Rick, Cross sheeting is VERY convenient when sailing with crew. It keeps the little weasels out of the OWNERS space at the business end of the cockpit - let them start wandering around and next thing they start supplying advice and asking for cold drinks and meat sandwiches! The sheet across the cockpit is what separates US from Them!!!! LOL I do not really believe that. ANYONE is free to sail, steer,crash,win,lose in my boat - ONE rule, No Rules -and Have FUN! (be safe) GO M-17 # 316a "LB/GF" Team Geezer Racing....Old and In the Way. In a message dated 4/19/2009 1:21:59 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, JDavies104@aol.com writes: Well, I put Barlow Winchers on yesterday and have come to some preliminary conclusions, although the wind was pretty light with only a few good gusts. They do work fine as cleats when the winch has three turns on it, and you can drop the end into the jam cleat for insurance. They definitely help in winch grinding, taking all the strain on the tail that you usually have to supply with your free hand. It's still a two-handed job, but but all you have to do is pull the tail off as you grind. They do, however, have a drawback that I think will overcome all the advantages, and that's that you can't easily uncleat unless you're near the winch. With cam or jam cleats you can uncleat with a jerk from anywhere in the cockpit, which is nice to be able to do when the wind's blowing. I've never used self-tailers, but it would seem that they would have the same problem. The winchers also work fine when cross-sheeting, which really makes grinding easy since you're doing it on the windward side. Cross-sheeting also makes uncleating easier, but only if you're single-handing. I can't see that cross sheeting would be very convenient when sailing with a crew. Rick M-17 #633 Lynne L ************** Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the web. Get the Radio Toolbar! (http://toolbar.aol.com/aolradio/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000003) _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet! **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1220814852x1201410738/aol?redir=http... hmpgID%3D62%26bcd%3DAprilfooter419NO62)