Locking of Your Main Halyard
Firstly, the halyard should be in two parts, a wire running from the sheave at the top of the mast externally, with a loop at the bottom to which a 6mm rope is spliced.
There are several ways of fastening it, and the Association recommendation is for this to be at the bottom of the mast.
We also recommend that the rope section is NEVER removed once the sail is up – if you have to drop it in a hurry, removal causes a lot of problems.
Firstly you should fasted a small pulley RF418 with a shackle fastened to a saddle at the bottom of the mast. This allows the rope to be pulled from any direction.
Now you have several choices
- To continue fastening the rope around the cleat
- To put a cleat fitting RF191 halyard lock (as illustration), in the direct line of pull, so that when you pull the wire loop down, the swage will just slip into the slot. This could be fitted on a short section of track.
- To use a small highfield lever, into which the swage again fits – this enables a very quick release. I have mine fitted on a short section of track, but once set, I don’t have to move it.
Once the sail is up, it is tensioned as required by use of the Cunningham. The sail should not be above the top black band or below the bottom one.
The loose rope can be rolled into a small bundle and put into a ”bunchy” on the mast, or I have put a deck lead in my cabin top & feed the rope through it to lie loose in the cabin. If you don’t know what a ”bunchy” is, ask your wife or girlfriend.
I am working up a collection of photos showing various ways of setting a boat up, and should have something available next week from my boat, which will be a guide for you.