I put a new bail on the mains boom foward of the old one to get the mainsheet out of the way of my sun shade. I put a u bolt on the lip of the enterence way to the cabin and tried it out the other day when it was really windy and it worked well. It kept the boom from lifting up and seemed to control the boom better. It also made more room on the helm wheel area. I have a oak table on top of the wheel area where my compass and gps sit.
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moved mains mainsheet from the wheel area
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Chip Hindes
- Admiral
- Posts: 2166
- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2004 6:13 am
- Location: West Sand Lake, NY '01X, "Nextboat" 50HP Tohatsu
A U-bolt on the lip of the entranceway? I can't picture any such lip except adjacent to either side of the companionway hatch; so did you mount it to one side or the other, and if so, does that mean you can't close the hatch when sailing? Regardless, I also can't help but wonder what it does to access to the cabin from the cockpit.
The 26X rig and tackle were originally designed for end boom sheeting. When a bimini is installed, common practice is to move the attachment point on the boom forward a bit to clear the forward end with the bimini up.
The M has a forward mounted traveler system. Some have proposed and a few may have actually accomplished adding a traveler of some sort to the X, somewhere in the vicinity of the companionway hatch, but IMO that puts it too far forward to to be of much value. I'm also not sure it accomplishes much in the way of sail control compared to the standard sheet with vang. I'm well acquainted with the theory of a traveler, I just don't think the one on the M is a particularly good execution of the theory. I'm incredibly uninterested in hearing from over-sensitive M owners that I'm unfairly bad mouthing the M and that traveler is the greatest thing since sliced bread; it isn't. But perhaps someone who's owned and sailed both boats could comment intelligently.
Moving the lower attachment point forward, and the boom attachment point further certainly clears the cockpit of that pesky mainsheet. It also adds to the loads on the entire rig, though probably not any worse than the standard mainsheet and vang. In fact it's the vang and not the mainsheet which is responsible for the highest loads on the stock system.
In a related way, the 4:1 mainsheet tackle is adequate, though barely so, for the standard and slightly modified sheet locations, but because of the way higher loads the same tackle is plainly inadequate for the stock vang. I fear it will not be adequate for the forward mounted sheet either.
Theoretically at least, the forward mounted sheet could allow excessive boom bending and compromise designed sail shape; practically I don't believe this should be much of a problem.
Your statement concerning controlling the boom better with the forward mounting of the sheet seems to imply you don't have a vang. The forward location of the sheet will perform adequately minus the vang when on the wind, but regardless of mainsheet location, as soon as you turn off the wind and ease the main, you need a vang to control boom height and sail shape.
The attachment loop on the top of the pedestal causes the mainsheet to interfere with instrument placement in that location; one solution is to move the attachment from the stock loop to the top of an aftermarket "grab bar". This provides adequate clearance for instruments without badly compromising the function of the mainsheet, plus the grab bar itself comes in handy and provides additional protection for pedestal mounted instruments when moving around the cockpit. I found the first thing people tended to grab for balance was the GPS projecting from the top of the pedestal.
The 26X rig and tackle were originally designed for end boom sheeting. When a bimini is installed, common practice is to move the attachment point on the boom forward a bit to clear the forward end with the bimini up.
The M has a forward mounted traveler system. Some have proposed and a few may have actually accomplished adding a traveler of some sort to the X, somewhere in the vicinity of the companionway hatch, but IMO that puts it too far forward to to be of much value. I'm also not sure it accomplishes much in the way of sail control compared to the standard sheet with vang. I'm well acquainted with the theory of a traveler, I just don't think the one on the M is a particularly good execution of the theory. I'm incredibly uninterested in hearing from over-sensitive M owners that I'm unfairly bad mouthing the M and that traveler is the greatest thing since sliced bread; it isn't. But perhaps someone who's owned and sailed both boats could comment intelligently.
Moving the lower attachment point forward, and the boom attachment point further certainly clears the cockpit of that pesky mainsheet. It also adds to the loads on the entire rig, though probably not any worse than the standard mainsheet and vang. In fact it's the vang and not the mainsheet which is responsible for the highest loads on the stock system.
In a related way, the 4:1 mainsheet tackle is adequate, though barely so, for the standard and slightly modified sheet locations, but because of the way higher loads the same tackle is plainly inadequate for the stock vang. I fear it will not be adequate for the forward mounted sheet either.
Theoretically at least, the forward mounted sheet could allow excessive boom bending and compromise designed sail shape; practically I don't believe this should be much of a problem.
Your statement concerning controlling the boom better with the forward mounting of the sheet seems to imply you don't have a vang. The forward location of the sheet will perform adequately minus the vang when on the wind, but regardless of mainsheet location, as soon as you turn off the wind and ease the main, you need a vang to control boom height and sail shape.
The attachment loop on the top of the pedestal causes the mainsheet to interfere with instrument placement in that location; one solution is to move the attachment from the stock loop to the top of an aftermarket "grab bar". This provides adequate clearance for instruments without badly compromising the function of the mainsheet, plus the grab bar itself comes in handy and provides additional protection for pedestal mounted instruments when moving around the cockpit. I found the first thing people tended to grab for balance was the GPS projecting from the top of the pedestal.
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Lease
- First Officer
- Posts: 290
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:07 pm
- Location: Canberra Oz; 1995 26X "MACMAC" Tohatsu 50
Enough has been written about the efficacy of travellers for it not to need repeating. I would add that the X is one boat that would benefit enormously from changing the angle of attack of a sheeted main.
Working out how to do it though, is a pain. I've reviewed the mods section and whilst some come close, none really seem to be done in a way that is going to achieve the outcomes required.
It is certainly true to reinforce that the setup is designed for end-boom sheeting. It is not even necessary to have a boom when sheeting from the clew of a main. There are in fact some production boats that have no boom at all (anyone remember the Seawind 24?).
Trying to sheet further up the boom means that one of (or a combination of) two things need to be done:
Either:
- Stick a big gal pipe up the boom to stiffen it. This of course makes the boom potentially lethal and is for the most part to be avoided, or,
- Run the mainsheet from an anchor point on the cockpit floor, somewhere around the mid point (fore & aft), up to a block hanging directly above from a bridle on the boom, along the base of the boom to another block (this one should be on a bridle around 12"-15" long to spread the load more) that takes it down to the main blocks, and on to the traveller, or whatever. It should be noted that whilst this is an effective way to spread the load over a soft boom, it is not as effective as the deadlier first option in terms of stiffness.
Sheeting directly from a single point in the middle of a soft boom WILL result in a broken boom sooner, or later.
Working out how to do it though, is a pain. I've reviewed the mods section and whilst some come close, none really seem to be done in a way that is going to achieve the outcomes required.
It is certainly true to reinforce that the setup is designed for end-boom sheeting. It is not even necessary to have a boom when sheeting from the clew of a main. There are in fact some production boats that have no boom at all (anyone remember the Seawind 24?).
Trying to sheet further up the boom means that one of (or a combination of) two things need to be done:
Either:
- Stick a big gal pipe up the boom to stiffen it. This of course makes the boom potentially lethal and is for the most part to be avoided, or,
- Run the mainsheet from an anchor point on the cockpit floor, somewhere around the mid point (fore & aft), up to a block hanging directly above from a bridle on the boom, along the base of the boom to another block (this one should be on a bridle around 12"-15" long to spread the load more) that takes it down to the main blocks, and on to the traveller, or whatever. It should be noted that whilst this is an effective way to spread the load over a soft boom, it is not as effective as the deadlier first option in terms of stiffness.
Sheeting directly from a single point in the middle of a soft boom WILL result in a broken boom sooner, or later.
traveler location
Scott is right about the location, it is on the step over to the cabin. It is a nice ss u bolt that has a ss plate on it. I'll try and get a picture up in a few days. The bail was put on the boom a few inches in front of the step over lip to the companway so the main sheet would be out of the way as I said. It also can be used by my 4 yo to help him get to the cabin below. As I said I noticed that sailing off the wind the boom did not lift nearly as much as it did when I had the main sheet attached to the pedestal, I think this was because when the main sheet was let out the sheets angled up to the side of the companion way and then a short angle up and over to the bail. (Moving the mainsheets attachment points allowed the mainsheet to be at less of an angle because the attachment point is closer to the pivot point.) I feel there is no weakening of the boom moving the bail, but I did have the main reefed because of the winds. The u bolt sits just inside when the hatch is put back on. I also think this could be a good tether spot fot the cabin and the upper deck at the mast.
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