topping lift?

[navahoIII]

Hi, All,

Just wondering about a topping lift. It would be nice to have, especially when lowering the main, but wouldn't it get in the way when the sail is hoisted? Does it prevent the leech from shaping as it should? How heavy a line should it be? How would it work?

Am thinking of securing it with a thimble to an eye strap just below the head sheave, then using a clothesline (rolling) hitch at the boom end for adjusting tension.

Thanks.

[Alan]

There've been several posts by experienced sailors on the topic, so it's probably worth a search. There have been some different approaches, as I recall.

I decided to have one based on one experience on Lake Tahoe. Nothing like being a novice sailor, having a boom and wadded-up mainsail in the middle of the cockpit as get ready to you motor in, and then discovering that the jib halyard is wound around the propeller shaft.

Mine consists of a shackle that attaches to an eye at the aft end of the boom, a cheek block at the top of the mast, and a swiveling cam cleat at the bottom of the mast. The line runs from the shackle, up to the top of the mast, and then down to the cam cleat. I figured 1/4-inch line should be strong enough.

The cam cleat at the bottom of the mast allows for adjusting the tension of the topping lift, even when the boom is all the way out to port or starboard.

The way to keep the topping lift from affecting the shape of the mainsail is to slacken the line when the main is raised, since the main holds the boom up by itself and the topping lift is not needed at that point.

[GreenLake]

As Alan pointed out, the topic's been done a few times.

The Rigging Guide on this site mentions a topping lift, but that seems to be for the spinnaker pole.

The Daysailer Rigging Measurements give suggested strength and length, again that seems to be for line for the spinnaker pole.

There's a topic pondering topping lift ideas, another asking fortopping lift advice, and many more.

I found all of these with my favorite search engine, by searching for site:daysailer.org "topping lift". (No space after the : and quotes around the two words.)

My suspicion is that 1/4" line is overdone for a topping lift, because really, the only thing it needs to hold is the boom and the weight of the sail, and perhaps a bit of mainsheet tension to center the boom. The less weight you have in your rigging the better off you are....

[navahoIII]

Thank you, both!

[K.C. Walker]

I have my topping lift set kind of binary. I have it tied to a cleat on the mast base which is the off position and then I have a loop tied a couple of feet in for the on position which I just slip over the cleat. It's quick to set this way.

I do have a cheek block near the top of the mast. I'm using low stretch 1/8 inch double braided line and it's held up for 3 years and doesn't show any sign of wear. When the 1/8 inch line wears out I'll probably replace it with the same. I got it at West Marine where they sell a 50 foot hank for about $6. The breaking strength of good line is so over what you need it it's really how it feels in hand that is the concern. In this application I put enough knots near the loop that it feels okay to haul it in. I figured it was cheap enough to try it out and it would have low windage and weight aloft, and it worked out.

KC

[dannyb9]

my topping lift deadends in a 3/16"hole through the casting at the top of the mast, between the halyard sheaves. the lower end is tied to a snap shackle that clips into the hole at the end of the aft boom casting. when not in use, the snap shackle clips onto a taut line that is tied to the mast just above the mast tabernacle and runs to the cleat in the middle of the foredeck. this line also serves to keep the jib sheets from fouling on the tabernacle during tacking.

[jeadstx]

The way that I did my topping lift was that I added a tang to the top of my mast. I attached a cable (3/32") to the tang. At the end of the cable I had a snap hook. On the boom I added a small fixed block near the end of the boom, a small jam cleat, and a small horn cleat. I attached a line to the end of the boom and ran it through the fixed block. In between the attachment point and the fixed block I had a small block that I could hook onto the cable from the mast head. I use the line to adjust the boom to the height I need when I need the topping lift and cleat it in place. When sailing i uncleat it. There is enough slack in the line to not interfere when sailing. I'll try to attach pictures as I know my explanation might be confusing.







John

[Alan]

GreenLake: I hadn't considered that too-heavy topping lift line might not be a good idea. Darn, guess I'll just have to visit West Marine again.

John: Wandering off topic a bit, is that a simple-but-effective mast float behind the mast in the top photo?

[jeadstx]

Alan,
I put the small bottle at the top of the mast as added flotation. I also added foam flotation to inside of the mast (upper 2' to 3'). I can't say whether it is adeqate really, since I haven't capsized since adding it. When I did capsize last March, the mast started to fill with water from the masthead, but the boat didn't go turtle. I put the flotation up there to at least slow the process of going under if not preventing it. If it only slows it, it would give me time to get other flotation under the masthead. I also didn't want too much weight added to the top of the mast.

John

[algonquin]

My setup is very similar to jeadstx's rig.

I like the idea of not putting any more additional weight and windage aloft than necessary in a boat as light as the DS. So I prefer to have only as much line as required to get the job done and have the hardware mounted on the boom. Brad