Mainsheet Car - Stops v Purchase

[LONG_KEELER]

On boats under say 28' , I have always favoured plunger type stops on mainsheet track, particularly when short tacking. I also still have all my fingers and other parts seem to still be there.

My current boat of 26' for one season, has 2:1 a purchase and I find it rather awkward. Thinking of returning to good old stops.

What systems are you happy with ?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I changed from stops to a purchase on my Moody 31 - under tension, it was nearly impossible to move the car, but now it's quite easy.

 

[William_H]

I have always used tackle on my traveller. I use a 3 purchase system which is only just powerful enough. This on a mid boom large mainsail. I have often considered fitting adjustable restraint type takle as well as often when tacking the normal takle is let go and car goes to extreme down wind end. Yes being a light boat I need to be able to dump the main sheet (traveller) in a hurry so would never have stops. When beating we always haul the traveller up above centre line so has to be readjusted on each tack. We do a lot of tackinng in local racing. ol'will

 

[duncan99210]

Short tacking in a channel, I’d tend to set the traveller midships and leave it there until id cleared the channel. On the “big“ boat I’ve got a 3:1 purchase and wouldn’t want anything else as the strain on the traveller is significant. On the ”little” boat there’s just wing nuts holding the traveller in place, which is fine as its only an 18 foot Boat, therefore with much lower loads. I’d think that by the time you’re getting to 26 feet, the loads mean that a purchase system is easier to manange.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Never sailed on a boat that didn't have tackles on its traveller. Apart from that, just on boats with fixed mainsheet. Can't see how a plunger type would make any sense.

 

[vyv_cox]

On my Sadler 34 the most comfortable seat in the cockpit is forward with my back to the bulkhead. I can move the plungers on the track inboard a little, making the seating area almost flat. Having cleats and blocks and their associated lines in this position would effectively remove this seating, which as with most cruisers, is used for a great proportion of the time, at anchor.

Rather than trying to heave the mainsheet car upwind after tacking to move the plungers, I let it off to leeward before tacking, a far easier proposition.

 

[eddystone]

On my Sadler 34 the most comfortable seat in the cockpit is forward with my back to the bulkhead. I can move the plungers on the track inboard a little, making the seating area almost flat. Having cleats and blocks and their associated lines in this position would effectively remove this seating, which as with most cruisers, is used for a great proportion of the time, at anchor.

Rather than trying to heave the mainsheet car upwind after tacking to move the plungers, I let it off to leeward before tacking, a far easier proposition.

+1

 

[TLouth7]

I have the best of both worlds: tackle on plungers. This means the range of motion can be adjusted, the cockpit seating can be clear, and the string can all be removed without leaving the car to flop freely from side to side.

Not being able to adjust the car while hard on the wind sounds awful, at least on a boat where the boom needs to be close to the centreline.

 

[James_Calvert]

We have stops on our Sadler 32.

It is a struggle sometimes to adjust them when beating, a two person job: one to pull the traveller over, the other to rearrange the stops.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

We have stops on our Sadler 32.

It is a struggle sometimes to adjust them when beating, a two person job: one to pull the traveller over, the other to rearrange the stops.

Which was exactly why I changed it - doing a two-person job when sailing single-handed is a bit of a problem!

 

[Kelpie]

We have stops on our 39ft cc boat and they are impossible to move under load. Which is one of the reasons I might experiment with a twin sheet system.

 

[Debenair]

A decent roller bearing car with tackle adjustment can transform mainsail trim. A worthwhile investment on any boat over 30ft I would say. The Harken kit seems to be industry standard, although it seems Barton make some interesting stuff, and for an alternative choice look at Garhauer, tho you have to allow for VAT on the kit PLUS shipping when doing price comparisons.

 

[PetiteFleur]

We initially had stops on our M33 even though it had the possibility of fitting tackles as it had a pulley on the mainsheet traveller. I found a pair of outboard cleats and pulleys on ebay which had been barely used and were cheap. I had to modify the ends of the track to fit, much easier to use.