Main Halyard to Cockpit, E-27 (Wheel)

[toddbrsd]

Looking for some advice, pictures even better. I am considering modification to my E-27, with wheel steering, to bring the main halyard aft for single handing. My initial thought was to buy a winch and locate it within reach, but not sure how necessary that is. I am fairly new to sailing and the Admiral frowns upon me going solo at this point so I am just in the planning stage! Would be nice to put together a list of parts and pick them up at Minnie's for cheap. Also may visit the E-27 in Long Beach that is listed for parts. Right now I am using the winch and cleat on the mast.

Any comments from seasoned sailors with similar sized and configured sailboats are appreciated. BTW, I did an Advanced Search on this website, but was not successful. If this has been discussed prior, I apologize and a link will do.

Now that I listed this, I found a couple of links for E-27 with tiller steering. That is helpful, however, I am thinking that I don't want to place the winch on the cabin roof. Would like it closer to the stern where I will be! Again not sure if that is necessary. Just want to be able to lower and raise the main relatively quickly if needed.
Thanks

Todd
1976 E-27
Alamitos Bay

 

[Loren Beach]

"Seasoned" Comments....

http://www.sailingmagazine.net/boats/retrofits/695-ericson-27

Halyards are mentioned quite a ways down in this E-27 project article. Google On!

Actually, single handed sailing is worthy of quite a bit of commentary. :nerd:
I have sailed solo a lot over three decades - not because my spouse did not like to come along, but because I was getting multiple vacation weeks that she was not. And then, anytime your crew is below to nap, read, fix a sandwich, use the head, or whatever... you are in fact "single handing."

Both our prior 26 footer and our current boat have the main halyard led from a turning block at the base of the mast thru a flat-sheave "halyard organizer" aft to a clutch stopper and thence a short distance to a winch on the rear of the cabin top.

Gist of it is that I can normally: 1) if under way, set the AP to keep boat head to wind and leave the engine in gear on Slow Forward, 2) get the halyard clipped on to the headboard and pull up several feet of sail and then lock down the clutch, 3) remove the sail gaskets, 4) be sure that the tail is free to pull on from the cockpit,
5) hoist the main, using the winch for the last few feet.

For safety's sake, please do all this roving around with your PFD on.

Then it's back to the helm, disconnect the AP / put it on Standby, fall off and fill the main and sheet in for a course.
All the halyard tails, main and genny (or chute) are thrown down into the cabin where they need only some marinara sauce to look like a nice Italian dinner! Well, sometimes... otherwise they get coiled and hitch-looped with the coil suspended from the winch and draped over the edge of the hatch track.

One thing you might want to do is study pictures from other E-27's of their house top halyard layouts before you start drilling holes. Luckily there are a ton of sister ships out there and quite a number of active owners log in here regularly and have digital cameras!


Regards,
Loren

 

[Jeff Asbury]

I have a E-27, no wheel though. Here's how I have my halyard leading back to the cockpit. I did this pretty inexpensively. I am hoping to locate a winch and spin lock where I currently just have a jam cleat. Although I am able to hoist the main with out a halyard winch it would be much easier with a winch and really help with sail trim.

The shot with the arrows and notes is my boat. The pink line represents my main halyard. I also posted a shots of spinlock cleats and a halyard winch from other boats. Hope this helps. I am sure you will get other replies.

Good Luck.

 

[mherrcat]

What kind of load are those cam-cleats rated for? I have a Harken 150 Cam-matic Cam Cleat rated at 300 lbs. working/750 lbs. breaking that I was thinking of attaching to the mast below where the halyard exits. I have found that although I can raise the main from the cockpit, it is often much easier to do it at the mast itself; less friction from multiple blocks leading the halyard to the cockpit. Since there is no halyard winch on the mast the cam-cleat would hold the halyard between successive pulls, then I could take up the slack line on the deck from the cockpit and the halyard would pop out of the cam-cleat. I have a rope clutch on the cabin top at the cockpit to stop the halyard there.

One other note about raising/lowering the main solo; lazy jacks will help immensely.

And another note on Minney's; make sure you know what the parts you are looking for are actually worth before you go there. I saw an anchor there two weeks ago that was priced at more than West Marine sells them for at retail. (And West Marine even had them on sale at the time for 10% off!)

 

[toddbrsd]

Main Halyard Aft

Yeah I was thinking about putting winch aft of the existing jib winch, but was also concerned about difficulty of hauling, due to friction of various blocks etc. Kind of hoping someone had already had first hand experience with a similar setup on a E-27 or 29 with wheel steering.

As for Minney's, I always let my fingers do the walking on WM website or ebay before I buy something at Minney's so I know what kind of deal I am getting. So far I have not been disapointed.

Todd

 

[mherrcat]

My setup looks like Jeff's with the exception that there is a self-tailing winch on each side of the cabin top (like Jeff's third picture) with three rope clutches on the port side and two on the starboard side. Port side clutches hold jib halyard, second reefing line and main sheet; main sheet clutch is mostly left open with the sheet on the winch. Starboard side clutches hold main halyard and first reefing line.

Here are some pics. Not very good as the winches are covered and the the covers are on the dodger windows, but you can see the rope clutches in front of the winches. The small winch on the port side with the blue line is the boom vang:

 

[drmsucom]

On my e27, I have all lines returned to the cockpit using stand up blocks at the mast base and deck organizers to pivot around the hatches. The lines lead back to a rope clutches and then cabin top winches. I replaced the primary winches (which are likely undersized to begin) with some Lewmar 16cst self tailing. I then took the old ones and moved them to the cabin top. I back plated all of the deck hardware with 1/4" aluminum plates which is likely overkill, but I overbuild everything. With current set up I have quick access from the cockpit for: all halyards -main, jib, spin, controls for cunningham, boom vang, and two reef points. I am thinking of adding a rope clutch leading my headsail roller furling line to within reach of the wheel to make adjustments easier under sail. I will try to post some pictures of my system to give a better idea of final product. Basically, this design keeps things tidy and limits the need to go on deck. This was a huge improvement to the original design. I do a lot of single handed sailing and getting at least the main halyard run back is a big help. Another option for winch is to move the mast winch to cabin top with the same system as described. If your lines are returned to the cock pit and you have a winch there, there really is no need for the mast winch anymore. Hope this helps with your planning.

 

[drmsucom]

here is a picture. Not everything is hooked up yet, but it gives you an idea of what I worked out.

 

[ignacio]

Mast plate

Hey Jeff,

Did you install that plate at the base of the mast on your boat? I've been thinking of doing the same thing (rather than drill more holes on the deck) for my halyards, boom vang, etc... Where did you get it and what was the vendor's part number (if available)?

BTW: I just installed a few Spinlok rope clutches on my boat for my halyards and a downhaul. This improvement has made the sail-hosting experience MUCH more pleasant and secure than using a cam cleat. I single hand a lot, and can tell you that I sometimes had to deal with the main halyard coming off the cleat (they were old stainless steel cam cleats).

Thanks!

I have a E-27, no wheel though. Here's how I have my halyard leading back to the cockpit. I did this pretty inexpensively. I am hoping to locate a winch and spin lock where I currently just have a jam cleat. Although I am able to hoist the main with out a halyard winch it would be much easier with a winch and really help with sail trim.

The shot with the arrows and notes is my boat. The pink line represents my main halyard. I also posted a shots of spinlock cleats and a halyard winch from other boats. Hope this helps. I am sure you will get other replies.

Good Luck.

 

[toddbrsd]

Thanks All

I think that the verdict is, for wheel steering set up, that the winches on the cabin are close enough. Just lock the wheel and go forward. As for the winch on the mast, it was suggested using that to haul up someone in a bosun's chair. Thanks again for your knowledge and experience.

Todd
1976, E-27

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Hey Jeff,

Did you install that plate at the base of the mast on your boat? I've been thinking of doing the same thing (rather than drill more holes on the deck) for my halyards, boom vang, etc... Where did you get it and what was the vendor's part number (if available)?

Thanks!

I had it custom made by my old rigger. He did not charge me that much as I recall because he also replaced all my standing rigging as well as painted my mast and boom at the same time. Peter Vargas was the name of the rigger. He used to own SeaTec Rigging. I believe he moved to Costa Rica or something. Here's SeaTec's new website.

http://www.seatek.info/home

508 East. E st., ste B
Wilminton, CA 90744
Phone: (310) 549-1800
Fax: (310) 549-1116