Thin halyards on those spin blocks is a problem with the 49er too.
I replaced the block with a smaller one, but it too jammed.
I have that small block attached now to my key ring just as a reminder, the
halyard burned right through the sheave, then right through the delrin
bearings, through the back of the bearing cage, through the plastic covering on
the axel pin and onto the axel that holds the cheeks together. This happened in
4 hoists/douses.
I fixed it by using a narrow wire sheave high load ronstan block up there.
I'd just like to say that a LOT of work went into the design of the Banks
sails. The problems we are experiencing are recapitulating the same issues that
other high performance classes have also. The sails are much more durable than
the conventional standard in Skiff sails, and at a good price point IMHO. The
batten pockets that these sails are supplied with are the same as those that
are in use on the 29er,49er, 59er, Musto, I14, Tasar, cherub, 12ft 16 and 18ft
skiffs, not to mention a whole host of lower performance dacron dinghy sails.
Our sails do take a lot of leech tension perhaps due to the fat head.
A little screw will do you.
Lets be fair, Bram has posted about this issue before, and it was a hot topic
at the clinic. This is why its so important to read the class emails carefully,
go to regattas and attend the class clinics to pick up this info. Good luck
with the screw solution to the problem. Im sure that is all it will take.
Another problem along the same lines that WILL surface in a short while is wear
on the dacron sleeve of the bolt rope. Tension in the battens will cause
friction just behind the batten tip pocket . This will wear the dacron in this
position faster than any other part of the sail wears. The Mustos have the same
problem and have solved it by placing a piece of mylar overlayer on the dacron
bolt rope cover. Check for wear at this spot often , keep the dacron bolt rope
sprayed with Mclube as often as you can, this will help the rais lower effort
and and nip wear in the bud! There is nothing so disapointing than a sail with
reasonable lift left that is useless because of a failed bolt rope tape. I
found out sailmakers rarely want to fix a problem like this, its not cost
effective (between a big and little job) and is technically more difficult than
you might think as a DIY project.
Greg
----- Original Message -----
From: Rob DesMarais, D.C.
To: BDally6107@xxxxxxx ; swiftsolo@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2006 3:53 PM
Subject: RE: Spin Halyard block-tip of mast
That is correct.
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