Jammers/clutches - what have you got & any recommendations?

[Jonathan Stuart]

When I bought my BRe I opted for clutches instead of horn cleats for the halyards, etc, and the yard fillted Spinlock mini jammers:

https://www.spinlock.co.uk/en/categories/cleats-1/product_groups/sua-mini-jammer

For a while I've suspected these slip when under load and today proved it with issues with the main and, more alarmingly, jib halyards. Banging down the jammer handle helps but even that's not 100% reliable. I have a feeling that later BRes (and especially those fitted with the Mk 2 jib) use jammers but not the Spinlock mini jammers.

Can anyone let me know what jammers/clutches they use (on BRe or anything else) and whether they are reliable?

Jonathan

[maxr]

My old Hawk 20 has (I think) an older model of Easylock Mini jammer. They work well except for the jib halyard, which on the Hawk requires as much pressure as you can reasonably exert (I think that's what the manual says) on the the handle of a Lewmar 6 winch. That's a great deal of tension (perhaps a lot more than on  BRe?), and the jammer fitted won't quite hold it. The only solution I found is to winch up and hold the tension, then put 2 half hitches in the doubled halyard tail behind the winch without letting it slip. Yes, you need at least three hands for that.

[David Hudson]

Spinlock clutches seem to be the " industry standard". That's probably why their XAS clutches are so expensive.

I would try a larger diameter jib halyard first.

[Julian Swindell]

I've got spinlock mini jammers for my main and jib halyards and have had no problem with them at all. I tension the entire rig by winching in the jib and it stays like that all season. I know I should slacken it off after each outing, but I always forget, Maybe as David suggests you could try a thicker halyard?

[Jonathan Stuart]

David, Julian,

Thanks for that. Having seen the cost of the XAS clutches I'm going off the idea of replacing my mini jammers :-). The XAS is, I'm sure, what is now fitted to BRes. We sailed again today and (contrary to what I said above) I'm now wondering if my crew (AKA wife) doesn't always use enough force with the mini jammer. Also, having recently switched to dyneema and reduced the jib halyard diameter to 6mm (which is still within the range the mini jammer supports) this could no doubt exacerbate slippage. We need to test this on a few more sails where we really force the jammers closed. If that's the issue then I might install clamcleats between the jammer and the organiser as a "fail safe".

[Graham W]

Jonathan,

If your line is Dyneema without any sort of covering, I'd say that your problem probably lies there rather than with its diameter.  In addition to problems with creep, Dyneema is notoriously slippery.  These are things that chandlers omit to tell you as you pay three times the price of bog standard string.

[Jonathan Stuart]

Thanks Graham. Fortunately my Dyneema does have a covering - it's Marlow GP78 and I read the Marlow brochure (how many different ropes?!) rather than rely on the chandler for advice.

[Peter Taylor]

I've got Spinlock XAS on the jib, main and spinnaker halyards plus the kicking strap.  They hold well except the kicking strap one which is odd because it's the same type of rope as the main halyard, as far as I can see and the load can't be that great given the 6 part purchase. Otherwise I find the XAS's good, much better than having to use a horn cleat.

For the jib sheets I've got Spinlock PXR cleats which were fitted by SB.  I didn't like them right from the start and Matt sent me some replacement camcleats which I have been in the process of fitting for the last year!  The problem with the PXR's is that they are on the cabin roof and I can't release them from any distance.  the reason I've hesitated replacing them is that I'm not entirely sure the camcleats will be better.  However I'm about to experiment with a two part purchase on the jib sheet using an auto-ratchet block plus the camcleats.  The idea is that the time lost due to having to pull in more sheet will be offset by being able to do it faster, easier, and from a greater distance. The auto-ratchet should allow the sheet to pay out faster and more reliably than it presently does through the PXR's. 

Peter

[David Hudson]

Hello Peter
I and others, have expressed our opinion on the Spinlocks in the past and thoroughly agree with you.

I have my boom vang, main outhaul and cunningham on small Harken Cam Cleats with extreme angle fairleads. These allow me to adjust each one singlehanded.

I think you mentioned the wish to have main halyard cleated on the port side. I have achieved this by using the aft mast foot block as a crossover which allows just that.

[Peter Taylor]

I think you mentioned the wish to have main halyard cleated on the port side. I have achieved this by using the aft mast foot block as a crossover which allows just that.

D'oh... why didn't I think of that!  In my case it's actually the starboard side where I need both jib and main halyards to end up so I can tighten both using my one winch.   Matt wanted the two halyards to run down opposite sides of the mast to distribute the tension but crossing the main halyard over at the mast foot looks entirely feasible. So now for yet another rearrangement of the cabin top! One consideration for the BC20 (possibly other SB's) is that only the aft-most part of the cabin roof is all ply and therefore strong enough to confidently mount clutches etc.; I'm rapidly running out of freehold!
Peter