Downhaul,Outhaul

[Guest]

I am having a few problems figuring things out.

The downhaul system has me baffled. For the downhaul, do you just set the boom in place with turn screw and then raise the sail or is there a method for pulling the boom down after the sail is raised. There is an "eye" on the bottom of boom, about 8 inches back, and a cleat on either side of the mast.
The outhaul also has me perplexed. I've read about lines on the boom that are threaded through an eye in the sail and then cleated. My boom doesnt have a cleat, but the mainsail has a line in it and the end of the boom appears to be set up to have a line go around it.
My Daysailer was built in 1961.

Thanks,

Todd Hand


Todd Hand (THAND-at-AOL.COM)

[Guest]

The 'eye' in your boom is for a vang attachment. It would also attach at the base of the mast. My DS doesn't have a vang, but it does have the attachment points...very useful for racing, but for recreational sailing I haven't missed it.
The two cleats on either side of your mast are a mystery to me, perhaps they were added as a place to stow your halyards? My downhaul cleat is about 4" above the cuddy deck on the back of the mast. I bend on the main, raise it fully, and then use the downhaul to provide tension. You can add such a cleat very easily with a pop-rivet gun.
Same story with your outhaul...you probably need to add a cleat to secure it, unless the previous owner just secured the clew of the sail to the end of the boom itself (which wouldn't provide as much leverage as pulling through a block on the end of the mast back to this missing cleat).

Good luck; let me know how you fare.

Tom (tbeames65-at-cs.com)

[Guest]

It sounds like you're describing exactly what I had when I first purchase my DS1.

The loop on the bottom of the gooseneck was for a downhaul...it tied off to a cleat "attached" to the sailtrack below the boom. With this arrangement, it is difficult to maintain a good sailshape, as you are changing the height of the boom.

The cleats on the side of the mast (assuming that they are set back some from the mast partner) are for cleating off the main and jib.

If you look at the way most people rig their boats (and according to class rules when racing), they fix the boom at a certain height. This height is defined in the class handbook which can be found at www.daysailer.org. They then take a line through the a grommet installed slightly above the tack of the sail, down to some type of cleating arrangement. It can be above decks by attaching a small block near the base of the mast and running the line back to a cleat on the cuddy top....or as I have done, take the cunningham down through the cuddy top, to a purchase system under the cuddy which leads to a cleat mount at the aft edge of the cuddy.

Hopefully this helps.

If you have any questions, just let me know

Don Trop (don.trop-at-att.net)