Tweaks to jib halyard

[Colin Morley]

In the library it suggests that you can add mechanical advantage to tightening the jib halyard by putting an extra block at the top. This sounded very good so i tried it. Yes it did add mechanical advantage but it caused a problem.
When I hoisted the jib halyard to its maximum the bocks at the top were tight up together before the mast was properly raised to its optimum position, with no space at base front between the deck. So I have had to take this block out to enable me to tighten the mast to the right position

[Julian Swindell]

I tighten my jib halyard with a 4:1 handy billy rigged down just in front of the halyard cleat. One end is hooked to a deadeye on the cabin roof and the other end lashed around the halyard with a rolling hitch. I pull up the jib as tight as I can, and then fit the handy billy and yank in another foot or so of rope. I leave it rigged all the time as I don't need it for anything else, but it is easy (fairly) to untie and doesn't damage or kink the halyard in any way. I don't have a good photo of it, but you can see the fixed end of the handy billy in the one below, with the tail of the halyard belayed around the cleat. The rolling hitch is one of the most useful knots I know. I use it all the time for tightening things up.

[Graham W]

Colin's problem with the jib halyard blocks crashing into each other before the mast has been fully raised can be solved by ensuring that the strop and shackle holding the jib boom to the deck plate are as short as possible; and by using small but strong blocks at the masthead. I use the middle sheave of a Ronstan 40 triple with becket and a Sprenger single attached directly to the top furler swivel. If you use the original equipment Barton fiddle block as the topmost block, you will run into problems. With the mast fully raised, I have a few inches to spare between the blocks.

I like Julian's handy billy idea as an alternative - on a BR20 it could be temporarily attached to a padeye on the front of the mast. A rolling hitch works well with standard string but slips on Dyneema, in which case an icicle hitch usually fits the bill.

[Colin Morley]

Thanks for these thoughts. I am sailing in Portland bay this week but when I get home I will look at these ideas carefully.

I am having quite a problem with the Jib halyard slipping in the jamming cleat on the mast. I pull it up as tight as I can in the standard way and the stays are reasonably tight or at least not loose. Then we set all the sails and have a good sail only to find that the lee stay gets slacker and when we furl the sails the mast is distinctly loose and the stays slack and that mast angled back slightly.

What am I doing wrong, or what can I do to improve this and maintain reasonable tension on the stays and the mast in the right position.

I have changed the jib halyard for dyneema but that does not solve the problem.

[Graham W]

Colin,

A slack lee shroud is normal with the self tacking jib. And unless you support the aft end of the jib boom off the deck when the jib is furled, the shrouds will be slacker than when under sail.

What sort of Dyneema are you using for the jib halyard? It is slippy stuff and unless it has some sort of plaited polyester cover (as in 'Cruising Dyneema'), it may not have the grip of the original bits of string, even if it stretches less.

[Michael Rogers]

I don't have a jib, so this thread is not directly relevant to me. However Graham's comments sent me off finding out about both a rolling hitch and (marvellous name) an icicle hitch. Really good stuff. And the website I used, showing animations of knot tying, has the strap line - 'Better to know a knot and not need it than to need a knot and not know it'. In a nutshell!

Michael

[Peter Cockerton]

Thanks for these thoughts. I am sailing in Portland bay this week but when I get home I will look at these ideas carefully.

I am having quite a problem with the Jib halyard slipping in the jamming cleat on the mast. I pull it up as tight as I can in the standard way and the stays are reasonably tight or at least not loose. Then we set all the sails and have a good sail only to find that the lee stay gets slacker and when we furl the sails the mast is distinctly loose and the stays slack and that mast angled back slightly.

What am I doing wrong, or what can I do to improve this and maintain reasonable tension on the stays and the mast in the right position.

I have changed the jib halyard for dyneema but that does not solve the problem.

Colin

Not sure if this will help with dyneema but i have changed my jamming cleat for a Barton single lever clutch. My mast is wood with a luff slot for a bermudan rig main and i find i can raise the mast and pull the jib halyard as it goes forward to provide a self locking safety line as the mast is raised. When the mast is up and the self tacking jib boom resting on the edge of the foredeck i tighten the halyard as much as i can, cleat it off and bring the jib boom central which tightens it even more. I have had little problem with this arrangement since installing 2 years ago.

Peter Cockerton