Outhaul rigging

[steve77]

Okay, this is not my first boat, but it is the first time I've ever replaced the outhaul on anything larger than a day sailer. Our boat had wire coming out of the end of the boom and shackled to the clew of the sail, and 1/2" double braid at the gooseneck for winching it tight. I never thought about it, but just assumed some type of rope to wire splice internal to the boom. While replacing the mainsail, I noticed the last foot or two of the outhaul wire had some broken strands and decided to replace it.

I was very surprised to find a 5:1 block and tackle inside the boom. Maybe everyone else already knows this, but to me it was news.

I replaced the wire with dyneema and the 1/2" dacron with 3/8" double braid. I was always noticing a lot of friction in the outhaul, and a lot of it was coming from the original rigger using 1/2" line in a fiddle block rated for 3/8" maximum line.

Here is a photo of the new install (with a shiny new Harken block) ready to go back into the boom.



Cheers!

Steve

[savoir]

What are you attempting to tell/ask ? So far there is no point to the post.

[steve77]

Call it education. I'm willing to bet most folks reading this are not aware there is, or may be, a block and tackle inside their boom. I thought it worth sharing.

Cheers!

Steve

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by steve77

Call it education. I'm willing to bet most folks reading this are not aware there is, or may be, a block and tackle inside their boom. I thought it worth sharing.

Cheers!

Steve

I knew this, but I appreciated seeing it stated. The outhaul is a sail control people don't seem to fully grasp (see "Cunningham") and displaying "the guts" is going to be helpful at understanding the forces involved.

[mikereed100]

I was scratching my head, trying to come up with a way to rig the outhaul on my cat so that it didn't chafe. A friend on a similar sized cat showed me his. The clew of the main was shackled to a padeye welded to the boom. "Hey", he said, "it's a cruising boat". it struck me that, as a cruiser, I have not adjusted my outhaul in 35 years. Mine is now shackled to the boom as well.

[OldFrog75]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

I knew this, but I appreciated seeing it stated. The outhaul is a sail control people don't seem to fully grasp (see "Cunningham") and displaying "the guts" is going to be helpful at understanding the forces involved.

+1

Not only that but single or double reef lines are usually inside the boom as well. Lots going on inside there.

[AKA-None]

Thanks for sharing. I was just trying to figure out what the PO had done for an outhaul on my C&C 27 and the photo and discussion helped me to figure out what he'd done on the outside of the boom. Seems he forgot to leave me those parts :-(