Odd question on weight/leverage, etc.

[Frank Langer]

Hi,

I need to hoist my 8 foot walker bay dinghy from the dock onto the foredeck of my boat. I would like to use my spinnaker halyard tied to the bow hook to raise the boat off the dock so I can then swing it over the lifelines onto the foredeck to store it. The dinghy weighs about 70 lbs, and I'm wondering if it will simply be 70 lbs of weight on the spinnaker halyard, or whether there are any other "engineering" considerations that I need to take into account--like the fact that the spinnaker halyard goes over the sheave at the masthead, the height of the mast, etc. I would like to do this, but don't want to break the masthead sheave.

Thanks for any tips.
Frank

 

[treilley]

As long as your sheaves are in good condition, they should be fine. Older sheaves sometimes wear out from wire/rope halyards but I doubt that is the case with a spinaker halyard that gets such limited use.

Hoist away!

 

[Loren Beach]

Unlike a mainsail or headsail halyard, a spinn halyard is meant to take loads from ahead to 90 degrees on the beam, sufficient to hold against righting-moment forces that put the spreaders in the water...

A 70# dinghy is nothing in comparison.

Loren

 

[Frank Langer]

Thanks, guys.

Thanks for your advice. I guess I'll hoist away!
Frank