[C320-list] main halyard replacement and double main sheet control

[Denny Browne]

I've had two Catalina 320s, hulls 244 and 935. Bought the first one used, then traded for the new one. Hull 244 had the single ended mainsheet led to the starboard cabin top winch. Hull 935 has the double ended mainsheet, which I prefer considerably. Yes, it takes both cabintop winches, but being able to trim the main from either side is a big advantage when sailing short handed (A Cappella!) or when racing around the windward or leeward mark. The clam cleats are well positioned to free up a cabintop winch to hoist or douse the spinnaker halyard. Works great. Now, if I could just afford a new headsail...



Denny Browne
A Cappella #935
Redondo Beach

Sent from handheld, sorry for typos, grammar, etc...

On Sep 16, 2012, at 12:59 PM, jim brown <jbrown5093 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> My boat (978) was has no jam cleat with a safety loop on the port side for the and was commissioned with only starboard control of the the mainsail. The clutches on the port are traveler, spare halyard, jib halyard, vang. On the starboard they are travler, main halyard, reefing line, and topping lift. The mainsheet is attached to a large pad eye just to the port of the mast and it would see that that would make a double main system impossible. Was the double main used only on certain model years. Just curious-I'm fine with using the starboard winch only. 
> 
> 
> Jim Brown
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Gene Helfman <genehelfman at gmail.com>
> To: C320-List at catalina320.com 
> Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2012 5:00 PM
> Subject: [C320-list] main halyard replacement and double main sheet control
> 
> Thanks to all for your help on both these issues.
> 
> 1. Replacing main halyard: What I finally did, and what worked just fine,
> was I cut the ends of both old and new halyards very sharply, presenting
> nice flat surfaces.  I then used a small butane lighter (kept around in
> case the autostarter on the stove doesn't work) and heated up both ends and
> stuck them together while still hot/melted.  This kept the two pieces lined
> up nicely while I stitched them together, maybe a half dozen tight loops.
> Then for insurance, I whipped across the joint because tape doesn't stick
> well or evenly to the two different rope types, and the last thing I want
> inside my mast is a piece of tape.  I then began at the base of the mast
> and out the top.  No problems.
> 
> 2. Re: main sheet.  Most everyone seems to use only one side of the main
> sheet system, leaving the other alone.  Surely the architects and engineers
> that designed the double main sheet system had a reason.  If not, why have
> two?  What am I missing here?
> 
> Now to think about replacing the reefing line and the puzzling "floating
> internal block".
> 
> gene
> Satori, #398
> -- 
> Gene Helfman, Professor Emeritus
> Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia
> PERMANENT address:
>     498 Shoreland Dr., Lopez Is., WA 98261
>     (360) 468-2136
>     genehelfman at gmail.com
> 
> "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day,
> Teach a man to fish and he'll deplete the
>       oceans."
> 
> The Book of Bob, Ironies 24:7