Articles06/26/04: Vince Demperi & Jerry
Grant, Jib Fairlead Setup
Vince,
I have much the same setup as Kenneth. I sail
single most of the time so I needed as much control as
I could get.
I purchased a 150% jib about 10 years back fro North.
Mounted a 48" track with stand-up blocks on side dick
starting at the cabin as close in as possible. (Same
track and blocks as OEM.) I then run the sheet back
to a 2 3/8" Schaefer block mounted on the forward part
of the back stanchion. (The inverter "U".) The sheet
then goes to a block mounted on the next forward
stanchion. (Near the back of the cabin.) Then to the
original block one the cabin top, back to the winch it
needed and to a Harken cam-matics with fair-leads on
both sides. (Hearken # 356 I think.)
With this setup the sheets are still on the cabin top
where they should be.
However I did find that the OEM blocks on the side
deck did not hold up and I had to replace them with
Schafer blocks with beckets. (Series 7 I think.) Run
a light line from becket to life line with adjustable
knot to keep the block from hitting the deck and/or
cockpit.
The sheets on my OEM 100% jib were half inch Dia. The
sheets on my 150% are 3/8" dia. and I have thought
about going to 1/4" dia.
I found the best way to get the jib sheet length was
to use 1/8" dia. braided polyester cord (100') and use
it to get the max lengths. (Jib wisker pole to port,
starboard sheet to port rear of copkpit time two plus
a few feet.)
On the stem-head fitting, use the front one for the
stay. If you do not have roller furling get one.
CDI/Cruising Design makes the flexible furler which
you will need if you ever trailer your boat.
Feel free to ask it you have any questions on the
above.
Jerry L. Grant
06/29/04
Jerry,
Thanks a lot for the advice. I actually installed my tracks and cleats this
weekend. I purchased a Holt Allen jib lead kit (a pair of 13" tracks,
pinstop cars, and blocks) from Annapolis Performance Sailing and installed
them on the side decks. I will route the sheets from my 135 % genoa through
the Holt Allen blocks to Harken 150 cam cleats with fairleads that I
installed on the cockpit coaming. I'm going to try to use this set up for
my working jib as well. I can run my jib sheets through the cabin top
blocks to the genoa tracks and then to the Harken cam cleats. If it turns
out I need winches, I plan to relocate the existing cabin top winches to the
side decks. I left enough room in my installation to allow for this.
I sail single-handed about half of the time, so I wanted all of the control
lines within easy reach of the tiller. I even installed a pair of Harken
standup blocks on the cabin top for the halyards. I'll use the existing cam
cleats on the cabin top to cleat off the halyards. This setup might not be
perfect, but there is not much room to route lines around the sliding hatch.
Thanks again for sharing your hardware arrangement. I'm always interested
in sailboat modifications, so keep in touch if you have projects in the
works.
Vince