Rigging main sheet

[Guest]

I just rigged my O'Day DS1 for the first time. I have instructions for rigging the main sheet but the diagram I have has hand notes indicating that the rigging shown is not for this boat. Shown is a triangular line and pulley arrangement at the stern called a traveler. The top of the triangle is at the end of the boom and the other two corners are located at the sides of the boat at the stern. From the end of the boom, the sheet travels over a pulley at mid-boom and then down to the top of the centerboard trunk where it passes through a pulley and then to the cam cleats.
The only alternate I can come up with is to start at the end of the boom where the sheet has a permanent loop around the small pulley on the block. From here I route it forward to midboom and then down to the final pulley and the cam cleat. I've not sailed the boat (at all) yet and wonder if this is an okay way to go.
I will appreciate an experienced opinion on the question.
Ray Gendron

Ray Gendron (rvgen-at-aol.com)

[Guest]

Rigging your DS 1 for the first time! Congrats!!
The way my DS one is set up is with mid-boom sheeting as well. The main sheet is fixed to the end of the boom and goes to the traveler. There is a block (pulley) the rides the traveler and then back up to the end of the boom where another block is attached. From there it goes to the mid-boom block and then to the jam cleat on the centerboard.

Eric J Nelson (nelsonjnelson-at-msn.com)

[Guest]

Ray,

Look at the rigging guide on this WEB site. It shows just what you need.

http://forum.daysailer.org/tech_rigguide.php

I'll describe it in case for some reason you can't view it. The main sheet is tied off to an eye strap at the boom end. It goes through a block which is tied at the center of your rear triangle (traveller) and then back to a block at the boom end. From there it goes forward to a mid-boom block and down to a block w/ cleat at the centerboard trunk. Very simple and you'll have plenty of mech advantage. Feel free to E-mail me if you have other questions.

Kevin Clark
Dallas, TX

Kevin Clark (clarkr-at-aud.alcatel.com)

[Guest]

I'm gonna jump in here because this is something I've always had questions about.

Eric, you mentioned that your main sheet is fixed to the end of the boom, passes through a block on the traveler, back to the end of the boom, mid-boom, then cleat. How do you have your traveler set up? Does it involve the blocks on the stern or have you actually installed a real traveler on a track?

I currently have mine rigged just between the mid-boom and the centerboard. Generally works fine but it certainly doesn't give me the control I would like.

J.T.

J.T.Ellis (parrothead-at-messageasap.com)

[Guest]

J.T.

It sound like you have a Spindrift DS 1 as what you described is how my Spindrift came originally--a simple 4:1 between mid-boom and centerboard trunk. This is fine for recreational sailing, but for racing there is a serious disadvantage.

When sailing upwind you want to get the boom over the boat's centerline or very close to that. With your present configuration, the sheet will pull down too much and over flatten the sail as the boom comes closer and closer to the centerline. Some solve this problem by adding a mid-boom traveller so they can pull the CB block to windward and get the desired boom position w/o flattening out the sail.

The rear triangle configuration is a cheaper and effective way to accomplish the same thing. With the triangle block tied at the center of the triangle, you are now pulling from the windward rail instead of the centerboard trunk as you pull the boom to the boat's centerline. From this angle you can position the boom where you want it w/o all the down force which flattens out the sail.

Some people add controls that allow the rear triangle to rotate so that you can actually pull the boom beyond the centerline as w/ a mid-boom traveller, but Phil Root proved that a fixed triangle can be competitive as he won Nationals (more than once, I think) w/ his boat set up this way.

If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me. There is a slick way that you can use the original Spindrift blocks in a 3:1 and get by only buying a boom end block and bail to try it out. For testing concept, the triangle can be tied off on the two eyes on your stern assuming your boat has them (like mine).

Kevin Clark
Dallas, TX

Kevin Clark (clarkr-at-aud.alcatel.com)

[Guest]

J.T.,
I have mounted two pad eyes on where the stern cleats are, and attached with two shakles a three-stand, 5/16 line spliced with thimbles. I have the traveler block on the line so that it can move back-and-forth. I got this idea from sailing small traditional Maine dorys and dinghys. This system works well and allows a cheap alternative to what I refer to technically as all the "fancy shmancy cam-cleated dingleberry blocks." Good lord I went to purchase one of these things and it was $79!!!!!! Hell, I could build me a new dinghy for that much!!!

Eric J Nelson (nelsonjnelson-at-msn.com)

[Guest]

Thanks for the info, Kevin and Eric. I wasn't able to raise the site you mentioned, Kevin, so it was good that you described the rigging. You were both in agreement. I tried it in a dry run (in the yard). It works. However, I see quite a bit of downward force when the boom is within the boat, i.e. between the rails. When you move the sail outside then the traveller block comes up against the block mounted on the side (one corner of the triangle). At that point the downward force is pretty well out of the picture because you are up against the block and off the line. I was somewhat surprised at the amount of downward force on the boom. I thought, from your discussion, that this system is supposed to eliminate (or reduce) the amount of downward force on the boom (and the resulting straightening of the sail).
The arrangement has a nice tendency to center the sail on the boat centerline, especially if the traveller is set up tightly. Interestingly, no one discussed the traveler detail. Are yours set up like mine? I have an eye mounted in the center of the stern. The line is tied to it. The line then goes out to the pulley mounted on the inside on the left (as you face forward), it then comes back to the block (or should I call it a pulley)on the opposite side of the boat. Of course, the traveler block is between these two when in the neutral position. From the block on the right side, the line goes back to center of the stern and through a cam cleat. With this set-up it is real easy to adjust the tension on the traveler, and thus the depth of the resulting triangle.
That's it for now, thanks again for your help!
Ray Gendron

Ray Gendron (rvgen-at-aol.com)

[Guest]

Kevin:

What is this triangle method or running the main sheet you mentioned?

Mike (hastingsml-at-aol.com)

[Guest]

Ray,

If you read the posts very closely, you'll see that Eric and I have slightly different implementations. On mine, there is a block TIED at the center of the triangle. This block does not ride back and forth on the triangle. BTW, the length of this triangle allows the block to be about 22" above the rear deck (per Phil Roots recommendation).

The advantage of this traveller is that the boom-end is being pulled from the windward rail when going up wind. This is not true when you allow the traveller block to ride on the triangle.

I wish you could view the picture on the DS site. A picture is worth a thousand words in this case.

http://forum.daysailer.org/ds_rigging_guide.html

Kevin Clark
DS11791

Kevin Clark (clarkr-at-aud.alcatel.com)

[Guest]

Little late getting back into this, but thanks for the informative replies. Kevin, not a Spindrift, it's a '59 Oday. I don't think there have been many modifications besides the ones I've made simply because I didn't understand the rear triangle deal.

So, you have a fixed triangle of line running through the stern blocks and block fixed on the center of that triangle. Sounds simple enough. I'll definitely give that a try. It seems from that point you could make it a true traveler simply by adding a couple of cleats to the stern so you could adjust the triangle.

I'm also curious if there are any Austin, TX sailors out there. I'm in the process of moving to Austin and I'm trying to learn about the sailing scene on Lake Travis.

J.T.

J.T.Ellis (Parrothead-at-messageasap.com)

[Bob Hunkins]

I don't know of any Day Sailers in the Austin area. If you find some, let me know, Lake travis is a nice lake and it would be fun to someday race some Day Sailer over there!
-Bob Hunkins
Houston, TX
Day Sailer Assn. Southwestern Regional V.P.