Hi all,
The previous owners of Wind Cheetah had the outhaul permanently set by lashing it tight to the back of the boom. I shall be putting the main back on soon
and wondered if there is a better way of rigging an outhaul so you do have some quick and easy adjustment if needed. I dont really want to take the outhaul line to the mast or boom winch as its already a tad cluttered there with reefing lines etc.
Being a bit of a rookie I am not sure of the benefits of an adjustable outhaul, maybe the lashing is fine but if not this seems like a good time to sort it out.
Your thoughts please
John
Wind Cheetah

I've found that fiddling with the outhaul is definitely worthwhile, especially upwind. It's very difficult to control the mainsail's twist effectively withouta measure of control on the outhaul. Obviously, the best solution will depend on the age, strength and measurements of your boom. I used a cheap, simple but effective setup on a Daring keelboat some years ago. Daring mainsails are roughly the same size as Twister ones, so perhaps it bears repeating:
A small sheave block with a stout fairlead, side-mounted at the end of the boom, another stout fairlead on the opposite side. Outhaul line was led from the dead-end fairlead through the clew cringle to the sheave block, then along the outside of the boom to a jamming cleat with another fairlead, mounted near the kicking strap attachment.

The advantages of this are:
*low friction (relative to some other solutions)
*the ability to sweat the outhaul by pulling it laterally, between the sheave and the jammer.
*you can play outhaul and kicker lines together from the same place.
*the kicker stays inboard even on a run so access is pretty good.
*it's dead simple to re-thread at sea, when the line snaps or pulls out.
*You can also quite easily rig up extra purchase as and when it's required, by adding extra sheave blocks (or even running bowlines, as a temporary measure) between the boom end and jammer. Look at the dinghies on your local sailing pond and copy a simple "cascade" kicker setup, or the outhaul purchase used on any International 14 with a loose-footed main.

On the other hand, it doesn't look very pretty. Use a shock cord to take up slack line between the two ends, or you might garrotte someone in a crash gybe!

Having said all this, I reckon adjustable outhauls are far less important than a decent mainsheet traveller.

Happy refitting,

Kieran/Cleaver II

Outhaul definately a must!

We have a 6mm pennant which runs thro a block at boom end and back along boom to 3:1 tackle made of s/s dinghy blocks the moving one is a self jammer. We have an eye at 1/2 boom length to stop line dropping/

All works really well and if you get line lengths right there is very little cluter.

Kemps do a very good 'give-away' series of sheets on sail and rig trim. Well worth reading. No sure of www but try 01929 554308

Best of luck

John