Sheets …. endless or rubber tethered?

[JC Uknz 1Participant @jcuknz1]

Having just bought my first Hitech sheet controller [ sorry ‘winch servo’] I discover I have the option of an endless cord or a single run with rubber tether on end.

 

What if any are the pros and cons of each method in relationship to a single mailsail [ no jib] ?

[JC Uknz 1Participant @jcuknz1]

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

As no one has replied to this I will offer an opinion. I have use both methods and each has it’s pros and cons I think. The single run with rubber is probably easier to set up – I have used that on racing and scale boats. The problem is that the elastic needs replacing quite regularly and there is always a slight load on the sail winch. Also, it will probably be above deck so is a bit unsightly on a scale model.

The continuous loop idea is good if you have good access into the hull or can arrange for the whole caboodle to be on a removeable board which attaches inside the hull and can be removed through a hatch. Have the winch mounted one end and the continuous line passing round a pulley at the other end. The sheet can be taken of attachment points along the loop.

Using it on a single sail makes life easier in that you don’t have to arrange for varying sheet lengths. There are a number of good books available outlining various methods- a lot will depend on the type of boat being built.

 

Hope this helps a bit,

Ian

[JC Uknz 1Participant @jcuknz1]

thank you IAN. Till now I have had my sheets attached on deck and simply had rudder control but want to go to the next step with this boat. The boat will be Junk Rig or Multi Battened lugsail with just the one sail, hopefully with working reefing. An earlier ‘Footie’ always tried to immitate a submarine in scale ‘hurricane’ winds often available on our pond..

I was wondering about the tension against the winch with the rubber band and I will seriously investigate if I can make the set-up removable. The hull is vacuum moulded in 1/12scale of a 25ft comodious trailer sailer [ floating caravan] but with great lines for racing [ 1:1 boat ]

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