Jib Halyard Tying Off on Mast Cleat - Good or Bad

[sailingjupiter]

Current arrangement is for the jib halyard to be fed back to cockpit through a Barton jammer. The rope then gets in the way in the cockpit all year as we have jib furling as many do.

Currently we don't have a mast cleat but my thought was to fit one below the exit groove of the halyard on the mast. Then I could secure the halyard off there and not have extra rope kicking around the cockpit.

Is this a good or bad idea? Are there any problems to think about? I'm pretty sure other boats use this system. I know that I would have to get the halyard nice and tight.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

Current arrangement is for the jib halyard to be fed back to cockpit through a Barton jammer. The rope then gets in the way in the cockpit all year as we have jib furling as many do.

Currently we don't have a mast cleat but my thought was to fit one below the exit groove of the halyard on the mast. Then I could secure the halyard off there and not have extra rope kicking around the cockpit.

Is this a good or bad idea? Are there any problems to think about? I'm pretty sure other boats use this system. I know that I would have to get the halyard nice and tight.

On my boat we have our jib halyard on the mast. The ideal arrangement I believe, is with a clutch on the mast near the exit point. You winch the sail up, close the clutch and then loose coil the rest of the halyard on a cleat.

One small addition. The downside to this is that you have a lot of string hanging on the mast, as it has to be enough to go all the way up inside. To prevent this we actually have spilt halyards. There is enough to come out of the mast and be clutched off and coiled neatly. We then cut the halyard and have loops with a spectra lashing that can be joined when you drop the sail. In an emergency you would not bother with this, but in an emergency you are probably not worried about losing the halyard!

 

[johnalison]

I would have no hesitation in cleating off a halyard; in fact at least two of my boats had this system. The important thing is to have an effective and consistent way of attaching the line. Modern ropes can be finished with a locking half-turn without risking a jam, which is why old books always say you musn't do it, since natural fibres shrink tight when wet. My normal method is to tie one round turn clockwise and on a mast cleat usually two figure-of-eights with locked turns uppermost. The second turn is not necessary to hold the line but provides a V for anchoring the remaining coil. It doesn't matter if your method is different as long as you know what to expect in the dark.

 

[TradewindSailor]

The cleat on the mast isn't the problem.

The problem is "how can you cleat the halyard once you've tensioned the luff?" and "is it really worth re-rigging the halyard through the mast blocks every time you adjust the tension on the luff?".

Okay ..... 99% of cruising sailors tension the genoa luff at the biginning of the season, and forget about it, and the poor clutch holding the halyard.

The fullness of the genoa is, in part, dependent on the luff tension. Ideally this should be adjusted for the wind condition .....

After sailing the genoa should be slackened if you value you sail.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Fit the cleat as you describe, which I assume is accessible from the deck. Once you tighten up on the coach roof winch and jam off you could attach a second smaller diameter line with a rolling hitch to the halyard above the cleat. Pull this line taught and make off on the cleat. Then release the tension from the winch. Pull through your slack halyard line and coil up as desired. Minimum modifications. Not the most elegant solution and a properly set up Halyard and cleat system at the mast would be better.

You could pull the halyard through to its stopper knot and not actually unreave it from anything, thus preserving some of the benefits of cockpit controlled Halyards

All my Halyards are at the mast and they will stay there with no problems. Johnalison's method of stowing is very similar to how I do it. I take the stowing loop and feed it between the taught Halyard and the mast before leading the loop round the lower cleat horn. The coils always stay put.

Make sure you mount a good strong cleat properly.

 

[fireball]

Or use an inline Jammer ?

 

[Dan the man]

They always used to be cleated at the mast. Also, over titghtening the genoa on a furler is not a good idea. My rotostay IV says to tighten then back it off slightly so as not to overload the bearings, I am told it increases the wear on them.

You can get neat little bags that strap tot he mast to stow halyard in, seen them in the yachty catalogues.

 

[sailorman]

Current arrangement is for the jib halyard to be fed back to cockpit through a Barton jammer. The rope then gets in the way in the cockpit all year as we have jib furling as many do.

Currently we don't have a mast cleat but my thought was to fit one below the exit groove of the halyard on the mast. Then I could secure the halyard off there and not have extra rope kicking around the cockpit.

Is this a good or bad idea? Are there any problems to think about? I'm pretty sure other boats use this system. I know that I would have to get the halyard nice and tight.

i attend the Genoa halliard tension all the time to suit wind conditions prevailing

 

[Stu Jackson]

We used to have it coming back, like that when we bought the 12 year old boat in 1998. Useless, and a waste of a good clutch (sheestopper). We replaced that with a new cunningham line led aft to the cockpit. The foot fo the jib has a small line pendant which we use to tighten the luff of the jib. Every so often, perhaps once every two months, we tighten the jib halyard. We loosen the pendant at the foot of the jib before furling and lighten it each time after unfurling at the end of a weekend or trip. The "trick" is the pendant: small line, ultra strength tripled through the jib foot and the shackle at the top of the furling drum.