self tacking jib

[viv]

Has anyone added a self tacking jib on their Cape Dory? I currently have a 120% headsail on my CD25. Would my ease at singlehanded sailing outweigh any significant speed or performance change?

[Anthony P. Jeske]

Hi Viv:
Hmmm, I'm not sure this would be the best way to simplify single handing. Our boats are heavy and therefore really benefit from a large genny. Going to a club footed jib limits you to a 100% foresail and the attendant performance limitations.
From time to time, club jib booms and tack attachment casting are offered for sale on this site, so you could pick that up fairly cheaply. In addition you'd need a padeye and a deck block on the cabintop for the sheet; and a winch and cam cleat at the cockpit. Plus, of course you'll need a 100% jib with a jackline so it'll lower properly. Altogether a fairly costly installation.
As an alternative, I would consider adding an autopilot, which can handle the tiller while you tack. That, coupled with self tailing primary winches, will make single handed tacking a lot less stressful while still allowing you to set a large genoa.
If your genoa sheets are attached to the clew with two bowlines, the least expensive upgrade you can add right now is to reduce the chanches of snagging that bulk as you tack by switching to a single longer sheet attached to the clew at its midpoint with a slim, snag resistant larks head knot.
Good Luck,
Tony Jeske
CD-28 #365
NO REGRETS
San Diego

[Ron Churgin]

Anthony,

As someone who often deals with snagged jibsheets (my CD27 has its anchor stored on the foredeck, the hatch cover is insidious, and my clew is secured to the sheets by a snap-shackle {I know its not that safe but I sometimes get forestay wraps and the shackle really simplifies the unwrapping}) your idea about using a single line attached to the clew is very interesting.

Could you clarify it? How long should the single line be and does it attach to the two separate jib sheets further aft?

Sounds like a good idea, but I need a bit more info to visualize it.

Thanks,

Ron

[Ron M.]

I've used one continuous jib sheet for a long time and get far less hang ups tacking than using 2 sheets with bowlines tied to the clew.
Get a new sheet in one length that is as long as your current 2 jib sheets together. Mark the center and loop it through the clew with a cow hitch
(I believe it's called). I sure don't like the thought of a snap shackle flying around
________
HOW TO ROLL BLUNTS

[RIKanaka]

http://www.ehow.com/how_13480_make-larks-head.html

Simple, effective, each end of the folded single line is a sheet.

[John Vigor]

Could you clarify it? How long should the single line be and does it attach to the two separate jib sheets further aft?

Sounds like a good idea, but I need a bit more info to visualize it.

Thanks,

Ron

Ron, you simply take a line that is the length of both your port and starboard jib sheets together.

Make a bight (a half loop) with your hands in the center of this long line and poke the bight through the cringle in the clew of your jib for a few inches. Then find the tails of the two sheets, bring them together, and poke them through the protruding loop.

Pull both sheets tail first all the way through the protruding loop until the loop around the cringle is tight. You now have a continuous jib sheet divided into two lengths, one for your port sheet and one for your starboard sheet.

That's the "knot" some people call a lark's head, and you might think it would slip under pressure, but it doesn't, and it has fewer protruding points than two bowlines, so it won't hang up on cleats and hatch covers so easily. The only problem, for those using hank-on jibs, is that if you change jibs, each jib will need its own set of sheets permanently attached. Otherwise there will be a long delay while you unravel the whole lark's-head setup, make another lark's head for the new jib, and re-reeve the sheets back to the cockpit. Most of us with hank-on jibs continue to use quick and easy bowlines for this reason, and also because the sheets can then be permanently rove throught the correct leads and blocks.

The way to avoid hang-ups, if you use bowlines, is to take a line from your bow fitting to a point on the mast above the halliard cleats. Get it as tight as you can, and you'll find that your jib sheets won't foul anything at all, because they ride up and over this line. If your bowlines are fouling the shrouds, make the bight longer so the knots come aft of the shrouds before the sheets are brought home and pressure is applied.

Cheers,

John Vigor

[Ron Churgin]

John,

I have to laugh at myself. After reading the various posts I took a closer look at Glory's jibsheets. I do have a single line, the only difference is it is attached by a larkshead knot to the shackle. So, taking the advice offered, I will detach the shackle and just tie the larkshead directly to the clew grommet. I can see that this will be a lot easier on my side stays and will be safer too.

The suggestion about the line to keep the jibsheets from fouling on the dorade box, hatch covers and deck mounted anchor makes sense too, I will give it a try.

Has anyone ever used the Danforth mounting brackets on the pulpit stanchion on a CD27. It would get my anchor out of the way, but I fear it might chafe the genoa badly.

Ron

[Dean Abramson]

Ron,

On my 25D, and now on my 31, I had/have my second anchor, a Fortress (shaped just like a Danforth) in a mount hanging on the outside of the bow pulpit. I have never seen a problem. True, my current jib, (a yankee), is quite high-cut, but on my 25D, when I used either my 100 or 150, I never noticed a problem. The bottom of the sail is inside the pulpit, and the rest is above the anchor. My anchors have extended above the level of the top of the pulpit slightly when mounted this way, and I guess it is possible that on a run, the sail might have billowed out and touched the anchor, but I don't think so. I think that if you mounted the anchor forward enough, you could avoid any possible contact entirely. The mount I have used is a single mount on the horizontal top bar of the pulpit. The shank of the anchor will touch the toerail on port tack if we are heeled much. If you want to protect the toerail, you can wrap a lashing on the anchor at the contact point. I have not bothered with this, and have not seen a problem, but then the Fortress is pretty lightweight.

I have temporarily posted a photo which shows this at:
http://www.mainephoto.com/folios/SailJoeAtHelm.jpg

Dean