Topping Lift / New Sail / Boom placement

[GreenLake]

Dyneema will creep, but this is probably of less concern when you ret-tension everytime you launch. We look forward to reading your tuning instructions here, complete with pitch values for various wind conditions...

[Alan]

This seems to be the newest of the topping lift threads, so I'll post my question here.

I didn't have time to install a topping lift before our Tahoe trip earlier this month, so I tried using the main halyard instead. It kinda-sorta worked, but the forward end of the boom kept sliding down in the mast slot, all the way to the foredeck. Is there supposed to be a stop of some kind that goes in the sail slot below the boom?

[Alan]

OK, answered my own question. Sailrite has a "sail track stop" that goes in the slot and tightens with a thumbscrew. Gotta get me one of them...

Speaking of the main halyard, if you're thinking "jib" when you rig it and put it through the masthead backwards so the shackle is on the forward side of the mast, your mainsail won't go all the way to the top. I know this for a fact.

[K.C. Walker]

Alan,

There should be a tube in the sail track with a cleat attached to it for the down haul. There is a long end and a short end, the long end goes up and stops the boom from sliding down. You may need to adjust its position.

[Alan]

Aha! Thanks, K.C. It's about three inches above the mast hinge, which I imagine is low. That's a nice easy fix.

[TIM WEBB]

Yeah, the sail track stop is meant for use w/ sail slugs - keeps 'em from falling down and out of the luff feed cutout in the slot. A mast gate works for this purpose too.

If you want to set your boom height as high as possible for your particular mast/main combination, with the gooseneck free to slide up, raise the main as far as possible, with the headboard right up against the masthead, and cleat it off. Then pull the boom down as far as possible, stretching the luff as tight as you can. Use some kind of purchase if possible. Then set the tube/cleat thing an inch or two below the gooseneck slide. Now, when you cleat off the downhaul, you will be able to tighten the luff with the halyard as much as possible, while knowing that you have the boom as high as possible for headroom ...

As to topping lifts, well, the various discussions here have led me to see the error in my ways, and I decided to replace my non-adjustable, vinyl-coated SS cable TL with an adjustable Spectra one. I put a long loop/fingertrap at the lower end that allows the aft end of the boom to be raised about 2-3 feet above the height it's at when the main is up. This gives plenty of adjustment/clearance for the tent/cot and boom tent, as well as any fiddling around with it I might want to do while sailing. Thanks for opening up my eyes to the possibilities everyone! It's as yet un-tested, as it's been nothing but 24-7 thunderstorms down here for the last few weeks ...

I'll try to post some pix of it next time I get to go out - if there *is* a next time ...

[jdoorly]

I have 2 mistakes to rectify,

I'm Sorry Everybody #1: The first time I tried using my guitar tuner on my dyneema shroud it seemed to work and identify the note correctly. Since then it hasn't worked. Having thought long and deep the only explanation I have is that perhaps the boat was parked in such a way that caused the shroud to be 1 wavelength from the side of the house which would reinforce the sound of that note by increasing the environmental "Q" factor (which is why your HiFi speaker gets louder in a corner).

I'm Sorry Everybody #2: I have found that my 3/32" dyneema topping lift will not hold a rolling hitch, just too slippery. Any downward pressure on the boom causes the line to slip through the knot. I just replaced the knot with a small piece of wood with two 7/64" holes- I borrowed the idea from tent peg line adjusters. It's really hard to get a frayed end of dyneema line into the 1/64" clearance hole. I tried various things but only cutting the bitter end at a taper with a sharp razor blade (the blade won't be sharp after) and then putting a drop of wood glue on the end and massaging the end into a taper as the glue dries. An eight-knot seems to hold OK at the bitter end after you thread the line through the wood block, the boom eye, and the other side of the wood block.

mea culpa.

[GreenLake]

Tried the icicle hitch? Not that much harder to tie than a rolling hitch and reputed to hold on an icicle (including the taper).

I checked it out and it holds well in Amsteel.

The wraps are away from the load and the way the knot is finished off keeps it together better, so that it doesn't come apart if unloaded. Check out the link for the tying instruction. Here's an image of the finished knot.


There seem to be some variations in tying this, for example these images result in a slightly different knot.

[Breakin Wind]

Fantastic! Now I have a way to tie and drag away those huge Minnesota icicles that grow off my pole barn roof in the winter. They have been a pesky challenge to date. Thanks GL!

[jdoorly]

Thanks GL. Ummmmm, what direction is the pull from(l or r)?

[GreenLake]

Pull is away from the wrapping turns, which is opposite the way a rolling hitch would work. (In the pictures, the hitch is shown with a pull to the right.

The holding principle (if that is a term ) of the hitch is the same as for a splice in braided line: the "Chines finger trap". As you pull away from the hitch the wraps separate and that stretches the line, causing it to grip harder. In a rolling hitch, there seems to be a different principle, something like "jamming" the wraps together which increases the pressure for them to grip. That principle seems to depend on there being more friction than Dyneema (or icicles) provide.

Anyhow, that's how I explain this to myself.

[jdoorly]

Thanx GL, I'll give it a go when my tent peg technology fails...

[GreenLake]

Jdoorly, I think your tent-line gizmo is absolutely practical and I wouldn't give up on it, unless it breaks. Just wanted to spread the word on the icicle hitch because with modern rope the rolling hitch doesn't always perform as expected and there may be situations where you just don't have that extra piece of hardware.

[Alan]

topping lift swivel block.jpg (215.44 KiB) Viewed 19597 times

I used my topping lift quite a bit this week. It's Talbot-style - it runs from the aft end of the boom, over a cheek block at the top of the mast, to a small swivel block/cleat on the mast. I'm glad I set it up this way, even if it does mean one extra line at the base of the mast, because I almost always found myself standing in the cockpit fiddling with other things on the mast when I needed to change the topping lift adjustment.

[GreenLake]

can't argue with success