Running main halyard to cockpit

[sv.islandgirl]

I have a 1977 E27. I would like to run the main halyard back to the cockpit but have 2 concerns and am seeking advice. Concern 1 is that I would need to attach some type of block near the base of the mast to turn the halyard towards the cockpit. I'm not sure if such an attachment would weaken the mast nor am I sure of the best way to attach the block to the mast. The second concern is is that I would have to attach a second block out on the coach roof to route the halyard around the companionway. I'm not sure how to attach a block to the coach roof without drilling through the roof and headliner (and thus detract from the interior). It looks like removing the headliner is a bigger project than I want to take on.

 

[Jeff Asbury]

I was able to do a Jerry Rig solve to your problem.

I as well did not want to go to the effort to attach Fair Lead blocks through the deck and head liner.

Here's what I did. I simply attached a block with a Shacked through the center hole on the Main Halyard Cleat on the base of the mast (Starboard Side). Then I shackled another Block on a strong fitting that was already on the toe rail (make sure the fitting is through bolted with a backing plate!). I then ran the Halyard back to the Jam Cleat that was already on the starboard side of the cabin. I believe this Jam Cleat was originally for the Spinnaker running rigging that came from the factory.

Not the most professional solve, but it works great for me. I will try to take a photo and post it here next week. Make sure your Halyard is long enough to get back to the cockpit.

Good Luck with what ever you do.

 

[Seth]

Halyard

You can do a couple of things: First, to get the halyard turned away from the mast you can mount a block at the base of the mast as you say, which WILL involve through-bolting through the deck and headliner. The other choice is a type of cheek block screwed or riveted to the mast. For an idea, look at Harken 222 blocks.
For the turn back to the cockpit, you will have to go through the deck and headliner. The way to deal with the headliner part is to use a hole saw and cut a 3-4" hole where you will be bolting through. When you have finished bolting and sealing the blocks, you can either put a standard 3-4" inspection port, which can be opened easily for future inspections of the deck or you can fit a round teak plate into the hole if you prefer the "wood look".

A look at the Harken catalog will give you several ideas (see page 34).

Good luck!

Seth

 

[mdgann]

Last season I moved my mast winches to the cabin top, led the Main, jib and spinaker halyards aft and put in clutches for all three. It was the best upgrade I have done so far for convenience and safety. I also adjust the halyards more often and thus it is a performance enhancement too. Do it right and bite the bullet and do the mounting. Sailnet has some great articles about cutting holes in your deck and how to do it right. I used the oversize hole, fiberglass fill and redrill method and am very satisified with the result. It all looks neat and professional up top and the only drawback is the hardware on the headliner down below. As mentioned previously, those nuts and bolts can be covered with a wood cover with countersunk holes for the bolt heads. All neat tidy and hidden. Good luck. M.Gann

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Here are the photos

Here are the photos I promised to take. Like I said it's not the most professional solve, but it works great for me. It was very cheep because the blocks were used and the jam cleat was already there.

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Sorry, wrong photo! Here's the right one of two!

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Photo1

Photo1

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Photo 2

Photo 2

 

[Seth]

Hatyards led aft

Very creative-but be careful Jeff-that cam cleat at the and of the cabin was never meant to take any loads anywhere near what the main hayard could produce. I would be leery in big breeze with proper halyard tension of relying on that cleat!!


Safe sailing!

 

[escapade]

Re; Halyards led aft
On my previous boat (E30+) I removed the mast step (held down with 1/4-20 machine screws), made a 1/4 inch thick aluminum plate to which I added the turning blocks and sandwiched the plate between the deck & mast step with 1/4 inch longer bolts & sealant. Then I added the organizers to the cabin top & led aft to rope clutches. This way you would only have to do the beefing up of the cabin top under the organizers, rope clutches, & winch base. The 30+ had the zip out headliner which made the job easier but a little extra work up front will give you a nice looking, functional, and STRONG set-up for leading the halyards aft. Ericson's are well built, functional, and down rite pretty sail boats and deserve the best craftsmenship you can give them! The extra work involved is nothing compared to the satisfaction of a nicely completed project that you can be proud of, not to mention the functionality of the set-up. I now own an E34 and unfortunately don't have any photo's but if interested I can give you more info on how I did it.
Good luck & sail fast
Bud E34 "Escapade"

 

[u079721]

Let me also add a word of caution about the rig shown in the picture. The load on the mast mounted cleat is now in tension, not shear. From the photo it looks as if the cleat is just mounted with tapped machine screws, which are great in tension, but will not offer much resistance to an outward pull. The only way this would be safe is with through bolts backed up with good sized fender washers - which would be hard to do inside the mast. Even SS rivits might not offer enough support.

 

[Jeff Asbury]

OK, I guess it was a bad idea. Some of us just don't have the money to do a proper fair lead set up. I have sailed in 20 mph winds with this set up, but with the info you gave me I will tie it off on the cleat at the base of the mast at anything over 15mph.

 

[dave_g]

My '71 E29 has a 2" diameter Stainless U bolt through the mast approximatly 4 inches from the base. The ends of the U bolt protrude from the opposite side of the mast ~1/2 inch with locking nuts and washers. The U bolt is either 1/4" or 5/16". There is no question that this will hold any necessary load. There is a single block attached to this, for the main halyard.

The main and jib halyards travel through a deck organizer (bolted to the cabin roof) to a rope clutch. The deck organizer is located as far towards the stern as possible to minimize the direction change of the halyard.

 

[Seth]

U-Bolt

What you describe sounds exactly like a bale for the attachment of a boom vang. While it will probably handle halyard loads, it was meant to take loading directly away from the mast-not vertical or parallel to the mast as a halyard would likely do.

Safe sailing!

 

[escapade]

Turning blocks;
The plate I used came from the local steel supply warehouse, aprox.$5.00. The blocks I used were purchased at the boat show clearance table for about $10.00 ea. Total for the project not including rope clutches or winches was less than $50.00 total. this made a strong, good looking set-up. The clutches are handy but you can use a cleat w/winch moved from the mast just as well. I use the cabin top winches for halyards and also for spinackers, barber haulers, boom vang, etc. The clutches are pricey but far cheaper than more winches, plus they keep the cockpit neat. The loads that you are putting on the spar by leading the halyards as described could cause problems at the most inopertune time. It won't happen in 10 kn, but the weakness will show up when it's blowing the clams off the rocks and you need to crawl off a lee shore. Not a good time for gear failure. I'm a firm believer in cutting costs but sometimes it's better to spend a couple extra bucks & have something that's strong & functional.
Good luck & sail fast
Bus E34 "Escapade"

 

[Martin King]

My objection to this set up has nothing to do with
whether it works or not (it probably will). He's managed to clutter
the side decks twice with that line. You would have been
better off leaving the halyard on the mast- much less
to trip over when you have to go forward. If you want a
good base block, look at the Schaefer half moon hinged
mast blocks(32-17). I used them on my boat with good results.
If you are tapping them to the mast, use 1/4 28 fine
thread fasteners with lots of" no-seize" on the threads.

Martin