Starboard line organization

[Curwen]

Hello all!

Since running my halyards aft, the starboard side of the cabin top has become a tangled and confusing mess of lines. I am not happy with the placement of the spinlock clutches for the halyards as they are difficult to get to lock and are close too close to the winch. This is not an issue when sailing solo, but sailing with others, the lines are a little difficult to keep organized. Right now the jib and the dagger board lines cross over the halyards that were run aft.

My thoughts for my 26D:

• The jib line should be able to run from the fairlead around the winch and directly into the cam cleat. I don't use the winches to tighten the jib, but the winch help hold the jib sheet in place. I am hoping the new cam cleats with shims will hold better.

• I am going to put a block on the daggerboard line so I can get a 2 to 1 advantage on raising the daggerboard. I am totally ok with moving things around to keep that line from crisscrossing the cabin roof. I have a new daggerboard on order and I will be adding 50 lbs of shot to the daggerboard so I the mechanical advantage will be useful. I think moving the daggerboard turning block inside of the halyards aft locations will simplify the geometry of all these lines.

• Since I don't like the placement of the spinlocks for the halyards, I going to look for a better location that works for me. Any suggestions?

Bonus question...I did not buy colored lines when I replaced my halyards. Is there a way to color them now?

Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions,

Curwen

[Be Free]

I was following a similar discussion on another forum and one of the posters recommended a spray-on dye. https://www.tulipcolor.com/fabric-spray-paint-2

It appears to be readily available at craft/sewing stores. I've never used it but the poster said it worked well on his lines.

I know your boat is not exactly like mine but here's the way mine is set up. I don't have any problems with line clutter although I do use different colored lines. Maybe you can adapt this for yours.

Jib sheets are green and one runs down each side of the mast. Each goes through a swivel base cam cleat similar to this. https://www.westmarine.com/buy/spinlock ... cordNum=34. That way I can lock and unlock either of the sheets with a flick of the wrist.

The jib halyard (white with a blue line) runs on the port side and ends in a rope clutch. When the jib is down the halyard (with a stopper knot at the end) is pulled almost out of the clutch. When it is up I have the "extra" halyard coiled and hanging on the port winch.

The starboard side has the other (green) jib sheet set up the same way along with the main halyard. The main halyard is white and runs through a clutch just like the jib halyard and is coiled up on the starboard winch.

The centerboard raising line is also on the starboard side but it terminates just short of the companionway and is not easily confused with anything else.