Running lines back to cockpit

[Jolly Roger]

You don’t need a boat manual to re-route running rigging, just work it out to suit yourself.
Look at these two articles I wrote for boating magazines, about routing all the running rigging to the cockpit on my schooner. Of course, it's easier if the sails are roller furled, as all mine now are, but that’s because I altered the sails from the original slab reefing, and now my boat is truly a shorthanded rig that runs five sails.
Changing the running rigging on the boat
Building over the top blocks for running rigging
If these links don't follow through, copy and paste them into your browser.

[Joh.Ghurt]

Originally Posted by Heath68

We were looking to buy a 50ft catamaran and all lines were at the mast and I worried that this would make single handed sailing impossible when it came to reefing..

Having a 44' monohull with no halyards in the cockpit I don't see it as a major drawback. Yes, sometimes it's annoying to go to the mast to do things, but it works well single handed. One benefit is that the lines being shorter and myself being closer to any potential snag or problem.

A few things that I observed:

• Grannybars are really helpful and a few hard points to clip in around the mast too. Add also lines to clip into to get there.
• When raising or lowering the main, I have sometimes to run back and forth once or twice to adjust the main sheet. It's usually not a problem.
• Something sometimes annoying is the autopilot going straight in the wind. In some situations, this needs tweaking the course. Either do it before you raise the main or you have to go back to the cockpit to adjust. A remote control for the autopilot solves this problem. This also makes anchoring easier.
• Directly at the mast I can raise the main mostly by hand winching only the last foot or two. I never was able to do that with halyards in the cockpit.
• For a single hander, halyards for Spinnaker, blister or any foresail is better on the mast than in the cockpit, as you're closer to the place you need to fix problems or need to handle the sail.
• You need to plan your manoeuvres ahead of time. But that's something you need to do as a single-hander anyway.

Overall, if the sailboat seems to be set up reasonably in other aspects, consider giving the reefing at the mast a chance before running lines to the cockpit. You might be surprised how little it affects you.

[dcstrng]

Originally Posted by Joh.Ghurt

[*]Grannybars are really helpful and a few hard points to clip in around the mast too. Add also lines to clip into to get there...
[*]Directly at the mast I can raise the main mostly by hand winching only the last foot or two. I never was able to do that with halyards in the cockpit...
.

That's sorta where I came down... the hardest part was getting someone to build the bars/pulpits -- finally got a fabrication firm in Michigan (I'm in VA) who did a beautiful job in stainless; probably outclassed my 30 footer about 3:1, but I'm approaching my mid-70s and wanted something substantial to hang onto (and I've never had cockpit lines, so wasn't sure I wanted to DIY my way there...). bars/pulpits are a reasonable option, although not for everyone from what I've observed. I still have to install mine, but that's what summer is for I keep telling myself...

[wingssail]

All of our lines lead to the cockpit.

The advantage for us, sailing double handed, is that a person in the cockpit can handle the helm and the tails of the halyards or reefing lines. The other person can go forward to overhaul the halyards or manage the luff cringles. (BTW with one person at the mast overhauling and a person aft tailing, we can do things much faster than slowly grinding a winch at the mast). We have no winches other than the anchor windlass forward of the cockpit. We have six rope clutches at the front of the cockpit to reduce the number of winches required.

Another advantage is that we can put any line on our biggest genoa winches if needed, so, for example, we can use a big winch on the spin halyard when raising the dingy.

The disadvantage is that singlehanded it is more difficult to raise sails or reef.

If you relocate your lies aft design it carefully to avoid adding friction and to allow flexibility about where they can be led. Also, realize that most winches under the dodger are small and inconvenient to use.

Finally, make sure that the securing point for the turning block, where the halyard or reefing lines take a 90 degree turn toward the cockpit, is strong. Quite a lot of upward pull on pad eyes around the base of the mast can distort or fracture the deck. Many boats have a tie bar from the deck to the mast (inside the boat) to keep the deck from flexing upward.

It is acceptable, if your halyards run internally and exit the mast several feet up from the deck, to place the turning block well away from the base of the mast to allow a more direct lead to a winch aft, just remember the strength requirement.

If you do this project it will change completely the way you run your boat. It will be a big project but if done well, it will be an improvement.

[Heath68]

Originally Posted by Joh.Ghurt

Having a 44' monohull with no halyards in the cockpit I don't see it as a major drawback. Yes, sometimes it's annoying to go to the mast to do things, but it works well single handed. One benefit is that the lines being shorter and myself being closer to any potential snag or problem.

A few things that I observed:

• Grannybars are really helpful and a few hard points to clip in around the mast too. Add also lines to clip into to get there.
• When raising or lowering the main, I have sometimes to run back and forth once or twice to adjust the main sheet. It's usually not a problem.
• Something sometimes annoying is the autopilot going straight in the wind. In some situations, this needs tweaking the course. Either do it before you raise the main or you have to go back to the cockpit to adjust. A remote control for the autopilot solves this problem. This also makes anchoring easier.
• Directly at the mast I can raise the main mostly by hand winching only the last foot or two. I never was able to do that with halyards in the cockpit.
• For a single hander, halyards for Spinnaker, blister or any foresail is better on the mast than in the cockpit, as you're closer to the place you need to fix problems or need to handle the sail.
• You need to plan your manoeuvres ahead of time. But that's something you need to do as a single-hander anyway.

Overall, if the sailboat seems to be set up reasonably in other aspects, consider giving the reefing at the mast a chance before running lines to the cockpit. You might be surprised how little it affects you.

Thank for those points. We have had a chat and have decided to give it some time first... if after 6-12 months we are still not happy we can relook at it then.