Help identify boat bit ,please.

anzani010kq4.jpg
 
2 fag ends
1 clothes pep
1 button
1 tape yellow
not a clue on the metal bit /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
a bike wheel
and a bloody BIG! photo.
 
Can I be the first to say welcome. And posting pictures isn't that easy first time round but people here, as you can see, will help out.
Ignore any ribbing you might get - it's all well meant and in good humour (mostly!).
Once again, welcome /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Oh yes - good point. Welcome!
So tied up with thinking "oh, I could resize that, which might be helpful" that I didn't stop to think it could be seen as picky. Posting pictures isn't just "not easy first time" but a right pain. Once you've got it, it's OK, but it's surprisingly hard to "get".
Oh - and I don't know what the thingy is, but Steve Birch's answer looks plausible.
 
I don't think the bar is meant to have any sideways load as it appears to just be a piece of tubing that has been flattened at the ends. It's purpose seems to be merely to maintain the spacing between the two sliding blocks. I'm thinking it's more like a genoa track where one block takes the lead from the sail, and the other gives the correct lead to a winch? However adjustment of one (e.g for furling) would upset the position of the other, so a bit puzzling. Maybe someone fitted a non-furling foresail but couldn't be bothered to alter the track. Burble burble burble, just ignore me. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PS. Why has your tape got a red mark at 32 inches? Do you regularly check inside leg measurements of potential crew? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
Ok, lets make a few assumptions (kindly correct me if I'm guessing wrong).

First, at around 6' long I would guess it goes athwart a catamaran dinghy. Again, assuming there is only one rather than a pair of these it is, as Steve Birch suggested, probably a mainsheet track.

Cat dinghies often have fully battened mains (another assumption) and these should be sheeted good & tight, preferably just off the centre line when beating. So, put your mainsheet block on the steel rod (set in the centre of the track) and you can really sheet it in, but the sail will sit just off the centre line. Then, As Steve said, tack and the sail stays flat as it moves to the other end of the track for the opposite tack.

Should you wish to go on a beam reach the s/s rod can be slid along the track, keeping the sail shape really flat and like a wing, even when set at a wider angle for the reach.

Does this sound reasonable & is there a prize? ;-)
 
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Why has your tape got a red mark at 32 inches?

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My guess. It is infact maked every 16" and is intended for setting out joists at 16" centres.
Mine similarly marked, but not in red, is aso marked every 40 cm which is
presumably the metric equivalent.

I've no idea about the boat bit but it does not look sturdy enough for a main or a jibsheet system.
 
Thanks all. Where do I start! Sorry about in-yer-face photo .Great comment from Rich.The flat bar is about 7ft long and made of brass.the sliding bit is stainless steel. Why has my tape got a red mark at 32" .....seriously ,what does it relate too? Just googled it!!!....."OTHER MEASUREMENTS You might have noticed that every 24" on the tape measure are marked with a contrasting black background and every 16" is marked with a red background. The marks are used by construction workers for spacing wood studs in a wall or joists in a floor/roof. 16" spacing is used most commonly for load bearing walls and 24" for non-load bearing walls." Well ,there you go . Didn't know that! Not up on nautical terms but I agree it's something to do with shifting a sail from port and starboard on the stern of the boat.
 
By the way Welcome to the forum,
I normaly get in trouble, after I get back from the pub, Kim used to delete all my posts made after 11.15 pm /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
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PS.Re.. the photo. Should I have chosen 320*240 or 640*480 ?

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640*480 is about right. The version I bunged on is 600*450 - I don't know why!
320*240 would be too small to show the detail you need.
Actually the full size version does show loads more useful detail, just hard to get the overview!
 
I agree that it looks very much like a mainsheet traveler but the problem with that is at some point you will have to go to loward to get to the end of a 7 foot track to lift the pin up, not a job I would relish in any wind.

As an aside, just before I logged in to the site I was looking at a new tape measure that I just bought (not being able to find the other 6 I have somewhere) when I noticed a small black dot at just under 19 and a quarter inches and another at 38 and a half (ish). It looks as if this is a tenth of 16 feet, now whats that for?
 
I think it is a job/genoa/ reaching sail track. It has a tandem traveller.

This is similar to that sugested by Harken in their technical corner.

As shown here

In your case there is no control lines but the position of the foreward traveller can be controlled without going too far foreward. It was probably used for an assymetric reaching spinnaker.

There was probably a pair of them.

If it was for a mainsheet it would probably be symetrical.

Iain
 
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