Jib halyard tensioner

[GreenLake]

If you are changing your halyards, you could go for something that's much lighter and yet less stretchy. I found some instructions on the site L-36.com and have built myself some halyards from 1/8" Amsteel Blue with tails of some cheaper and more grippy double braid of larger diameter spliced to them for pulling and cleating (XLS or something like that). I even replaced the shackle for the jib with a soft shackle (using instructions from the same site).

On another boat I use halyards made from FSE Robline "Dinghy Control", I believe in 4mm (at that diameter that line is strong enough to nearly lift your boat). There, I don't have a tail, as the line has a cover and is easy enough to grip and cleat as is. The advantages are that the line has very low stretch and the diameter (because of it's Dyneema SK75 core) can be kept a size or two thinner. That cuts both weight aloft and windage which is a good thing to think about when you are rerigging anyway.

Barber haulers do make a difference, just remember to rig them so that they are cleated on the opposite side (the lines should form an X). That way, the cleats will be easier to reach when you are sitting on the windward side. I cleat mine just a few inches on the windward side of the centerline. I have to lean back in the boat a bit to reach them, but you'll find you don't need to adjust them all that often. Cleated on the leeward side they would effectively be out of reach and that's annoying if you forgot to set them before the tack.

[jeadstx]

Greenlake,

How long are each of the lines for the barber inhaulers? I was going to have them cleated close to each other forming a 'V', but I can see the wisdom in the lines forming an 'X'. Thanks for the info.

John

[GreenLake]

For downwind you need to let the barber haulers out all the way, so figure the distance from cleat to rail. Then you want to have a bit of a tail (say 6") to grab them, and another inch or two gets taken up by the stopper knot. In terms of purchasing rope, make sure you account for attaching the block or eye to the end for the jib sheet to go through. Better to trim them off to size once you've mounted them and see how you are using them.

I ended up using blocks, but suspect that a low friction round eye spliced into the end might work just as well (the bend is pretty shallow, so the added friction is not much).

For cleats, you want some with a fairlead so that the haulers remain captive even if you flick them loose for downwind.

[jeadstx]

I was going to go with an eye spliced into the end of the line. I thought about blocks, but thought an eye spliced in might work better. I can always change that after working with them. I may make up a set of each. My cleats have the fairleads built in.

John

[GreenLake]

Something like this?

[Salty Dog]

I like that cleating the barber haulers on the windward side of the stim. that makes sence. I was thinking about ordering the halyards on D&R Marine made up for the DS, but I will check out the other sugestions. GL you mentioned L-36 site. I was looking at what he did with his barber haulers, one line adjusts both sides. That would be cool. I don't know if I could make it work thou. John I'll probably be back there with you..... we can talk trash about the DSIs. SD

[K.C. Walker]

I think the blocks are better for the barber haulers. There's a fair amount of added friction without them. For years I had been using an eye splice with a ferrule or whatever those things are called. I find when the breeze is up and I'm close hauled that it's really difficult to pull on that last little bit of sheet tension. What I ended up doing in this situation is easing the barber hauler, hauling the sheet and then pulling the barber hauler back on. With blocks, I can just pull in the sheet.

[jeadstx]

KC, thanks for the input on blocks vs ferrule. That's good to know.

John

[GreenLake]

Do you mean a regular thimble? (The teardrop shape?). I would not recommend that. I was specifically suggesting a low-friction ring designed for this kind of application (replacing a block).

It does depend also on what you are using for a jib sheet. Different ropes have quite different friction.

If you are interested in the theory, the formula for friction depends in a very interesting way on the angle. The friction rises sharply with angle, I believe it's even exponential. (That's why a few turns around a winch will hold even large loads.)

For the barber haulers, the angles are rather shallow, so if something like a low-friction ring has a place, it would seem to be this kind of application.

If the rings work, they would have the advantage of being lighter and less prone to banging up the deck if you ever let your jib flog.

However, I don't have direct experience with those low-friction rings (they only strike me as something I would have used had I known about them at the time). In the end I used blocks, cheap ones without ball bearings. (I have an oversized jib sheet, so size of the blocks was an issue - standard name-brand ones were too expensive at the size). I do remember jury rigging some barber haulers before I installed permanent ones, presumably just using a bowline knot. I know that they worked well enough to convince me to install a permanent set, but I can't remember any details like trimming.

[K.C. Walker]

Yes Green Lake, a thimble, thanks. I thought about using those low friction rings. I decided that no matter how well they were polished they weren't going to be as low friction as even a cheap block, which is what I used. I had a couple of Dwyer blocks which are small and light.

[GreenLake]

K.C. I think the rings are not just polished, but the material is somewhat slippery to begin with. So without actually having tried them, I would hesitate to make "authoritative guesses" where they fit on the spectrum between a plain eye-splice with thimble and a block (with or without ball bearing).

The Dwyer blocks I've seen all seem to have metal straps - I would be afraid to bang up my deck with them....

[TIM WEBB]

I too started out with thimbles on the ends of the barbers, then eventually went to blocks. Much easier to adjust the sheets. I find that they don't really tend to bang around on deck all that much - they tend to fall aft of the cuddy bulkhead - as long as I'm "minding the store" so to speak, and don't have things flailing and flopping all over the place ...

[GreenLake]

OK, two votes for blocks - looks like I did the right thing and don't have to second guess myself any longer.

[Salty Dog]

What size line for the Barber haulers 3/16"?

[GreenLake]

You could go down to 1/16th if you want - they pull sideways on the jib sheet, so even without high-strength line you are unlikely to need any particular diameter for strength. I would recommend you go with the smallest size you feel comfortable with and with whatever rope will work well with your cleats. If you use smaller diameter, you could terminate the lines using plastic balls, instead of a stopper knot. That would make any size line easy to grip.

At the time I put my barber haulers in I used 1/4" three-strand because I found it easiest to do the eyesplice for the blocks. Some of the sheets on my boat were (and are) vastly oversized for the purpose, for example, for many years I used 9/16" for the mainsheet (the boat came that way). My jib sheets are equally oversized because I simply used some left-over line that happened to (barely) fit the blocks and cleats. That said,they have have worked fine, although lighter sheets and barber hauler blocks/line would help in low winds.

If you use a smaller diameter, instead of a splice you can simply use a knot for the block without it getting too bulky.