[C320-list] double main sheet control?

[Jeff Hare]

Everyone has their own system, but we leave the starboard side of the main sheet cleated in the clam cleat and almost never touch it. That leaves the STARBOARD cabin top winch free for the raising the main and the tightening the reefing line when wind pops up.  So, We use the PORT cabin top winch almost exclusively for main sheet duty.  In the spring we raise the genoa with it but other than that it's always used for the mainsheet.

That way our crew always knows where to go for main sheet adjustments and for all intents and purposes, we treat it like it's a single ended mainsheet.

Jeff

On Sep 13, 2012, at 4:35 PM, Gene Helfman <genehelfman at gmail.com> wrote:

> Having sailed for 50+ years on boats with only one main sheet, I'll admit
> to being totally perplexed with the port and starboard sheet arrangement on
> the 320, especially when going upwind in anything other than light air.
> 
> My instincts tell me that hardening the upwind sheet should pull the boom
> down and also bring it to windward (recognizing that the traveler also
> determines boom alignment).  To do this, do you slack the downwind sheet?
> When I do this, the boom moves quickly downwind, making it even harder to
> pull the boom and sail to the upwind side, often requiring putting the
> sheet on the winch and cranking hard.  Is there a protocol?
> 
> thanks,
> gene
> Satori #398
> Gene Helfman, Professor Emeritus
> Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia
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