Genoa sheet lead

[Salty19]

Been playing around with genoa sheet arrangements and found one that works really well.

Pro's
Sheets glide in out of leads easier
No winch friction to deal with (as it turns out, this is significant)
No horn cleat attachment, adjustment and cleating is simple
Lead angle can be adjusted while under sail and when furling down to smaller headsails.
Much easier to tension the sheet close hauled.
No rubbing issues of line to the deck like some lead positions.

Cons
Can't use the winch (I never do)
Cost of hardware
Might need to (longer) sheets
Cam cleat might be a bit too far forward-a little tight for passengers but not bad.

Those are Ronstan series 25 T track lead blocks, a 40 series block held with 1/8" dyneema line (covered in surgical hose) and a Harken heavy Duty cam cleat.

Frankly I don't use the winches and always thought they added too much friction. Turns out that was accurate, it's a lot easier to trim sails and the sheets run free while tacking now.  We use a 140% genoa so that could account for not needing a winch.



Closeup. I've tightened the block closer to the winch since the pic has been taken.



This is not for everyone but works well for me.

[Salty19]

Correction:  The winch can be used.  During fall cleanup, I noticed the blocks tied to the winches have enough play to slip right off the winch head. Took all of 2 seconds.

I take the lack of comments to mean ya'll think I'm completely nuts for going through all this effort for jib sheets.       
Maybe I should stop at five lead blocks (two on tracks for genoa, two aft blocks for drifter and the winch block) on each side!     Yes, that sounds like a plan!

[Greene]

I take the lack of comments to mean ya'll think I'm completely nuts for going through all this effort for jib sheets. 

Absolutely not Salty.  We already thought you were completely nuts.  Lime beer, teal colored boat, ugliest sailing hat we've ever seen.....  Salty Nuts.

Actually we like the idea of a heavy duty cam cleat rather than the simple cleat.  There are times when we should tweak the trim on the headsail just a little and we don't because the sheet is firmly cleated off.  (OK, Brenda and I find lots of reasons not to tweak the sails.  Wrinkles in our sails?  No problem.). A cam cleat would make trimming pretty easy. 

Even on the 23 we don't break out the winch handle.  The sheet loads just aren't that heavy.  The only thing about the winches that we find a nuisance is when one sheet is released from the cleat it still tends create friction on the winch.  This makes it difficult to fully trim the new sheet until someone manually unwraps the turns on the leeward winch.  Amazing how much friction there is with just a wrap or two around a winch! 

Mike and B

[Salty19]

Salty Nuts...very fitting!!!   LOL!!!

Your right about the hat.  It's hideous and needs to go.    Maybe the Tilley gods will be kind next year.

I couldn't believe the winch friction either until it was eliminated.  Having to manual pay out the slack sheet from the winch when tacking was becoming a real sore spot for me.   The "winch block" eliminated that problem entirely, so I figured I would share the idea. 

[NateD]

I think it's a bit of overkill. My cam cleat is mounted behind the horn cleat, which allows you to use the cam cleat without going around the winch (unless you set the sheet lead in the aft 2 positions, like it is in the picture below). I know going around the winch will take some of the strain off the cam cleat, but the cleat is rated for use up to 200 pounds, and if there is 200 pounds of pull on the sheet I'm going to be using the winch anyways. When I do use the winch (either because of strong winds or the lead in the aft positions) two flicks of the wrist unwinds the sheet from the now windward winch while I'm pulling on the leeward one. Leaving the windward sheet wrapped around the winch does create too much friction, but unwinding it seems much simpler than adding an extra 4 blocks.

[Salty19]

Just to clarify...two of the blocks are aft led only for use by the 170%, low clew drifter.   One is attached to the rail to lead the sheet at the right angle to the center of the luff.  The other is tied to the aft cleats which reverses the direction of the drifter sheet back to the winch block. Sheet runs through the lead (forward/rail) block back to the stern block, then back to the winch block to the cam cleat.

Two on the genny tracks for the genoa only.  Same lead design...front is to lead the sheet at the right angle, aft is to reverse direction.
My sheets where literally sawing away at the gelcoat with the forward block set where it should be for our genoa.  Part of the reason why I did this was to avoid that rubbing, which will eventually put a hole in the glass.

So at any one time, three blocks are in use on each side. Overkill..maybe but the results are what I was looking for...easy jib sheet handling single handed.
Something to take into account:  My lake is very small  (1/2 mile wide X 1.5 miles long) so I tack frequently.  Thus have to mess with the sheet frequently.  For long tacks, the minor inconvenience of unwrapping the line from the winch isn't a big deal.  But doing so 50 times during a sail gets old, fast.