sunfish mainsheet block

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my2fish
so, I've been using a Harken 2135 carbo ratchet block for a year or so now, but never mounted it with the stand-up spring. this weekend, I used the zip-tie method to compress the spring - which worked really well... not sure I'd try it with string - and connected the mainsheet block with the stand-up spring (and the cup... the little black "washer" at the top).

maybe I'm just picky, but is it supposed to sit sort of cocked over to one side? one edge of the spring sits down between the edge of the screw and the eyestrap, which makes the other side of the spring sit up on top of the eyestrap screw... so the whole thing is cocked over to the side a little bit. is it worth putting a second "cup"/black washer thing at the base of the unit?

I haven't tested it out yet, but hope to maybe do some weeknight sailing tomorrow, and will get a better feel for using it with the stand-up spring.

cheers,
thad
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There'll be some slow metal-to-metal wear without a plastic spacer. Doesn't seem that the cocked ratchet block would be a problem. I used a ratchet block without a spring and didn't like than the mainsheet could get wrapped around it wrong during a tack; adding the spring took care of that issue (plus it kept the block from scraping up the deck). I still didn't like the ratchet block since I couldn't haul in the sail in a strong wind without a third hand (I wasn't too keen on using my teeth in that regard). I tried a cam cleat mounted on the cockpit lip below the block, but the positioning is no good - you have to lean in to cleat in the sheet which is a prescription for flipping over. I finally went with a swivel cam cleat - I'd had one on a Sunfish I owned years ago and it's a hand saver. I considered getting a swivel cam base I could mount the ratchet on (that way getting the best of both worlds) but those are huge and I was worried a passenger would gash a knee on it. Unless the wind is gusting badly, even with the wind up I use the cam cleat, but I keep the mainsheet in hand and lightly tensioned just in case.

Kevin
 
yeah, I have a cam cleat mounted on the cockpit lip of my older Sunfish... but the plastic trim on my newer one is kind of in the way of mounting the cam cleat. I like that position, though, as I only used the cleat if the wind was really light, and I needed a quick water break or something like that. before that... my old Sunfish had the swiveling cam cleat - but I wanted to switch to the ratchet block, and rely less on the cleat (for learning sake, as well as for safety of being able to spill the sail if a heavy gust hits).

thanks for your thoughts.

thad
 
I have a cam cleat mounted on the front of the cockpit. I'm a big guy (I'm always pleasantly surprised in a very heavy breeze when I actually have to hike out) so reaching in to the cleat isn't an issue for me. I found that when I'm sitting in the middle or back of the cockpit sailing recreationally it works fine, but when I'm racing I sit at the front of the cockpit, and my knees are constantly getting cut on the cleat.
 
No tag, it's just that holes in a boat are not so good:D and the hook is not in the way. Harken does sell a light pressure spring and a heavier spring and I bought both as I did not know which one would be the correct one and in the end the heavier spring held the block & cleat off the deck and I have no washer cups on either end of the spring. My main sailing is in heavily silted tidal waters so what looks like rust is muddy water build up and not a rusty hardware. The eye strap is a Harken also and I did use the zip tie method for the spring compression.

><> Minas man <><
 
Geophiz - Good point; I'm somewhat lightweight, so I'm hiking to some degree almost always.

Minas man - Your 2627 configuration appears to be a less bulky option than the one I had considered (swivel cam base + ratchet block).
 
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