Mounting a winch on the mast?

[sailingunity]

I had Garhauer build the winch base for mine. I sent them a profile of the mast and they bent one out of aluminum, and was quite reasonable on price.

https://www.garhauermarine.com/custom-products/

[Nekton73]

My experience is that halyard tension on a furler is only useful when the sail is fully deployed. At full sail, yes, halyard tension can be an effective tool for getting the most out of your headsail. However, once I put a wrap around the furler halyard tension largely becomes moot and has little bearing on sail shape.
I made the switch from jib halyard to cockpit some time ago by mounting a clutch/jammer on the mast (a double actually, one for jib one for spin) at about 7' above the deck so I have room to reach up and haul, but can still operate the lever. Once the jib is up on the furler the clutch holds the tension just fine. The dead end is flaked and finished so that it hangs below the clutch, easily undone if I need to drop the sail. There is a horn cleat lower down on the mast that I can back up to if I ever find the clutch slipping but so far no need.
I considered mounting a winch but I am able to get all the tension I need by hand and if I want more I can just route the line back to a cabin top winch via a snatch block. When I first made the switch I did this more often when under full sail because I liked playing and tuning... now I am usually happy with leaving it alone unless I am really trying to squeeze the most out of my sail for some reason. It's super quick and easy to re-route back to the cockpit if I need to.

[catsketcher]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

But... But... But...

Doesn't anybody know that halyard tension is a REALLY important part of sail trim? It makes a huge difference in the boat's ability to point upwind in different wind strengths!!!

Lower halyard tensions in lighter winds allow a deeper draft at the front of the sail, giving more power when it is needed. Higher halyard tensions in stronger winds prevent the draft from moving aft which causes the heeling force to increase instead of the lift. You heel more, go slower, point lower, reef earlier. Nothing good there.

[/URL]

Umm actually the first part of this is 100% wrong, the second part 100% correct. Lower halyard tensions allow the draft to move aft and gives a sail a flatter entry. We do this racing all the time in light winds with flat water - ease the luff tension to get a flatter entry in light winds. This gives you a degree or two of extra height. Back in the day J24s would go around with the genoa scalloped on the luff to gain height in racing.

Then when the chop comes up and youi need forward drive, pull the luff tension on and the draft moves forward. As Harmonie says - this occurs less in laminates.

[The Yacht Rigger]

If you end up going the clutch route, spinlock XTS with ceramic cam's grip VERY well.

[catsketcher]

I went the clutch for my halyard. I also like the idea of cutting it off and whipping a little end to the halyard so you can use a light line to pull the halyard and hoist the sail and then remove the extra line leaving only the needed length of halyard. Gets rid of some extra rope from the mast.

My winch pad is only held on by one self tapper in the middle. The winch bolts go through the pad and into the mast and are tapped into the mast. It has worked well so far.

I reckon anyone could make their own winch pads using fibreglass. I like using round margarine containers as a mould - just bigger than the winch base. Wax the insides, then lots of glass, cut it down to fit the mast and do the same as I did - tap the winch bolts into the mast with the base as a - umm base.