Vang question

[Chatham Sailor]

Can anyone explain how to remove one purchase from the harken vang? I'm just not exactly sure where that's coming off.
Also, has anyone used the Harken "dingy vang" which looks similar to the Laser upgrade 15:1 but comes 12:1 out of the box. Thanks.

 

[LaLi]

The simplest way to go from 15:1 to 12:1 (that's not literally "one purchase", but that seems to be how it's widely expressed) on a standard Laser vang is to untie the secondary (cleating) line from the becket on the floating double block and tie it to the last sheave on the cleating fitting. That sheave will be stationary and function only as a becket then. The purchase goes from 3x5 to 3x4. (The double block can also be changed to one without a becket.)

The Harken "Dinghy Vang" seems to be standard on the Melges 14, but is illegal on the Laser.

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