Shroud Rollers

[ifoxwell]

A problem many of us have I expect so I'm looking for ideas

Long footed genoa which catches on the shrouds as we tack.

Whats the preferred solution?

Ian

 

[Tranona]

You have answered your question in the title of your post! You might also consider using soft shackles to attach your sheets rather than bowlines.

 

[Gin]

I used shroud rollers which helped but didn't fully resolve the problem PLUS they can rattle like hell on a beat in strong wind- also take bit of getting used to rotating when you grab them for a hand hold .

I tried all sorts of genoa tying methods and I did what Tranona suggests and used a Liros soft shackle- a neat and effective solution which minimised catching the clew.

Just occurred to me to explain my rollers were long tubes which slip over the shrouds, not the individual roller (wheel) types

 

[Stemar]

...rotating when you grab them for a hand hold .

That's why I wouldn't have them on my shrouds. If I ever grab at something on my way over the side, I'd really rather it didn't do that!

I think the solution depends on what catches. If it's the sheets, my boat's small enough that I can use a single line for both P & S sheets, attched to the genny with a cow hitch, for a bigger boat I reckon Gin probably has at least the beginnings of the solution. If it's the sail itself, then maybe the wheel-type rollers may help.

 

[ifoxwell]

We've tried the single sheet and it does help... but the real problem seems to be that the sail blows into the gap between the mast and the shroud as we move through the wind and is then hard to pull back around the shroud unless we go well through the tack, and then the foot of the sail catches on the stanchions.

So I'm thinking a bit of plastic pipe might do the job but figured there might be other ideas. Fortunately this is all quite low down so I don't think any solution will interfere with hand holds to much

Ian

 

[Hypocacculus]

We've inherited a 140% genoa with a single long sheet that has a stitched loop in the middle which is fed through the clew and the line ends passed through; effectively making a larks head. I know there are criticisms of such an arrangement but it doesn't get stuck in a tack. Conversely, during the RTIR on our friend's boat of the same type, the bowlines ended up hooked on the shrouds much of the time.

 

[Stemar]

In an ideal world, you'd have enough tension on the new sheet to keep that from happening but that's often easier said than done, especially when single handing!

 

[ifoxwell]

As an update to this thread we have tried....

thinner sheets so that they are easier to pull but it didnt make much difference.
a long continuous sheet so that it slides around eh shrouds cleanly but it didn't make much difference.
plastic shroud roller tube sold by our local chandlery but it didnt make much difference.
plastic drain pipe cut down and slid over the turn buckles but it didnt make much difference.
various different tacking techniques but none of them make much difference.

But when you add all these together.... things are much better. There is still room for improvement but the thing that now seems to be making the biggest difference is the size of the clue board on the sail. It folds over during the tack and then gets stuck between the hand rail and the shroud... and their really isnt much i can do about that!

Ian