First sail, riggin question

[Alex H.]

I took my Suncat out for her first sail on Friday and although we had a great time (perfect day winds 9-10) I did have an annoying issue which I believe was IOE on my part( idiot operator error). The way I did it worked well enough but I know it wasn't right I raised the sail all the way and the sail halyard was all the way to the the block on the mast to the splice and I could get get rid of the wrinkle that developed right below the head where the gaff meets the mast (my first time with a gaff rig) I had moved the boom above the hinge, used the reeling line on the port side as the down haul through the block on the base of the mast but could not pull the sail down for the inch or two needed to smooth out the luff. What did I do wrong? Is the boom supposed to be held below the hinge by the pin there? Or above to make room for the bimini top? One can see I am confused 

[Craig]

Hi Alex,
Not sure what you are referring to as the "reeling line". All Suncats have a downhaul attached to the gooseneck which runs from the base of the mast back to a spinlock cleat on the port side which is used to tension the luff of the sail. The large pin is only used to secure the gooseneck below the mast hinge when dropping the mast. The procedure is to raise the sail to full hoist,and the use the downhaul to tension the luff. Alternatively you could "pre-tension" the downhaul prior to raising sail keeping the gooseneck a little below the hinge and use the main halyard to tension the luff. I would add that that tensioning the luff is very difficult if the boat is not pointing directly into the wind and the sail luffing. Hope this helps. Enjoy your Suncat, they are great boats!

[cavie]

I use the left spinlock for the lazy jacks. I sail with the long pin in place and tension the sail with the main halyard.

[bfelton]

I also sail with the long pin in place.  I added a small synthetic winch on the cabin top which allows me to easily tension the luff on any point of sail.

Bert Felton

[Craig]

Gooseneck above or below long pin? The problem with sailing with the gooseneck above the long pin is that it renders the downhaul useless. Some of us(former) Suncatters are not able to get enough luff tension with the long pin in when the wind pipes up. Leaving it in does make raising sail easier and many do sail with it in although Hutchins does not recommend it. On Kailani ( Horizon Cat)there is a winch to tighten the downhaul which makes it much easier!

[Alex H.]

Hi Craig, "reeling" was a typo/autocorrect. I meant the "reefing" line that runs in top of the coach roof port side. I assume that also was the down haul since there is no other down haul I can see...

[cavie]

The reefing line should run to a point midway down the boom. Same thing for the rear reefing line. I believe the port spinlock is for the down haul unless you use it for the lazy jacks as I do. Tom Ray may jump in here and let us know.

[capt_nemo]

I also sail with the long pin in place.  I added a small synthetic winch on the cabin top which allows me to easily tension the luff on any point of sail.

Bert Felton

WOW, a winch on a Sun Cat.

Thought I was the only Sun Cat Owner that modified the Rig and added more sail control lines and hardware. I now sail with a double stayed "Sloop Rig" sporting 4' Bowsprit and Working Jib or Drifter depending on wind conditions.

Nice to know that there are others who modify the Sun Cat to improve sailing performance.

capt_nemo

[Alex H.]

Well, I added a reefing line through a block system at mast end and led the line aft of the port side to share the same cleat with the downhaul. Will try it under "battle conditions" this weekend. Going to the mast to reef didn't seem appealing ...

[Craig]

How did you rig the reefing line using the blocks/spin lock? Interested in how it works!

[Alex H.]

Hi Craig, I took a line parallel to the down haul line, port side, through a block at the base of the mast, through the reefing grommet and tied it to an existing eye strap on the base of the mast. I figure all I have to do is release the halyard and tighten the reefing line and make secure to the same cleat as the downhaul cleat on the coach roof. It is a bit small for both lines, but the cat is too new for me to drill holes in just yet :-)

[capt_nemo]

Alex H.,

I felt the same way about drilling holes in my NEW Sun Cat.

After considerable thought I came up with a design idea that proved quite flexible and has served me well for some 41 months now.

I constructed small removable hardware platforms both port and starboard matching the curvature of the cabin top. Only four 1/4" holes are drilled on each side of the companionway hatch to hold down the aluminum angle pieces which, once bedded, NEVER have to be removed. Very easy to make changes on the boards without having to fill in old holes and drill more new ones in the cabin top.

Here is a photo of the starboard control board which illustrates the concept.



capt_nemo

[tmolik]

I have a 2001 SunCat and have no ideas what the long pin is for the gooseneck...do I have one   Anybody...