by James Burwick
I finally busted a move and eliminated the jib tracks.
Sailing off the wind I wanted to open the leech of the head sails.
I was tired of looking at the clew hooking inboard.
Seems that the sweet spot was always right on the life-line.
The big Antal low friction rings fit the solent, trinquette and tormentina sheets. The ring has an exterior groove that holds the bungee cord. This cord holds the ring away from the deck and cabin top. It is held high on the lower shrouds with an adjustable rolling hitch. I wrap the cord end with sticky back sail repair cloth.
The system uses two pad eyes, two 2-1 purchase control lines, two rope clutches, and custom G10 Plates from C-Tech for load spreading backing pads. The lines lead direct to winches if power is needed.
First sea trial yesterday proved the system. Now I can approach the sweet spot and prevent the jib sheet from chafing the life line.
Lost: weight, holes in the deck, & chafe worries.
Gained: performance.
The addition of the two big ones makes 11 Antal rings aboard A. Girl.
Even after this many miles, I am still finding ways to make the boat cleaner.
Thanks to the countless sailors I spoke with:
JP Maquet, Garry Locke, Kevin Dibley. Michael Hennessy, Rob Windsor, Alex Vallings, Brett Burville... . .
One has to have a team to go offshore.
nice. we have wanted to do this for a while, and had the rings ordered for a friend/mule to bring from the US to Oz, but they missed her flight. reinspired! getting rid of the jib tracks is great. besides missing the sweet spot- they just mean more holes in the boat, they collect grit and gunk, and they are %$@#ing hot when you step on them (well ours anyway).
ReplyDeleteHow is this setup working for you now? I'd like to consider the same for my boat. I don't know how many headsail sizes you have but I'll have three. Not sure if I can get this to work with one setup for all three sails or if I need to install three sets, one for each headsail. Your input would be appreciated.
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