I know what you mean about swirly wind lake sailing. Small bays mean tacking every few minutes. And the convoluted shorelines bend the wind in different directions every few hundred yards. I replaced the bullseye on the swivel cleat with a block with the idea of reducing friction for when I choose not to use the winches, which is most of the time. I already had the blocks and eye straps on hand so I figured I had nothing to lose. I’m not sure if it makes any real difference other than in my head. The cage type fairleads on the cleat are a bit overkill too since the cam itself swivels to line up with the direction of pull. Again, stuff I had on hand from Chiquita. https://nautos-usa.com/products/91185-fairlead-for-big-cam-cleat-91025-or-91... I’ll be replacing them with either the original Ronstan fairleads or simple eye straps like these. https://nautos-usa.com/collections/cam-cleats-fairleads/products/91056-fairl... I added a pair of aluminum Clamcleats on wedge risers a bit aft of the swivel cams since this picture was taken. I use them as sheet anchors for my drifter sheets, bypassing the swivel cams. I almost never use the winches while singlehanding with the jib or Genoa or even the storm jib. Just trim and release from the high side. If the wind is strong enough to require the extra power I take it as a sign that I have too much sail up. I sailed my VN23 cutter for many decades without sheet winches. I do use the winches with the drifter, hence the clamcleats. The drifter has its own sheets. I think Gary O has a cross sheeting setup on his M17 using turning blocks to cabin top winches. Gary? Henry On Sat, Oct 12, 2019 at 6:18 PM John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net> wrote:
Exactly...trimming the jib sheets more quickly easily safely. Needs to be done a lot in swirly wind lake sailing.
Unfortunately they also add at least one more place the released jib sheet can hang up when tacking...
Why did you replace the bullseye with a swivel block? Do you have a pic?
I re-positioned the oversize cam cleats some prior owner had put on my M17 so that they are fairly close behind the winches and angle partially into the cockpit. So I can sheet in somewhat just by pulling thru them. But can't release them from across cockpit in most cases. And it's still not optimal, and better one side than the other due to winch rotation being same on both sides so the line comes off winch to cam at a better angle one side.
I know a guy with a Wharram Tiki 21 who actually set up his jib sheets to run to the windward side - that is, the active sheet is led via a few blocks cross-deck to the windward side. A bit easier to do without it getting in the way, on a cat.
Basically jibs are a PITA. I am not having one on any other boats I may build or acquire...balanced lug, cat yawl, etc.
The jib drive power on an M17 is awesome but the big jib is a pain to tack, and I mostly sail lakes with shifty winds so there is a fair bit of tacking and just trimming.
cheers, John
On 10/12/19 1:20 PM, Henry Rodriguez wrote:
John,
I like swivel cams for the jib sheets because you can cross trim the sheet easily from the windward side. I’m currently using a pair of Ronstan RF58 cams with the bullseye removed and replaced with an eye strap holding a swivel block.
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/ronstan--medium-bulls-eye-fairlead-cleat-for-...
I would prefer to use the Ronstan RF60
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/ronstan--ultimate-swivel-cam-base--3734183
because of the ball bearing base but the price is a killer.
The Nautos HT-4967 looks promising.
https://nautos-usa.com/collections/swivel-bases-1/products/ht4967-swivel-bas...
If you do order anything from Nautos you can use discount code NAUTOSVIP for 5% off.
Henry
On Sat, Oct 12, 2019 at 2:09 PM John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net>
wrote:
Thanks for this source Henry...they have some swivel base jib sheet block/cleat combos that are not bank-breakers. I'm looking for something to improve my jib sheet handling, they have some options I haven't seen from other mfgs.
cheers, John
On 10/12/19 8:19 AM, Henry Rodriguez wrote:
Also check https://nautos-usa.com/collections/swivel-bases-1
Similar quality, better prices, and the block is included!
Henry Monita
On Sat, Oct 12, 2019 at 9:23 AM Edward Epifani <edepifani@hotmail.com> wrote:
Well worth shopping online, these are pricey. West Marine most likely does have sub assemblies if you want to rebuild it. At least you can touch
it
and see it before you buy ( if you have one close). Sometimes WM is the last resort. I’m old enough to remember the smell of tar in real chandlerys. Now, the smell of polyethylene and nylon...but I love my little plastic boat. Ed
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 11, 2019, at 2:35 PM, Steve Trapp <stevetrapp@q.com> wrote:
If you can find a local chandlery, maybe they will be able to help you. I will suggest taking your broken block into the store to get as close a match as you can find. Much as I try to avoid the big box of boat stores, West Marine, they do carry an assortment of blocks. Steve M-15 # 335
-----Original Message----- From: Chris Smith Sent: Friday, October 11, 2019 2:10 PM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: need new mainsheet ratchet block & cam arm
Hello fellow sailors!
I have an older m15 that needs a new mainsheet block. The current one attaches to the step in front of the cabin (as most do) but the bearing housing has split. I epoxied it back together but it has started to split again. It still works, but it sure makes me nervous in a blow.
Any suggestions for a new one?
Many thanks for your collective expertise!
Chris
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com
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-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com
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