Jib Halyard Question

[bcboomer]

I have a furling Genoa with the halyard led to the cockpit.
Since I'm replacing my running rigging, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be simpler to terminate it at the mast. Shorter halyard = less stretch and 1 line less to clutter the cockpit.
I don't have a lot of sailing miles with a furler, always had hanked on headsails, but I've never adjusted it while sailing.

[Jim Cate]

IMO, no problem at all with mast termination. We've used that system for many years and many thousands of miles. After all, if you really want to adjust the halyard tension every now and then you simply go to the mast and do it.

The current mind set that one should never leave the cockpit is pretty silly, again IMO.

Jim

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by bcboomer

I don't have a lot of sailing miles with a furler, always had hanked on headsails, but I've never adjusted it while sailing.

Really?

Don't you adjust your headsail halyard tension as the wind speed changes to move the draft forward in stronger winds?

Don't you release some of that halyard tension when sailing in lighter winds and of course when at anchor or at dock?

Handling halyards at the mast makes sense.

I suspect that a design error was made, to suit people who were used to driving land vehicles by sitting still in 'the driver's seat', running lines to the cockpit.

Lots of cordage. Lots of friction.

An invitation to deep vein thrombosis.

And to the mental disease of being 'cockpit clenched', stuck in the cockpit for fear of working the decks.

[Cheechako]

I prefer it at the mast for main and jib. But for a furling jib... of course.

[bcboomer]

Thanks all for the confirmation.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

Really?

Don't you adjust your headsail halyard tension as the wind speed changes to move the draft forward in stronger winds?

Don't you release some of that halyard tension when sailing in lighter winds and of course when at anchor or at dock?

Not really, lol. And I used to race 3 days a week for years and ocean races etc.

It depends on how you use your boat. If you're on a long passage, you're probably not going to be tweaking halyard tension. Instead just play the backstay and be done with it. Then again on a long passage you're (hopefully) not beating, overpowered, and looking to flatten the sails...

That said, I agree having the halyard terminated at the mast for a cruising boat makes a lot of sense. IF you have a winch at the mast. If you don't, you may find yourself unable to tension it adequately.

My jib halyard is led to the cockpit. Sure I'd like to have it terminate at the mast, but I don't currently have a winch there. Maybe sometime in the future I'll change that, but have not found much reason to yet (other than wanting a 60' coil of rope off the coach roof under the dodger), particularly with a high-tech line for the halyard.

Another option if you're just doing coastal sailing in good conditions is to make the line long enough to basically cleat/clutch off when the sail is raised, with a reeving loop on the end, and make a mouse line of dyneema to raise the sail. No rope clutter in the cockpit. Downside is that you have to attach the mouse line when you want to lower the sail, which is fine in any situation other than an emergency.

[bcboomer]

I find playing with the sheet lead keeps me busy enough if I want to look for performance. I'm not experienced enough with a furling sail to look for better speed through halyard tension and if the wind pipes up I just take in a little sail.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

Really?

Don't you adjust your headsail halyard tension as the wind speed changes to move the draft forward in stronger winds?

Don't you release some of that halyard tension when sailing in lighter winds and of course when at anchor or at dock?

Isn't that what backstay tension and running backstays are for?

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by StuM

Isn't that what backstay tension and running backstays are for?

I sail a masthead rig, not a fractional rig. No running backstays. No easily adjustable backstay tension.

And no reason to leave a furled jib under high tension at anchor or at dock.

[Markhunter1097]

Two opinion to terminate at the mast
Use an old style winch and convert to dyneema, or use a halyard terminator. Both will remove the halyard tail from becoming a problem. Lots of pros and cons of both, but either way both are better than what you have.

[roverhi]

With roller furling cannot hoist the jib without having to go forward and mess with the bolt rope feed even with a guide. Makes life a lot easier to just have to go from mast to foredeck and back rather than all the way from the cockpit. If sailing with crew who could sit in the cockpit and haul on the halyard makes things a bit easier. Even then you have the communication issue when they haul when you need them to release tension and communicating that from 20' or more away.

[John_Trusty]

The problem seems to be applying tension on the headsail halyard, then terminating it at the mast. Rather than a fancy terminator, or a horn cleat, could you not just run the halyard through a clutch mounted to the mast, and then to a turning block at the mast base as it's probably rigged already? You could tension using the existing cabin-top auxiliary winch, close the clutch, then remove the tail and store it at the mast. Personally, I'd also bag it to avoid extra UV load and stiffening of the line jacket. Spare clutches can be had on eBay for $50 any day.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by John_Trusty

The problem seems to be applying tension on the headsail halyard, then terminating it at the mast. Rather than a fancy terminator, or a horn cleat, could you not just run the halyard through a clutch mounted to the mast, and then to a turning block at the mast base as it's probably rigged already? You could tension using the existing cabin-top auxiliary winch, close the clutch, then remove the tail and store it at the mast. Personally, I'd also bag it to avoid extra UV load and stiffening of the line jacket. Spare clutches can be had on eBay for $50 any day.

Yes, I've had multiple clutches on the mast. There are some things you seldom need a winch for, but available that way. Prefer soft halyards and real winch to most anything.

[roverhi]

figured a winch on the mast went with working the halyards there. You could do a clutch on the mast and run the halyard aft to a cabin top winch. Would still have to go from cockpit to foredeck to handle any hoist problems that required a winch.

[robert sailor]

We terminate the jib halyard at the mast, no problems.