How many control lines?

[bbg]

On one of the few boring tradewind sailing days I had recently, I counted the number of permanently rigged (while sailing) control lines.

Before I give the figure for my little boat, anyone care guess how many, and maybe how many on yours?

I can tell you that when I added them up - including control lines not just for sails but for other hardware - the number surprised me.

 

[Blueboatman]

Alright, you're a racer competing so I would expect more than I.

I have 9 coming back to the cockpit fore end-without a 3rd reef rigged though the hardware is all there to rig those lines back from the mast too.
And one barber hauler for the staysail but multiple sheets/blocks/chute controls instead of means of adjusting the cars by pulling string.

But I don't race, just cruise quite quickly and often shorthanded.

So in a mini6.5...................? 15 or twenty with downhauls? Never a dull moment on board I imagine

 

[Coaster]

I think we have 19 control lines.

12 led aft from the mast etc (3 halliards, topping lift, kicker, mainsail downhaul, 3 tack & 3 clew reefing lines)
1 gybe preventer
1 headsail reefing line
2 headsail sheets
1 mainsheet
2 mainsheet track adjustment lines

There are also 2 signal flag halliards and various bits of string for tying things down but I presume those are not to be counted.

We don't do posh sailing or racing. So, do you have 30 or so?

 

[TimG]

Hawk 20

3 halyards, outhaul and 2 reefs, kicker, backstay, mainsheet, jib furling line, 2 jib sheets, pole uphaul, pole downhaul, pole deploy, spinnaker recovery, 2 spinnaker sheets, rudder blade uphaul, rudder blade downhaul, centreplate uphaul = 21.

I guess yours will 30ish.

 

[BAtoo]

First 310:- 3 halyards, 1 topping lift, 3 reefs, clew outhaul, mainsheet, mainsheet tweaker, 2 traveller lines, backstay adjuster, 2 jib sheets, 1 jib furler, 2 jib car adjusters, pole up, pole down, 2 spinnaker guys, 2 spinnaker sheets, kicker. total = 25

Squib: 3 halyards, clew outhaul, mainsheet, main cunningham P&S control, 2 traveller lines, backstay P&S control, 2 jib sheets, 2 jib barber haulers, jib cunningham, 2 spinnaker sheets, 2 spinnaker barber haulers, pole up, pole down, flyaway pole outhaul, flayaway pole retriever, kicker P&S control. = 26 (no reefs & no topping lift on a Squib...)

 

[prv]

From the front:

• Bobstay purchase
• Jib outhaul (hmm, actually I no longer rig this, and shackle the jib to the cranse iron instead)
• Jib halyard
• Staysail halyard
• Burgee halyard
• Signal halyard x2
• Kicker (not always rigged; needs redesigning really)
• Preventer (not sure if this counts; one part is permanently spliced to the boom, but the other is a coil stowed by the mast and rigged when required)
• Tack pendants x2
• Clew pendants x2
• Main peak halyard
• Main throat halyard
• Main topping lifts x2
• Running backstays x2
• Jib sheets x2
• Staysail sheets x2
• Jib furler
• Staysail furler
• Mainsheet
• Mizzen topping lift
• Mizzen throat halyard
• Mizzen peak halyard
• Mizzen sheet
• (there's a mizzen reefing clew pendant on board but I've never rigged it)
• Mizzen masthead flag halyard
• Ensign halyard to the peak of the mizzen gaff
• Bumkin stay purchase

I make that 31, counting half each for the kicker and preventer which are kind of part-time, and not counting the jib outhaul or mizzen reefing which aren't rigged.

Not bad for a non-racing 24 footer, I reckon

Pete

 

[Simondjuk]

Jib furler, 2x jib sheets, 4x halyards, pole uphaul, pole downhaul, topping lift, mainsheet, kicker, backstay adjuster, 2x reefing pennants, outhaul, 2x leech lines, 2x foot lines, 2x flag halyards, cunningham.

Having adopted the KISS principle, 23 do absolutely everything.

 

[prv]

Let's try and do Stavros

Focsle head:

• Flying jib downhaul
• Foretopmast staysail downhaul
• Inner jib downhaul
• Outer jib downhaul
• Fore course tacks x2

Well deck:

• Sheets for all the above headsails, x8

Foremast fife rail:

• Fore course lifts, x2
• Fore lower topsail sheets, x2
• Fore upper topsail sheets, x2
• Fore lower topsail lifts, x2
• Fore topgallant sheets, x2
• Fore royal sheets, x2
• Main topgallant braces, x2
• Main royal braces, x2
• Main royal staysail downhaul
• Main topgallant staysail downhaul
• Main topmast staysail downhaul

Mainmast fife rail:

• Main course lifts, x2
• Main lower topsail sheets, x2
• Main upper topsail sheets, x2
• Main lower topsail lifts, x2
• Main topgallant sheets, x2
• Main royal sheets, x2
• Spanker brails, x6ish
• Spanker outhaul
• Spanker outhaul purchase

Open bridge:

• Spanker sheets x2
• Spanker preventer (rarely used)

Port side deck:

• Fore course clewline
• Fore course buntlines, x5(?)
• Fore lower topsail clewline
• Fore lower topsail buntlines, x4(?)
• Fore upper topsail clewline
• Fore upper topsail buntlines, x4(?)
• Fore topgallant clewline
• Fore topgallant buntlines, x3(?)
• Fore royal clewline
• Fore royal buntlines, x2(?)
• Flying jib halyard
• Foretopmast staysail halyard
• Fore upper topsail halyard
• Fore royal halyard
• Gantline
• Fore course sheet
• Main course tack
• Forecourse brace
• Fore lower topsail brace
• Fore upper topsail brace
• Main royal staysail sheet
• Main topgallant staysail sheet
• Main topmast staysail sheet
• Main course clewline
• Main course buntlines, x5(?)
• Main lower topsail clewline
• Main lower topsail buntlines, x4(?)
• Main upper topsail clewline
• Main upper topsail buntlines, x4(?)
• Main topgallant clewline
• Main topgallant buntlines, x3(?)
• Main royal clewline
• Main royal buntlines, x2(?)
• Fore topgallant brace
• Fore royal brace
• Main topmast staysail halyard
• Main royal staysail halyard
• Main topgallant halyard
• Gantline
• Spanker gaff vang
• Main course brace
• Main lower topsail brace
• Main upper topsail brace

Starboard side deck:

• Fore course clewline
• Fore course buntlines, x5(?)
• Fore lower topsail clewline
• Fore lower topsail buntlines, x4(?)
• Fore upper topsail clewline
• Fore upper topsail buntlines, x4(?)
• Fore topgallant clewline
• Fore topgallant buntlines, x3(?)
• Fore royal clewline
• Fore royal buntlines, x2(?)
• Inner jib halyard
• Outer jib halyard
• Fore topgallant halyard
• Gantline
• Fore course sheet
• Main course tack
• Forecourse brace
• Fore lower topsail brace
• Fore upper topsail brace
• Main royal staysail sheet
• Main topgallant staysail sheet
• Main topmast staysail sheet
• Main course clewline
• Main course buntlines, x5(?)
• Main lower topsail clewline
• Main lower topsail buntlines, x4(?)
• Main upper topsail clewline
• Main upper topsail buntlines, x4(?)
• Main topgallant clewline
• Main topgallant buntlines, x3(?)
• Main royal clewline
• Main royal buntlines, x2(?)
• Fore topgallant brace
• Fore royal brace
• Main topsail halyard
• Main royal halyard
• Main topgallant staysail halyard
• Gantline
• Spanker gaff vang
• Main course brace
• Main lower topsail brace
• Main upper topsail brace

Not including dressing lines, flag halyards, etc. Numbers of buntlines (and spanker brails) are best guesses; they all work together so never really noticed how many. And it's not impossible I've missed something, not having the ship around me to look at.

200ish?

Pete

 

[chrisedwards]

my last junk rigged sloop:

one luff hauling parrell - to pull the sail back
one yard hauling parrell - to pull the yard forward
one halyard
one sheet

thats it - and yet people often commented that there were too many lines- its just that some were unfamiliar lines. I'm appalled when I see banks of lines coming back from marconi sails on family boats.

One catch however - my sheet and halyard - were quite long - but then I have no winches - marconi jib sheets would be longer if tackles were used.

 

[bbg]

Well, I can´t match Stavros but I counted 37 lines which were always rigged while sailing the Transat.

- adjustable bobstay
- tack line for spinnakers
- 2 x bowsprit guys/braces (port/starboard)
- jib first reef
- jib second reef
- inner forestay deploy / retrieval line
- masthead spi halyard
- fractional spi halyard
- jib halyard
- main halyard
- 2 x jib car pullers
- 2 x jib sheets
- 2 x barberhauler fore/aft
- 2 x barberhauler in/out
- cunningham
- main outhaul
- 3 x main reefing lines
- mainsheet
- 2 x backstay (p/s - no permanent backstay)
- 2 x backstay fine tune
- 2 x traveller
- 2 x spi sheets
- 2 x vang/kicker
- 2 x foot rest adjusters

There were other lines rigged from time to time - furling line when I had the big gennaker / Code 0 set, extra sheets if the jib was reefed, light spi sheets - but those weren´t permanently rigged, and I haven´t counted lines that are parts of the sails like leech and foot lines.

Certainly enough to keep me busy, particularly in the condtions that we faced!

 

[Iain C]

This may surprise people who think fast dinghies are super tweaky, but on this 18 we had...

Mainsheet
Kite halyard
Kite tack line

And led to each rack was a continuous, one string...

Jibsheet
Kite sheet
Kicker
Cunningham

That's it! No halyards (you rig on it's side and shackle the sails in place), no rig tension (removable boat breaker), no kite downhaul (grab it and bag it), the outhaul was fixed, no jammers on the mainsheet or kite sheets (just hold them). When it was windy you make a call in the morning and put a smaller rig on...no reefing, just put a shorter mast on. No launching trolley either, just pick it up (one on each rack, one on the end of the fixed bowsprit) and put it in the water.

 

[flaming]

Jib Halyard
Main Halyard
2 x Kite halyard
Pole up
Pole Down (double ended)
Kicker (Double ended)
cunningham
Outhaul
reef 1
Reef 2 (in boom, but not enough clutches)
Jib sheets x 2
inhaulers x 2
Main sheet
Main sheet fine tune
traveller x 2
Backstay (double ended)
Spinnaker sheets x 2
Spinnaker guys x 2
Tweakers x 2
Jib car pullers x2

So if you count reef 2, for which we have to unrig the cunningham, and count the double ended stuff as 2, then we have 31. And scarily on the average race day it's only the 2 reef lines that don't get used!