Dory Main Sheet Ratchet Block Mounting Location

I followed the advice of this forum to not mount a main sheet ratchet block until I had sailed the boat and know I want one.  That was wise advice.  I have and do and am ready to add a mainsheet ratchet block but would like your ideas on where  to mount it, and possibly a specific brand/model 

Boat Mount or Boom Mount:  Which would be better?  A block mounted to the boat where the main sheet always pulls from the same relative place on the boat or a boom mount ratchet block like the one below?

Location if boat mounted:
Other builders recommended NOT putting it on the slope (aft edge) of the  daggerboard trunk due to it being in the way while rowing.  Agreed, need a different location.  Suggestions?

Brand/Model:
Either way, any suggestipons on a specific brand or model?

 

Thanks!!

Curt

Harken 57mm Carbo Ratchet Stanchion Lead Block


7 replies:

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RE: Dory Main Sheet Ratchet Block Mounting Location

   Curt

i have a block mounted to a line attached to each side of the daggerboard trunk. I installed a clam cleat at each side of the thwart so I can pull the line in or out easily. The cleats are out of the way for rowing but fairly convenient to use. I'll try to get some pictures posted. 

Barry

RE: Dory Main Sheet Ratchet Block Mounting Location

Thanks!  I would love to see an actual set up like yours in a picture.  If you have trouble posting, just send to [email protected].   

Solved! Dory Main Sheet Ratchet Block Mounting Location

   I bought a Harken 2608 ratchet block and mounted it on the boom, right beside the original block...in case it didnt work, but it did work!  It holds up to 3/8" line so the 3/8" CLC provided main sheet fits perfectly, I love it...it provides just enough tension so I can relax my hand a little and when sailing, and I can hear the clicks and know about how much I trimmed the sheet without having to look.  I like the sheet led to the center of the boom per the original CLC design for multiple reasons so opted for this solution.  Also, it has a lever so you can shut off the ratchet and make it free wheel, but I wont need that feature...I like it as a ratchet.

Curt

Harken-2608-40mm-Carbo-Ratchet-Block

 

RE: Dory Main Sheet Ratchet Block Mounting Location

These mainsheet ratchets are a wonderful luxury in small boats.  The safety of not actually cleating the mainsheet, while simultaneously taking nearly all the load off your hand, is genius.

http://www.clcboats.com/shop/products/boat-gear/sailing-gear-accessories/harken-ratchet-mainsheet-block-009.html

 

RE: Dory Main Sheet Ratchet Block Mounting Location

+2 John (2 because my schooner has two masts so I bought two ratchet blocks from you).  Usually, schooner sheets are cleated, but I've found that holding them lets me react faster in strong winds and wait longer before reefing. If you think that the load of a single sheet is bad, try two, especially in one hand. The ratchet blocks are a real hand saver and safety device. I'm rating mine a necessity, not luxury.

Laszlo

 

RE: Dory Main Sheet Ratchet Block Mounting Location

A little late to the party...and tldr;

I came to this thread via a skerry main sheet thread elsewhere in this forum. I have the same question as the original post, where to attach a fancy block, not whether to use a fancy block. Does the helmsman control the sheet coming from the boom or from the thwart? I'm not sure it matters. Maybe one can choose which end of the sheet to control with the same rigging setup.

FWIW, I'm picturing a balanced lug rig. I'm not sure it makes a difference for the sprit rig.

1-2/174 and 112-113/174 in Skerry Main Gallery show a boom-oriented control.

14/174 shows thwart-oriented sheet control. All the pictures with John C. at the helm show him controlling the sheet from the thwart. I'm aware of the issue with the thwart harness in the way of a rower, but how much of an issue is that when you're not sailing? Don't the harness and sheet just flop out of the way? In another forum, I've seen the harness attached under the thwart to the bulkhead, which leaves the top of the thwart completely clear. Maybe you get some chafe on the harness and excess wear and tear on the aft-edge of the thwart.

71/174 shows a third option? It looks like the sheet runs from aft-boom to a traveler in the aft area running up to the aft-end of the boom forward to mid-boom and down to the middle thwart. The photo is too small to see how it is rigged. Maybe it works because the yard is shorter than the boom, and the boom appears to reach further aft than a stock boom. It also appears to be loose-footed. I don't remember other loose-fitted setups in the examples I mentioned.

The boom attachment doesn't allow one to stand looking all cool and casual with one hand on the tiller and one on the sheet like 169/174. :-D

Why should one consider controlling from the boom? Does the hardware setup (i.e. fancy block attachment location) affect that choice?

 

RE: Dory Main Sheet Ratchet Block Mounting Location

   I'm sure either location would be fine.  On my NE dory, even with using a ratchet block, I put a jam cleat (two horns, one side has an "pincher" shape) on either side of the center seat.  I don't use the cleats all that much, but they are convenient when winds are steady and/or you disire to do a short something with both hands.  Because the cleats work best with the line coming in nearly horizontally, my ratchet block is on the back of the centerboard trunk, but on a short loop of line through a hole drilled in the back of the trunk, so that when not in use ithe block will hang off to the side and not try to drill a hole in your back when rowing.  And BTW, I made a separate little padded back rest board that I slip over the trunk when rowing).  If the wind is so light that the block wants to flop around on its rope mount/fastening, that is time to not even use it, and take the mainsheet in hand directly from the boom anyway.

Putting the block up on the boom will work fine, too.  Very many classes of sailing dinghies are rigged that way.  Just that the act of cleating off a sheet coming down from the boom creates a bit of a problem due to the angles involved - but maybe you never desire any ability to cleat.

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