What is the best way to keep the sheets more or less taut and eliminate below-deck (or above deck) tangles?
Is there a certain rigging setup that works better than others for this purpose?
I have heard of a closed-loop system, how does this work?
Respectfully,
-cerveza_fiesta
I assume you are using a drum winch as opposed to arm winch setup?
Look on page 59 of the US1M construction manual for an excellent description of the closed loop system: http://www.amya.org/us1mconst.pdf (by the way, that manual is fairly large. for a smaller chunck that include page 59 use this link: http://www.amya.org/us1mpt4.pdf )
If you set up the closed loop system above the deck, then you will avoid a lot of potential snags below deck. But you will need to mount the winch drum through the deck which could lead to water getting into your winch
If you install the closed loop below deck, you can position you deck exit so that the sheets are led away from potential snags below deck.
Your best bet is to eliminate any potential snags below deck. The only snag that you may not be able to eliminate is the rudder servo horn. If you position this so that it is shielded from the sheets by the drum winch or some other structure, then the chances of a snag will be greatly diminsihed.
The only other advice I can give is to be careful about letting your sheets go slack. If you are sailing in any sort of breeze (even light breeze) there should be enough tension in the lines to keep them pulled taught when the sails are filled. So the time you have to worry about slack is when you tack (say from a reach to a reach) or are intentionally luffing your sails (pre-start stalls). If you trim in your sheets while you are tacking then there will not be much slack in the lines. As far as luffing, try to let out only the amount of sheet that you need to luff the sails and do not ease any more slack into the lines.
Will Gorgen
<blockquote id=“quote”><font size=“1” face=“Verdana, Arial, Helvetica” id=“quote”>quote:<hr height=“1” noshade id=“quote”>Originally posted by cerveza_fiestaI have heard of a closed-loop system, how does this work<hr height=“1” noshade id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”></font id=“quote”>
Hi -cerveza_fiesta
A couple of diagrams here might help:
http://www.onemetre.net/Download/Drums/Drums.htm
Lester Gilbert
http://www.iomclass.org/
http://www.onemetre.net/