i'm going to be rigging my second spin cat this spring and i've been thinking about the downhaul line. on my last spin cat (F18) i ran the downhaul line up thru the grommets and terminated it at the upper (2nd) grommet, not at the head of the spinnaker. seems like i've seen it this way on lots of cats.

but now i'm wondering if i shouldn't run it all the way to the head of the spin, where the spin halyard connects to reduce the stretching effect on the fabric between the halyard and the top grommet that is down a few feet? if the halyard gets locked into it's cleat or tangled or the crew is kneeling on it when simultaneously pulling the downhaul hard to drop the spin aren't we stressing/stretching the top few feet of fabric?

anyone rig theirs this way?
j

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Aquacat 12 (sold)...'87 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'03 Nacra Inter18 (sold)
Venture 15 (sold)....'89 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'91 Nacra 5.8NA (sold)
'99 Nacra Inter20 (sold)
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Not something I would be concerened about. I think it wouldn't snuff well from the head either.

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Greenville SC

Offering sails and other go fast parts for A-class catamarans
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if the halyard gets locked into it's cleat or tangled or the crew is kneeling on it when simultaneously pulling the downhaul hard to drop the spin aren't we stressing/stretching the top few feet of fabric?

yes, stress on the fabric and on the sheet.
a few weeks ago my retrieval line broke on me because the spin sheet was wrapped around my bow (unknown to me) and i pulled harder than i should to get it to snuff. I almost fell off the back of the cat, into the winter water...
Solution ... don't stand on the line, or pull it if it has cleated (or wrapped around something)

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anyone rig theirs this way?

No, not that i have ever heard
the problem is if you tie to the head you will be trying to pull a big fat wad of sail into your snuffer. it is already hard enough trying to pull all the fabric from the 2 or 3 grommets adding the whole head into that pile would surly get jammed up
another problem is .. by adding 7-10 feet of extra line into your retrieval / halyard will leave a mess of line on your deck that is not needed... also makeing the first 3 or 4 handfuls of line (during retraval) all slack, allowing your snuff to fall into the water or foul

If you have the grommets, its nice to have the halyard/retrieval go under the tramp at about the midpoint fore/aft (run through a ring/shockcord at the back beam) . My newly acquired boat is set up like this. Very nice, and prevents the crew or skipper from inadvertently sitting or kneeling on it.

Agree with previous posters about not tying off to the head.

Macca had an interesting idea for the clew in this video here. Not sure of any drawbacks or whether its even worth the effort.

--
Jeff R
'88 H18 "Jolly Mon"
'10 C2 USA1193
NE IN / SE MI
cramsailing.com
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Macca had an interesting idea for the clew in this video here. Not sure of any drawbacks or whether its even worth the effort.

3 cats (that i know of) on our beach have that system installed with mixed results.
added blocks, rings and bungees to foul or fail. works ok usually but occasionally doesn't work so well
when you foul (or shrimp) your spinnaker ... things can get hairy and expensive very quickly..

if your a pro racer and/or get under your boat and go through your boat with great detail every time you rig .. .it's probably fine, but if you are a recreational sailor and don't need to over-complicate your retrieval system.. probably not worth the hassle to rig and dial in .. (IMHO)

I had installed a ring and bungee into my system that would suck the spin sheets into the hoop/bag during snuffing - to remove clutter and loose line on my deck. Fouled one time (always when it's honking out)and i shrimped the spin (ran it over) and it was about to rip my spin and capsize me in 25knots... I had to cut my halyard on deck to save my spin and avoid a capsize. that was about $90, i removed the extra system that day.



Edited by MN3 on Mar 07, 2013 - 09:57 AM.

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Macca had an interesting idea for the clew in this video here. Not sure of any drawbacks or whether its even worth the effort.

i don't think that extra clew ring would work on my 'end pole snuffer' as it would add a lot more retrieval line since it comes out of the sock right at the tack of the sail and would have to run to the clew before heading up the sail.

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If you have the grommets, its nice to have the halyard/retrieval go under the tramp at about the midpoint fore/aft

i set up my spin halyard and retrieval lines to disappear under the tramp on my previous cat. it was nice for the crew since they knew instinctively which line to pull to raise or douse the spin.
http://www.flickr.com/pho…n/set-72157626841276661/

man, all those lines and bungees on Macca's cat would drive me crazy!
j

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Aquacat 12 (sold)...'87 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'03 Nacra Inter18 (sold)
Venture 15 (sold)....'89 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'91 Nacra 5.8NA (sold)
'99 Nacra Inter20 (sold)
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http://www.flickr.com/pho…n/set-72157626841276661/

man, all those lines and bungees on Macca's cat would drive me crazy!
j

nice clean deck

my boat can quickly look like a spaghetti monster if i don't do lots of on the fly house keeping

rehmbo

Macca had an interesting idea for the clew in this video here. Not sure of any drawbacks or whether its even worth the effort.

It takes a little longer halyard due to the snuffer end going to the clew before running up thru the patches. Sets and stuffs take a little more to get the spin in and out of the bag because the spin is in a bigger ball, it's like having 4 patches on the sail.

That said the tramp is much cleaner due to the sheets being in the bag so I'm staying with it.

I am going to try the bungee and ring under the tramp to take up the extra halyard while the spin is stuffed.

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Ron
Nacra F18
Reservoir Sailing Assn.
Brandon, Mississippi
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downhaul looks like this when led to the clew?
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn…4488466_1902298930_n.jpg
j

--
Aquacat 12 (sold)...'87 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'03 Nacra Inter18 (sold)
Venture 15 (sold)....'89 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'91 Nacra 5.8NA (sold)
'99 Nacra Inter20 (sold)
--

Sure looks like it.

You can also see why it might take a longer retrieval line. Instead of going directly from the bottom patch, under the foot, and into the snuffer, it's got to make a detour over to the clew - a longer distance.

I can see now how you might have more difficulty snuffing this way. There's going to be a bigger wad of spin trying to go through the hoop.



Edited by rehmbo on Mar 09, 2013 - 07:27 AM.

--
Jeff R
'88 H18 "Jolly Mon"
'10 C2 USA1193
NE IN / SE MI
cramsailing.com
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