Cabin-top controls...

[mdevour]

Hi,

I'm showing my lack of experience here, but I'm curious what do people do with all the lines they bring back to the aft edge of the cabin top? They must make an awful clutter in the cockpit while racing, but even when you have all the time in the world to dress things down neatly, what do you do with it all?

I'm thinking about my Shark 24, which is an early fiberglass bermudian sloop design from the late fifties. It was designed to be a fast boat with modest accomodations. There's an active racing fleet around the Great Lakes.

I don't mind if my rig lacks all the bells and whistles the racing boats have, as my interest lies in day sailing and light cruising. I'd just like to use the fittings that are there.

Her rig has been stripped of all but halyards and sheets. The halyards run to the foot of the mast. I'm hoping to re-rig things to sensibly use the four sets of cabin-top cleats and fairleads that are now empty.

On the "modern" Shark rig, the main is supposed to have halyard, outhaul, vang, and cunningham. The jib carries a halyard and cunningham. Then, of course, there are lines for the spinnaker, which I will ignore for the time being.

If I run the halyards back, that leaves two leads free. What two, of outhaul, vang, and cunninghams, will be the most useful (and educational) for the kind of sailing I'll be doing?

Thanks,

Mike D.

[ 07-06-2005, 11:32 AM: Message edited by: M. G. Devour ]

[Dan McCosh]

The vang, outhaul and cunningham all control the draft (shape) of the sail. I'd say the priorities are outhaul, vang, cunningham, in that order. Probably the outhaul and vang for the main would be most useful. The cunningham is mainly for upwind work in heavy air, hence doesn't need adjustment too often--often the same thing can be done via halyard tension.

As for the loose lines. When I've been racing on small boats the usual paractice is to toss the loose end down the companionway to get it out of the cockpit. Fussier types sometimes hand net bags around the companionway to stow the lines. This practice makes it easy to make rapid sail adjustments from the cockpit, although the cabin is a bit of a mess.