium stand up blocks at mast for the clew reefing lines, 3 blocks on pad eyes for the tack reefing line, Halyard turning block, and miscellaneous pad eyes. Not cheap but well worth the money.

The mainsheet needs to be accessable from the helm. Want to be able to dump the main should I be hit by a gust passing close to something like a bridge tower. Embarassing as hell to take a knock down and round up into one of those things.
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Old 22-08-2013, 15:27   #17
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

Quote:
Originally Posted by roverhi View Post
If your reefing is at the mast, keep the halyard winch there. No advantage to having just the halyard at the cockpit and actually a big negative when you are reefing. Personally, have set my boat up with double line reefing and halyard at the cockpit. Super easy to reef in the comfort of the dodger. Under most conditions don't have to leave the cockpit for anything. It does cost close to a boat unit to do that, 2 four line deck organizers, 2 four gang line clutches, 2 winches, 4 Harken medium stand up blocks at mast for the clew reefing lines, 3 blocks on pad eyes for the tack reefing line, Halyard turning block, and miscellaneous pad eyes. Not cheap but well worth the money.

The mainsheet needs to be accessable from the helm. Want to be able to dump the main should I be hit by a gust passing close to something like a bridge tower. Embarassing as hell to take a knock down and round up into one of those things.
My setup is similar only with one winch to control the halyards. One double clutch handles both jib and main halyard, so once the main is up the winch is free to use with the jib halyard. A double clutch is used for the leech reef lines with a jam cleat securing one line and the another with a horn cleat along the boom. My reefing lines do not require a winch. Only needing one winch reduces your cost significantly. You need not buy everything new either.
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Old 22-08-2013, 15:51   #18
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

My setup is a lot like Peter's except with the addition of the boomvang brought back to the cockpit. That's an important one, and you'll use it a lot more if it's easy to reach!
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Old 22-08-2013, 16:01   #19
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

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Another reason is that just like in parking lots, the chance you'll be in an accident is pretty high.
Particularly if you are in the pen next to mine.
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Old 22-08-2013, 16:06   #20
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

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My setup is similar only with one winch to control the halyards. One double clutch handles both jib and main halyard, so once the main is up the winch is free to use with the jib halyard. A double clutch is used for the leech reef lines with a jam cleat securing one line and the another with a horn cleat along the boom. My reefing lines do not require a winch. Only needing one winch reduces your cost significantly. You need not buy everything new either.
Your reefing lines might not normally need a winch, but it is a good idea to have one anyway. When you need to reef in high winds you are going to need it for the clew lines, and the main halyard winch will be occupied.

I got a really nice Barient winch on Ebay for $100.
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Old 22-08-2013, 16:24   #21
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

thanks to all. just worried traveler would impede
movement when needed to reach jib sheet.
I've had traveler over companionway and aft
of steering but never in front of
wheel. In weather, simplicity might be better
but I am encouraged by comments. thx to
all.
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Old 22-08-2013, 16:28   #22
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

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Im looking at a C&C 35 with main halyard winch by the mast and traveler in the cockpit in front of the wheel. I'm thinking might be hard to single hand. Anybody had one that was okay? Should I pay to move lines aft; then try to deal with taveler?

If you're going to single-hand, you need your running rigging to come to the cockpit.

How is the traveler placed in front of the wheel? In the floor? I've seen it in the floor in front of the companionway, but not in front of the wheel. If you move it more toward the bow, you'll need more purchase on it, but It should be do-able.
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Old 22-08-2013, 16:31   #23
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

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Your reefing lines might not normally need a winch, but it is a good idea to have one anyway. When you need to reef in high winds you are going to need it for the clew lines, and the main halyard winch will be occupied.

I got a really nice Barient winch on Ebay for $100.
There are advantages to having a small boat. Why is the main halyard winch occupied when the halyard is stopped by the clutch? First I release the boom vang and raise the boom with the topping lift. When reefing I am pulling down on both the luff and leech reefing lines while playing out the main halyard through the clutch. The luff leech line pulls down the main. Then, the leech line is pulled completely down to the boom by stopping, but not securing the the bitter end to the horn cleat. This permits me to pull against the line further drawing the leech down in steps. Then the main halyard is raised using the winch. Works.

I got two winches off a boat being demolished by the insurance company because they couldn't get the boat upright onto a truck trailer. Free...
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Old 22-08-2013, 19:17   #24
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

Dlw297,
Yes you should be able to single hand a sailboat that size by yourself with no problem. Rule #1: Using common since goes a long way with a little preplanning. Don’t expect to go out in 25+ knots of wind with a full bag of sails fooling yourself in thinking you will have no issues getting out of dock, sailing, reefing, and putting her to bed. Rule #2: Get a good autopilot. You will find out you are not alone if you can depend on your autopilot.

We have had our Gulfstar37 for about 10 years now. The original set up for the items you have questions about was an end boom mainsheet with fiddle blocks attached to a short 2 foot traveler located in the cockpit just in front of the companionway hatch. The sheet went up and down the fiddle blocks to the boom end, along the boom full length, to the goose neck block down to deck block and back to the winch on the port cabin top to be cleated to a deck cleat.

Three problems became real evident to me with this set up.
1) Short Traveler: The short traveler located in the cockpit didn’t do really anything a true traveler is supposed to do. What I am talking about is the ability to put a shape in the main and trimming the sail angle for any change of wind shift by sliding the traveler holding the sail shape. This is very helpful in a good blow where you want to keep a flat sail.
2) Traveler location: Other than the pain of always climbing around the mainsheet going in and out of the cabin with the traveler in front of the companionway, anyone sitting close to it would be trapped behind the tight wall of mainsheet line especially when sailing broad reach or downwind with the main let out like in a wing and wing situation. My wife actually got rope burns across her neck when I accidently had the mainsheet slip off the winch while trying to adjust. This leads us to the third problem.
3) Mainsheet adjustments. Fiddle blocks led back to the winch. Like most people we started with a smaller boat(s). In our last case a Catalina 27. It had a simple original factory set up that allowed you to adjust the mainsheet by hand using fiddle blocks with cam cleat attached. With the original set up on the 37 footer, we had to uncleat the mainsheet at the cabin deck and either let it out using the cabin deck winch drum or crank in again using the winch, then cleat back down. No self tailer. The issue was if I had someone sitting by this area I had to have them move so I could make an adjustment. Fast way to end up single handing is to repeatedly ask your wife to move just after she got settled in the corner with her kindle to read. Otherwise if by yourself, the process starts by leaving the wheel, go through the same routine above, turn around and see the wheel turning, race back to grab the wheel to recover, then find out you need to re-trim the sails again. Remember rule #2 above, lots – lots easier.


I really missed the easy way to be able to adjust the mainsheet on our smaller boats and if you can’t make an adjustment easily than you won’t do it because of the hassle. This is only aggravated if you are sailing by yourself. So this was what we did to remedy these issues in order.
1) Changed the end boom sheeting fiddle blocks from the 4:1 purchase to two triple blocks with cam cleat on bottom block. This eliminated using the winch, deck cleat and some friction that doesn’t help the situation. This gives you much more mechanical advantage that allowed adjustment by hand in the cockpit. You don’t get anything for free though. The tradeoff is much more line is needed to be pulled in or let out for the same amount of adjustment. I could now adjust the mainsheet anytime by having the line close by the helm. A quick flip of the mainsheet uncleats the cam cleat, adjust, then lock back into the cam cleat. Cost for our sail load was about $450 US in blocks and a few shackles. My time to install, free. We found bigger boat means bigger boat bucks.
2) Several years later I had a custom traveler made at Gauheur and moved traveler from the cockpit location to mid boom sheeting. This traveler is also the total width of the cabin top. Our gulfstar has a very stout boom and using three separate blocks on the boom separated 14” apart from each other to spread the load across the boom prevents putting a large stress load at one point on the boom that could cause potential failure. This took care of the two traveler issues by getting the line out of cockpit and being able to use traveler easily even if loaded up. I eventually went back to the mainsheet along the boom to the deck arrangement but to a cam cleat mounted on the cabin top next to the winch. This still allows easy adjustment from the cockpit. By having the wide traveler I will not be purchasing that boom vang I thought I needed. The upper triple block sold for almost the same price the three separate blocks cost that replaced it. Traveler cost a little above $1500 US. Blocks a wash. My time to install again free.

We sailed with the old clunky system for a year or two before figuring out what needed to be done. This whole process took us about 3 sailing seasons to complete but I find was well worth in making sailing for us or single handing much easier and I believe safer. I pretty much sail the boat myself even with my wife aboard and have no problem by myself. We try to limit the amount of boat bucks spent each year and this wasn’t cheap, but by doing all the installation myself we can use the boat bucks saved for something else like going sailing.
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Old 22-08-2013, 22:34   #25
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

I'd like to second what Gulfstar said. You certainly can sail without bringing your running rigging to the cockpit and leaving the traveler where it is (still can't quite picture that; is it short as Gulfstar said?) -- but when things get difficult you'll be both safer and more efficient the more is accessible from the cockpit.

Speaking as someone who didn't have an autopilot until fairly recently -- you can't rely on it *too* much. Particularly in big waves, they can go goofy on you, but you should be able to leave the wheel long enough to walk the length of the cockpit to the cabin top where all your lines will be handy.

For single-handing, have a way to make yourself comfortable behind the wheel. Even with autopilot on, that's where you belong, because they can 'hiccup.'
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Old 22-08-2013, 23:01   #26
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

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Speaking as someone who didn't have an autopilot until fairly recently -- you can't rely on it *too* much. Particularly in big waves, they can go goofy on you, but you should be able to leave the wheel long enough to walk the length of the cockpit to the cabin top where all your lines will be handy.

For single-handing, have a way to make yourself comfortable behind the wheel. Even with autopilot on, that's where you belong, because they can 'hiccup.'
If you are serious about single handing especially over any distance, get a self steering vane. If set up properly, it will handle 95% of you helming in all kinds of conditions. Can even set it up to steer to a compass course with a tiller pilot. Have had a vane on two different boats and about the only time I'm at the helm is to get the boat in and out of the slip.
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Old 22-08-2013, 23:10   #27
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

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If you are serious about single handing especially over any distance, get a self steering vane. If set up properly, it will handle 95% of you helming in all kinds of conditions. Can even set it up to steer to a compass course with a tiller pilot. Have had a vane on two different boats and about the only time I'm at the helm is to get the boat in and out of the slip.

I have a friend who is an expert sailor in every sense of the world and he loves his wind vane. But he is a long distance cruiser, not a puddle-jumper like me. Well, he started at six, and I started at sixty-two. Makes a difference.
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Old 23-08-2013, 06:34   #28
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

In my last post I was describing how the third reef is done. As with the third reef, the first two reefs are done using separate reef lines run through cringles spaced at suitable distances from one another along the leech. Each line continues to turning blocks on a track attached to the boom. The first and second reef lines are led through swivel blocks hung from the goose-neck, down through swivel blocks attached to a pad eye, through an organizer to a double clutch at the cockpit. The third reef line is led back through a turning block at the mast base and terminated at a jamb cleat on the right side of the hatch. The main sail is lowered and secured with two reef lines tied to cringles at the luff. The first two lines are led through swivel blocks attached to a pad eye at deck level next to the mast, then through an organizer to a double clutch at the right side of the main hatch at the cockpit. Commonly called jiffy reefing, I believe.

Although it is not necessary for the first two reefs, letting go the boom vang and raising the boom a bit with the topping lift to minimize resistance to bringing the reef cringle to the boom simplifies the task. You also minimize the possibility of over stressing and damaging the leech. The photo shows the clutches and winch. The inside clutch handles the leech reef lines, the outer the halyards.
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Old 23-08-2013, 08:05   #29
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

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Originally Posted by dlw297 View Post
thanks to all. just worried traveler would impede
movement when needed to reach jib sheet.
I've had traveler over companionway and aft
of steering but never in front of
wheel. In weather, simplicity might be better
but I am encouraged by comments. thx to
all.
We had a boat with this setup. What Jim did was to move the Primaries back to where the secondaries were, and put the secondaries forward. The Primaries were then adjacent to the wheel, close to hand for sheeting in the jib. That boat was quite stoutly built, and he did not need to reinforce the coaming to do the switch, YMMV.
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Old 23-08-2013, 13:44   #30
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Re: Single hand a C&C 35 1974?

Had travellor on the bridge deck with sheet run forward and then back to a winch on the cabin top. Worked okay because the self steering vane took care of the heading issues and could change the heading on the vane from anywhere in the cockpit. Didn't allow for quick dumping of the main in gusts, however if I happened to be steering. Needed the winch to crank in the sail with the the 4 part tackle. Actually liked the mainsheet at the companionway because it was something to grab onto exiting the cabin.

Current boat has end boom sheeting with with traveller at aft end of cockpit. Was a problem dumping the main as the wheel was at forward end of cockpit. Sheeting the main was a bit underpowered using a 4 part tackle. Have ditched the wheel for a tiller which allows much more latitiude for steering the boat and reaching the mainsheet. Went with a 6 part double sheet block srt up for the main. Really nifty set up that gives high power fine tuning pulling on one line for 6-1 power for trimming under load. Pulling on both lines gives high speed for controlling the main while jibing. Hauling the slack out of the mainsheet makes for way less drama when the boom crosses over. Garhauer makes a couple of set ups for different size mainsails at reasonable prices. The blocks are listed as a Two Speed Vang in their catalogue Garhauer Marine Hardware -6657724. Harken and Ronstan both have similar setups but their prices are astronomic.

I have three reef points in the main. Led the clew reefing lines and outhaul to the starboard cabin top with winch and clutches. The tack reefing lines and main halyard are led to port side with their own winch and clutches. Could have saved a winch by running the clew lines and main halyard to the same side.. I got a deal on the winches and believe the main halyard belongs on the stbd side where it's closer to the tack reefing lines that it works in conjunction with.
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