ffiill
Active member
Just came across article in an old copy of Yachting Life re. John Illingworth and his use of messenger lines.
Lots of boats have them running up through the mast so as to be able to replace concealed halliards.
However he used them in all sorts of situations.When slab reefing whilst under power he would use a continuous loop to draw heavier reefing lines through the eyes on the sail.
Another great idea is to fit a pulley to the crown of an anchor and use a messenger line to secure the marker buoy.When it comes to tripping the anchor /untangling it either a heavier line can be sent down plus you get double the purchase/or half the load on the trip line.
My personal thoughts on this is to make sure that the line you use for taking flags up the mast again if fed through a substantial pulley at the mast head could double as a messenger line to get a useable heavier line to the masthead in an emergency.
Lots of boats have them running up through the mast so as to be able to replace concealed halliards.
However he used them in all sorts of situations.When slab reefing whilst under power he would use a continuous loop to draw heavier reefing lines through the eyes on the sail.
Another great idea is to fit a pulley to the crown of an anchor and use a messenger line to secure the marker buoy.When it comes to tripping the anchor /untangling it either a heavier line can be sent down plus you get double the purchase/or half the load on the trip line.
My personal thoughts on this is to make sure that the line you use for taking flags up the mast again if fed through a substantial pulley at the mast head could double as a messenger line to get a useable heavier line to the masthead in an emergency.
