Boom downhaul

[P-sail]

We enjoyed our maiden voyage in our 2008 SunCat. Very impressed! Question: where does the down haul cleat to? Ours runs through a block at the bottom of forward end of boom but there is no logical place to cleat it off. I ran it to bow mooring cleat but that doesn't seem right. Any ideas?

Thanks, Paul

[Jim in TC]

Mine runs to a rope clutch (sort of a 'locking cleat?') on the cabin top near the back (handy to get to). I can get a photo sometime early this week if I think of it. Only problem with ours is, the clutch is starting to wear out, not always properly locking.

[DanM]

On my SC, everything cleats in a row on the cabin top.
Starboard side: throat halyard,  peak halyards, gaff downhaul
Port side: boom downhaul, topping lift

Gaff downhaul and topping lift both added by previous owner.

[P-sail]

I think I've got it sorted out. Prior owner added gaff down haul using boom downhaul hardware on port side. I moved gaff downhaul to starboard and (hopefully) back to factory boom downhaul set up. If anyone has a picture of their downhaul it will be appreciated.

[bruce]

Originally you had two Spinlock cleats on the starboard side, for the two halyards. They're covered, right?

[Jim in TC]

This photo shows the downhaul (green line on the right). The black line is attached to the reef point on the luff. I think this was added as part of a 'jiffy reef' modification. You may wonder about the post next to the line clutches. That was an ill-advised mod by the PO, with a post on each side of the cabin to hold the boom gallows. I moved the gallows back to the stern where it belongs but found that the posts make a very nice handhold on the way back and forth to the bow so put a rubber bit at the top and left them in place.

[Renae]

This photo shows the downhaul (green line on the right). The black line is attached to the reef point on the luff. I think this was added as part of a 'jiffy reef' modification. You may wonder about the post next to the line clutches. That was an ill-advised mod by the PO, with a post on each side of the cabin to hold the boom gallows. I moved the gallows back to the stern where it belongs but found that the posts make a very nice handhold on the way back and forth to the bow so put a rubber bit at the top and left them in place.

One has to assume that the gallows are aft for a reason, but what specific difficulties did you encounter with the PO's mod.  My best guess is that it became impossible to go forward.

[Jim in TC]

The gallows was set up to be removed once underway, for visibility mostly, I think. I actually moved the gallows back before we launched for the first time; it was tricky to remove and it seemed to me the long wisdom of the design (hasn't changed in all these years, after all) dictated moving it back. The mod was inspired by a cat boat cruising sailor (well-known, but whose name escapes me now) who made this mod on his much larger blue water cruising cat; I don't know the details on that. One thing that might be enhanced with the more forward gallows is landing the boom easily into the gallows when dousing sail. Interestingly, the mod was actually done twice on our boat: the first time, farther forward on the cabin, and she was advised that the weight of the long boom behind the gallows was excessive. Whole thing moved back with decent repair of the holes in the initial spot.

[bruce]

The PO did some interesting things with your boat, she wasn't afraid to experiment. Very intriguing.

I suppose if you did feel the need to routinely remove the gallows, having it forward would facilitate that. It would seem to be more appropriate on a sloop with a shorter boom. I did see an article in Practical Sailor where Darrell Nicholson said "the only disadvantage to a boom gallows is that it can get in the way while racing." Not sure that's it.

[Jim in TC]

Yes, many interesting mods (I would use a different modifier for some of them - replacing the teak floorboards with outdoor carpet well glued comes to mind). My impression was that she was more of a tinkerer than sailor. Which also means that despite her age (the boat, not the PO) there was relatively little use and little wear.

[DanM]

I'll mention another time the gallows gets in the way, and that's climbing up the swim ladder. Not only does the starboard  stanchion make it awkward, but the swimmer wiil always grab it to pull him/herself up. I can see a tiny bit of stress lines at the mounting. I wish it were better braced on that side.
On the port side, between the gallows stanchion and the end-boom sheeting, getting to the outboard can be like crawling through a jungle.
Both minor issues, really. There's a lot of stuff in a small space. Love the boat.

BTW, if you have the factory-installed running lights, the wiring runs up inside the stanchion to the stern light on the gallows.

[bruce]

I would use a different modifier for some of them - replacing the teak floorboards with outdoor carpet well glued comes to mind.

Huh, hard to put a positive spin on that one.

I'll mention another time the gallows gets in the way, and that's climbing up the swim ladder. Not only does the starboard  stanchion make it awkward, but the swimmer wiil always grab it to pull him/herself up. I can see a tiny bit of stress lines at the mounting.

Same problem on the PC. I did see, at some point, that Com-Pac warns of just that issue. They know of the problem.

Talking about swim ladders, as we drift further away from the original topic, I've made three side-boarding ladders for PCs (none mine, oddly) based on West Marine's 7" 4-Step boarding ladders. Typical hook design that never seem to fit anything, the key was to make infills for the hook that conform tightly to the coaming so the ladder doesn't pivot under the boat. The WM ladders use a single screw on each end of the treads, so repositioning them is easy. Additionally, the stand offs are independent of the treads, unlike some similar designs, further improving adjustability. 1" tubing, so I used 1 1/2" StarBoard; good deals on Ebay. I see they're on sale, I hope they don't plan to discontinue them!
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--4-step-portable-boarding-ladder-11-gunwale-width--P005_158_001_525?pCode=9278466&cm_mmc=PS-_-Google-_-GSC%3EBrand-_-9278466&product_id=9278466&creative=343879478137&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0YD4BRD2ARIsAHwmKVldHMevA1pRi-Nh5UmkkhgqqajvLDQ5EVEsb_zN5rSnxoBuMvTcrg8aAsE3EALw_wcB

I don't know all of the SC dimensions, but I'd guess something similar could be done. Top of the gunwale to the waterline on a PC is 21". WM does have a 11" version if you needed the reach. Two of the four treads are under water for us, and the second tread is just about on the waterline. Very solid, much easier to board after a swim. Storage and accessibility are issues, clearly not for unintended swims.