[C320-list] Frustrated with the Dutchman system

[cyrace at comcast.net]

I was also at the Strictly Sail in Chicago, and talked to the Dutchman folks (the dark haired one).  My problem has been that the weight of the batten (I think the second one) pulls the sail off the boom and ruins the flaking process from that point on.  He made these suggestions: the black clamp thingee on the topping lift that's nearest the mast should be squarely above the filament, and the other clamp to the rear should also be directly above or maybe slightly forward of the filament, but never behind, or lower than the filament.  Also, the tension on the two filaments is important: not too loose, not too tight.  You should be able to get a fist between the filament and the sail.  I'm going to pay special attention to these two suggestions if the weather ever gets warmer here.

I also have had twisting of the topping lift, spent many hours trying to get the twist out, usually give up in exasperation.  The twist doesn't seem to interfere with anything, so I just let it be.

Cy
Sea Major #948



-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Bill Culbertson <billculb_a2 at yahoo.com> 

> Gary, 
> 
> I was at Strictly Sail in Chicago too - on Thu & Fri. Was the fellow you spoke 
> with blond and fairly tall? There were only two guys manning the Dutchman 
> exhibit and the other was darker. The blond was Martinus Van Breems - the 
> inventor of the Dutchman system. I spoke with him for quite a while since I 
> recognized him from his video (and from an old Sailing Quarterly Video) - it was 
> great fun. 
> 
> I asked him how he landed the Catalina contract. He said Catalina was using a 
> different kind of system before whose name I forget. He'd heard all kinds of 
> complaints about it through his grapevine. So he approached Gerry Douglas at a 
> boat show and said something like "so, how's that xxx system working for you?" 
> Gerry was well aware of the problems and gave Van Breems his ear. 
> 
> -bill 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ---- 
> From: Magnuson's Ragtime 
> To: c320-list at catalina320.com 
> Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 12:09:14 AM 
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Frustrated with the Dutchman system 
> 
> 
> I am the new owner of # 205, 1995. and noticed that it has the Dutchman 
> hardware, but have not seen it rigged on the boat. The Strictly Sail show in 
> Chicago, had a rep from Dutchman, and it appeared to be a really good system. 
> Has anyone considered asking the guy who invented it? I googled Dutchman and 
> found the following URL . The rep told me that if I had any problems with it, 
> that I should feel free to call them. 
> 
> Gary Magnuson 
> 
> 
> http://www.mvbinfo.com/dp_03_SF_brochure.html 
> 
> 
> 
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