Pully location?

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Colin D Smith
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:17 am

Pully location?

Post by Colin D Smith »

https://www.flickr.com/photos/134372311 ... 650513925/

This is a pic of a pulley on my Falcon it is fixed to the stem.
If anyone could take a guess what this pully was used for, that would be great.
I have spent the last year striping the old paint off the hull and deck and sorting the rot out.
I am now turning my attention to the rest of the dinghy. I have never had her in the water and I've never seen her rigged.
This is my 1st boat and I am in need of the collective wealth of knowledge that is forum can provide. :)
Seriously though I would appreciate any help regarding my Fairey Falcon as there is precious little information out there.
Many thanks in advance
Regards
Colin
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jpa_wfsc
Posts: 1188
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 9:52 pm
Location: Oxford (Work) Coteswold Water Park (Sailing)

Re: Pully location?

Post by jpa_wfsc »

Jib halyard tensioner..

a common method was the jib halyard went up through that sheeve, up to a block tied to the hounds (just below the forestay attachment on the mast) and back down to the jib. This mean that the jib halyard did not run throuh the mast, You pulled the sail up from under the foredeck, cleated it off, and then commonly, pulled the halyard between sheeve and cleat laterally into notches to tension everything. (your photo confusingly shows 3 notches I would expect about 8). It was quite effective and simplified mast construction (and allowed rotating masts on a boat with a jib).

If your mast has been replaced with a more modern one, having the jib halyard running inside the mast, then the sheeve is now redundant. Indeed it is entirely likely that replacement of the deck at some point dispensed with the hole above the sheeve in the deck needed for this system to work. The modern set up is much better - less fiddly to use and less windage with the halyard inside the mast.
j./

National 12 "Spider" 2523
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Colin D Smith
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:17 am

Re: Pully location?

Post by Colin D Smith »

Many thanks for that jpa it is really nice to draw a line under things... You have also confirmed my suspicion that the deck has been replaced at some point. I did see a photograph of a Falcon racing, and one of the things that caught my attention was that the shroud wire went through the deck. My Falcon does not have any holes for the shrouds.https://www.flickr.com/photos/134372311 ... 348591383/

However when the boat was upsidedown I found the holes in the timber that the shrouds would have passed through. I have no idea how this will affect anything as I believe she had been sailed like this.

Thanks again

Colin
Michael Brigg
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Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:11 pm
Location: Gosport, UK

Re: Pully location?

Post by Michael Brigg »

There was a thread on the firefly a year or so back where I put a lot of information on about Reynolds masts, much of which would be relevant if you had one on your Falcon, (though it sounds likely it has already been replaced.)

The thread is here...

viewtopic.php?t=1629

Much of the advise on firefly rigging applies to the falcon. And also a lot of the structural issues as it is a pretty much identical construction technique. Use the Search facility (when you are logged in) to look up any problems you have and you will certainly find a lot of solutions in the firefly threads.

Because the Reynolds had a wooden topmast, the halyards could not be led down the interior of the mast, and so the old forestay arrangement made good sense for keeping the halyard tail out of harms way. Another reason is that the attachment point on the mast had to allow movement or as the mast rotated it would wrap the forestay/halyard up, (only @ 1/2 a turn, but that's still @ 1inch, which is heck of a lot of extra tension. The upper turning block was free to run on a strop between the hounds, and this solved the problem

Your shrouds are probably now attached to plates bolted to the outside of the hull. The advantage here is that if they are simply screwed in (as was the old style) then they are far less likely to pull out of the wood as screws do when "nail sickness" (inevitably) takes its toll. If crewed, then remove the screw and replace with bolts.
Michael Brigg
Colin D Smith
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:17 am

Re: Pully location?

Post by Colin D Smith »

Many thanks Michael :D
Pat
Posts: 2555
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2004 1:42 pm
Location: West Wiltshire (Wessex)

Re: Pully location?

Post by Pat »

Andrew Young at Bosham who organises the Bosham Classic revival has/had a Fairey Falcon. I did have an email address somewhere... but he's contactable through the links at http://classicboatrevival.co.uk/
(Half Cut and What a Lark Removals Ltd)
Colin D Smith
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:17 am

Re: Pully location?

Post by Colin D Smith »

Many thanks Pat I have sent a email in that direction.
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