Mainsheet Ratchet

[Bob Carter]

Referring back to the failsafe at the wire forestay strop, it did strike me when rigging the boat for the first time that this appeared to be the weakest link in the standing rigging compared to the rest of the 4mm wires. Would there be sense in proposing/adopting this as a class rule, much the same as the Laser have specified a mast retaining line to stop the rig dropping out if you turn turtle. As a simple safety measure it does not detract from the one design nature of the boat, costs virtually zero and there is no performance gain.

Andy Mc.

Hi Andy,
Yes the strop is a weak link. The strop is also put under much strain if you sail with a jib. The torque applied during furling/unfurling can be a killer - especially if the main sheet is not loose. New boats and strops bought from Windsport are now made out of the 4mm wire, which should be much tougher (but they are very stiff and must be awfully hard to make). I was pretty happy with the safety loop of strong line which you have obviously seen in the tips or magazine. It has saved my mast coming down at least 2 times. We could change the rules but there is zero chance of being protested or a protest being up held for boats that have it. It does not make the boat go faster and does not give an unfair advantage to sailors who use it. We are a sensible one design class and enjoy our sailing too much to argue over little things like that.
Cheers
Bob

[Andymac]

Well, had a quick sail una rigged in 733 yesterday afternoon. A little lube got the ratchet working, but from my very brief spin in the F2-3 with F4 gusts, I don't think I'll be relying on it much as it seemed to take away the rapid easing that you get without. Likewise I found that the bottom multiple block was attached to the rathet block at the second clevis pin hole (from the top), this appeared to angle the cleat down and made release rather tricky. I have now moved it to hole 4 to try. I am more used to sailing without mainsheet cleats, and on the odd occasion I have, the release has been an upward pull, so it seems a little counter intuitive to me. I'll probably sail without cleating much, but could be a little too awkward in two sail/trapeze mode!
Bob, I wasn't suggesting the failsafe strop should be embodied in the class rules to prevent someone anal from protesting. It was more that it seems such a sensible thing on the grounds of safety to do, that everybody should be encouraged to adopt it by making it compulsory.