Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

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My Time
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Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by My Time »

I installed these stantion fairleads so that I can run my jib line thru the pulley's on the tracks so that I can sail a little tighter to the wind .....it was worth the investment....she sailed signifigantly better with this set up ...pointed a lot better....who ever uses the EZCleat I highly recommend it....
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Rick Westlake
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by Rick Westlake »

The :macx: stanchions, at the head of the cockpit, include curved horizontal side rails - under which I hung blocks to take the working jib lines back to EZ-Cleats on the aft ends of my genoa tracks. When you're singlehanding, you NEED your jib sheets in easy reach, and the EZ-Cleats were one of my first additions to Bossa Nova.
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Highlander
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by Highlander »

Done a simular mod for my genny sheets
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 10/006.jpg
As my genny is now 3ft out in front of my Jib I had to move my genny cars ahead to be able to sheet the genny properly
si I installed 7ft genny track to the top of the cabin
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 10/004.jpg

then installed a second set of Lewmar #7 aft winches
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 10/003.jpg

Actualy to improve pointing you have to move your lead Jib car more inboard & that could be done on the :macm: by moving your jib tracks from their present location to on top of the white plastic strips that retain the sliding hatch
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 010054.jpg
witch in this pic would be where my elect. drill is sitting

8) J
PS I actualy prefer to sit in front of the pedestal when solo sailing this set up allows me to do either
innervations
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by innervations »

Following up on an old thread, I installed Bill's EZ Cleats last weekend and they are brilliant. Inexpensive modification to the rigging but wow what a difference they make to ease of sailing. I have a 150 Genoa and it was a pleasure adjusting the sail and tacking on Sunday. Bloody brilliant!

Apologies for the ebullient post but credit where credit is due. When someone comes up with a really useful product or service they deserve praise. I have nothing to do with Bill or Boats4Sail other than ordering his EZ Cleats from the other side of the world :D
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dlandersson
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by dlandersson »

Got them last summer...love them. My tacking is still lousy, but on a much higher plane. 8)
innervations wrote:Following up on an old thread, I installed Bill's EZ Cleats last weekend and they are brilliant. Inexpensive modification to the rigging but wow what a difference they make to ease of sailing. I have a 150 Genoa and it was a pleasure adjusting the sail and tacking on Sunday. Bloody brilliant!

Apologies for the ebullient post but credit where credit is due. When someone comes up with a really useful product or service they deserve praise. I have nothing to do with Bill or Boats4Sail other than ordering his EZ Cleats from the other side of the world :D
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by innervations »

It actually did make me look like a more competent sailor because I was not scrambling all over the cockpit. The admiral even commented that she felt more confident in my abilities this weekend :)

Caveat - my tacking is still rubbish though :?
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL »

I am presently selling my EZ-Cleats for $100/pair.
S & H, USPS Priority Mail, $10 USA - $25 Antarctica & elsewhere
Email me and I'll send an order form.

If the wind is on the nose, do you need a winch to tighten your sheets? - No, as there is no tension on them.
If the wind is on your beam, do you need a winch to tighten your sheets? - Maybe. Or, do as I do. I turn into the wind slightly to take the tension off the sheet, pull it thru the cam-cleat on my EZ-Cleat, and head back out. They let you handle the sheets for the Jib, Genoa, and Spinnaker from the helm. They simplify single-handing.
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by BOAT »

My Time wrote:I installed these stantion fairleads so that I can run my jib line thru the pulley's on the tracks so that I can sail a little tighter to the wind ...]
Okay, I'm lost here - if your sailing a JIB does it not always go through the track on top of the deck? I thought that was the track you were supposed to use for a JIB.

What am I missing? Are you saying that you are putting the GENOA through there to point higher?

Oh, and I have Bills swivel cleats too - they are really the best way to cinch down a headsail
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by Russ »

BOAT wrote:
My Time wrote:I installed these stantion fairleads so that I can run my jib line thru the pulley's on the tracks so that I can sail a little tighter to the wind ...]
Okay, I'm lost here - if your sailing a JIB does it not always go through the track on top of the deck? I thought that was the track you were supposed to use for a JIB.

What am I missing? Are you saying that you are putting the GENOA through there to point higher?

Oh, and I have Bills swivel cleats too - they are really the best way to cinch down a headsail
For the standard jib, you can rig it like this

Image

Although I have 2 cam cleats behind the winches that do the same thing. If a person is in the way they may have to move a bit to get out of the way.
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BOAT
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by BOAT »

But the jib clew is still attached to a jib sheet going through the track on top of the boat. He said he was making his boat point higher, higher than what? Was he using something other than the track on his deck to sheet the jib before he bought Bills cleats?? If not - there is no difference in pointing - the FIRST place the jib sheet goes to decides the shape and angle of the sail - not all that stuff that comes later.

I'm trying to figure out how Bills cleats can make the boat point any higher when they have nothing to do with where the clew of the jib is going to end up! The line in the clew goes to the deck track weather you use Bills device or not!

What am I missing here?
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by innervations »

I don't think dlanderson is saying that the ez-cleats help point higher but will leave for him/her to respond??

I only have a Genoa so run the sheets to the tracks on the gunnels. No difference obviously in pointing ability with ez-cleats just a lot easier to control the sheets. :)
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by innervations »

When I do eventually get a jib I really like RussMT solution to bring the sheets back to the ez-cleats on the gunnels.
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by BOAT »

Right, I guess if you sail a stock jib that's a great idea but it's got me thinking down another route - I was thinking that they were somehow using the fairleads off the stanchions to pull in a genoa a little closer to the boat to get a better point - that's what I thought they were talking about: " a better pointing idea ".

Hmmm, I wonder . . . .
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by innervations »

Interesting. I will get a couple of fair leads and give this a try. Will not be for a couple of weeks though.
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Re: Bill's EZ Cleat Mod....worth the $$$

Post by BOAT »

I can't get back out till mid February.
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