GP14 advice

[roger]

Not off hand Nessa but I will measure them when I get home.

[Garry R]

Is this aft facing tacking what was once known as tacking?

[Nessa]

Thanks Roger - no rush; I doubt they will be flying kites this weekend!

Indeed Garry, and it seems to be becoming a dark art.

[roger]

Sorry Nessa I didnt get the chance yesterday. It did occur to me that my brothers geep has continuous sheets which are probably longer(and posher) than mine. I will try to get round to it tonight.

[Nessa]

I can't quite see the workings of the pole system. It has a line running through a block on the mast which then feeds back into the cockpit to be adjusted, but where does the other end go? I expected it to go to some bungee or somesuch, but there are no fixing points for this. Confusing.

[Pat]

Your line from the pole (the uphaul) should go up to the mast then down to a cleat then stop. Another line (the downhaul) comes down from the pole below the deck to a cleat then stops. The first one adjusts the height of the pole, the second keeps the pole from flying up. Elastic comes in to tension the lower one - on Half Cut the downhaul runs through a bock which is on the end of a length of elastic and the other end is fixed up near the bow.

We don't have clips on the uphaul but tie a loose bowline loop around the pole and then tie the downhaul to the bottom of the loop. This slides along the pole as you push it out and fits on a pole ramp (see chandlers' catalogue - cheap) which holds the line in a notch.

The pole has cord linking the two end springs for easy release and the loop in the uphaul is tied between the cord and the pole so the loop can't slide off. The pole can be stowed along the boom - plastic drainpipe about 4inches long makes good pole stowage rather than expensive wire loops. Alternatively the pole can stow upright against the mast.

The Lark website should have some pictures of this sort of system as it's on most Larks or try Garry's site at http://www.cuckoos.eclipse.co.uk - has instructor resources too.
If you are still stuck, shout and I'll try to take photos.

Pat

[jpa_wfsc]

Do you have either a sheave or a plain hole in the mast front at deck level? I have seen the downhaul go into in of these, and tied to elastic inside the mast. This is a low windage way to do that part of the job.

[Nessa]

I understand how the pole should work - as it did on my 470 - but there are no fittings for the elastic end. There is a hole through the deck then down to a turning block then back to a cleat, for pulling up and down, but nothing for the other bit!

I guess I shall fabricate something or another. Thanks chaps.

[jpa_wfsc]

Elastic below the deck - the knot tied to the downhaul becomes the limit on how high the pole can fly when it hits the hole in the deck. The elastic goes through the turning block and back to the cleat so you can tighten or release the downhaul effect - in practice once set when rigging up is left alone.

Well - that's one way to do it. There are always many more!

j./

[roger]

On my geep the elastic is the uphaul and the downhaul goes through a hole in the deck in front of the mast and the back to a cleat for adjustment but Hughs (posh one) the downhaul is the elastic bit.

[Ancient Geek]

The reason the uphaul is solid either fixed or adjustable is to prevent the downpull of the spinnaker guy pulling the pole lower than you wish it to be! Elastic on the lower bit can either be "in line" or as a diverting pull not important its just to take the slack out though the lower bit is best a few inches in front of the mast so it pulls the pole foreward. Applies to anything from Cadets to any keelboat rigged as a dinghy, Etchells, Dragons etc.

[Nessa]

Just when I thought it was safe to put the thing in the water, the two DI trainees merrily set sail only to find the centreboard wouldn't budge! This then became an exercise in centreboard less sailing and they did well.

The club bosun thought it may have been frozen, another opinion was that it was jammed with salt and sand, because it came from a beach based club.

I am having to have a go at the pole system tomorrow, if I can tear myself away from Virginia Woolf, and will see what I can work out.

Thanks for the ideas

[Pat]

Elastic in the uphaul or downhaul itself is a pain in the ****. We have that on the race Lark and the pole gets away despite the stopper. Running the downhaul through a block which is tied to elastic pulls the slack away under the deck and tensions the downhaul without the pole being able to fly up.

[Ancient Geek]

Exactly, and since these are training boats I would suggest as simple and basic a system as possible, they need to walk before they can run. Even ace crews get their knickers in twist with the over complex modern systems and fly away booms have led to some very nasty accidents too.

[Nessa]

I have a scar in the middle of my forehead from a flyaway pole that flew into me when fireball crewing. What Pat describes sounds just like the 470 system, except on the 470 the downhaul fed into the mast then out agasin at the bottom. I will have a go at that.

Any news on sheet lengths Roger?

Also, can a modern domestic sewing machine make spinny bags out of sailcloth without going into melt down?