Peak Halyard Attachment

[Galnorth]

I just purchased a used sun cat and am rigging it up for the first time.  (this is my first time with a sun cat but not with a gaff rig).  When I went to rig up the peak halyard I was expecting to find a specific attachment point on the topside of the end of the gaff but there's nothing there.  The only thing on the fitting at the end of the gaff is an eye cast on the underside, which I assume is for  the outhaul for the sail.  Am I missing something or do I need to use the underside eye for both the sail peak and the peak halyard?

[capt_nemo]

The following comments apply to the newer Sun Cats which have the Peak Halyard rigged somewhat differently than on older boats.

Once the gaff is inserted properly in the sail track there should be a PAD EYE fastened somewhere around the MIDDLE on the TOP SIDE of the spar. One of the Peak Halyard Blocks attaches to this pad eye. One end of the Peak Halyard is tied (with bowline) to the stainless bail at the masthead. Then, the halyard comes down through the block attached to the gaff (around midpoint)  and proceeds back up through a block attached to the lower stainless bail on the mast and then down to the deck to a turning block at the base of the mast and along the cabin top to the cockpit line clutch of some kind. Mine is a Spinlock. THE PEAK HALYARD DOES NOT ATTACH TO THE END OF THE GAFF! Check your Owner's Manual for a diagram or a recent photo of a rigged Sun Cat.

I'm travelling in my Motorhome and don't have access to all my photo files. Hope this info helps.

capt_nemo
Sun Cat "Frisky"

[oddduck]

Here's a pic -

http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk270/fiddlerami/2009/3-14%20Sail/?action=view&current=Cat04s.jpg

Dennis

[Tim22]

I just noticed from the photo and Capt_Nemo's description that the peak halyard is rigged differently from mine. My rig has the halyard terminated at the peak, then to the top of the mast, then to the mid point on the gaff, then back to the mast and down. This is as shown in many of the photos and drawings that I found on the Internet. In looking at Odd Duck's rig it would appear to be more efficient as it does not apply downward pressure on the gaff. Was this a design change, and if so, does anyone know what model year it was introduced. I have a 2006 on which the cutouts on the sail cover would suggest, was intended to rig to the peak.

Thanks
Tim

[oddduck]

Tim - I don't know when it changed, but for what it's worth Odd Duck is a 2007 model.

Dennis

[Galnorth]

Thanks to all for the replies, I assumed that terminating the halyard at the peak was required as this is what's shown on the drawing in the suncat brochure and owner's manual but I believe that the approach described by cap'n Nemo and shown in Dennis' picture is probably  better.  In addition to the downward pressure on the gaff I know from experience that rigging to the peak could interfere with a masthead windex.  On remaining question though is mechanical advantage - believe that running the halyard to the peak results in a 3 to one advantage based on the lines coming from the moving block (i.e. gaff) vs 2 to one from running just to the middle of the gaff.

[capt_nemo]

Galnorth,

No problem with enough mechanical advantage to tension Peak Halyard, and adjustments to the halyard while sailing are easily accomplished. In fact, I believe one Sun Cat Owner simplified his Peak Halyard rig to a SINGLE LINE in order to make raising and lowering sail easier with both Throat and Peak Halyards running together through his hands!

My Sun Cat is a 2010 Model with the "revised" Peak Halyard rigging as I described in my post above. And, my WINDEX works just fine!

[Tom Ray]

The change was made in 2007, but all sail covers still have the cutouts for running the peak to the end of the gaff if owners want to go that way.

One problem commonly reported before the change was that the peak and throat halyards could wind up "fighting" each other. Because the Sun Cat gaff sits nearly vertical when fully raised, that line out to the tip was, in effect, pulling the tip of the gaff down more than it was pulling it toward the mast. This would tend to force the throat down, stretching the throat halyard and loosening the luff. To fix it, you had to drop the peak, retension the throat, and raise the peak back up.

One of the first things I did when we bought our boat was to remove the halyard from the peak and run it the "modern" way. I then cut away the excess. Measure twice, cut once. Made myself two really nice dock lines and went to the store for a new halyard. Oops.