A frugal approach that works well for me is a cheap $20 and lightweight telescoping paint pole from Home Despot. I attached a shackle on one end and in the plastic cap on the other end, I threaded a hangar bolt into it. I slipped a 1" long piece of shrink tubing and shrunk it snug and smooth on the bolt with a butane lighter. That's the piece that I simply poke into the grommet in the clew of the jib. I attach the shackle to another shackle attached to the stern-facing base of the mast whose dual purpose is to also attach my boom vang. Not particularly elegant but it does the job and the adjustability is convenient. For anyone coming to Monterey, I would be happy to show it to you. The money I saved went into a DriDek cockpit sole that I am cutting to custom fit. :-) Neil Dorf Regional Solutions Consultant, CDIA+ Océ North America • a Canon Group Company Technology & Software Support 1164 W. National Drive Suite 10 • Sacramento, CA 95834 • USA Telephone 916 419 6975 Mobile 916 871 3179 Fax 916 576 1970 Email neil.dorf@oce.com Web site www.oceusa.com Sent from my iPad On Jul 7, 2011, at 2:41 PM, Tom Smith <openboatt@gmail.com> wrote:
You're probably not giving up much, Howard, if anything (you don't have as much complexity--one turn vs three--in the setup you have vs using the winch, but of course the winch gives you good mechanical advantage).
You could be giving up a little convenience because with the winch you don't have to secure all that head sail halyard at the mast base (just coil it and hang it on the winch), and I have a clam cleat to lead the halyard to, so I don't have to fool with cleating with a horn cleat. Neither are big deals, obviously.
I don't suppose you run as big a risk of losing the halyard up the mast with the blocks/winch combination, but there are ways around that too.
It sounds cool to use the winch?
t
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