When I first bought Priorities seven years ago, she was well equipped for marina comfort and light air day sailing, but not for sailing in more boisterous conditions. As I was delivering her to her new home at South Shore Yacht Club I had difficulty furling the headsail due to a poor routing of the furling line.
One of my first improvements I made to her was to install a Harken 40mm Stanchion Mount Carbo Block on one of the stanchions of the stern rail, allowing whoever is furling the jib to stand nearly anywhere convenient in the cockpit (usually behind the wheels) to get the best grip on what is occasionally a heavily loaded furling line. My 135% jib is about 550 square feet of sail area… even when luffing it pulls a bunch!
This was immediately a huge improvement, especially for when I singlehand, but there were some more challenges. If I wanted to sail with a partially furled jib, I either had to use a misaligned and undersized cam cleat or tie the furling line to the stern cleat. Neither option worked well, especially since it was usually already very windy by the time I wanted to partially furl the jib! Additionally, unless I wrapped the line around a winch, I still needed to hold the furling line under a bunch of tension even when I paused while furling. So if I lost my grip or balance in a wave the whole jib could redeploy, nixing all my hard fought work to furl it in the first place!
What I needed was a rope clutch on the furling line. Since furling the jib is already a tough task in heavy weather, I didn’t want to add any more friction to the system. I also wanted a location easily accessible from the cockpit. Finally, I didn’t want to create any additional tripping hazards on deck.
After some consideration I figured the best location on Priorities, my 1996 Catalina 400 Mark I, was adjacent to the toerail and just forward of the wheels… ahead of the turning block. The clutch can be reached from behind the wheel or from just forward of it if needed. This location also has installation access below deck so it could be through bolted.
At first I was concerned whether there would be enough deck strength at this location. I needn’t have worried. After drilling holes for my mounting bolts, I discovered there is no wood core adjacent to the toerail on my boat, just inch thick fiberglass. Though I through bolted it and backed the bolts with large washers for good measure, I probably could have tapped it since the material is so solid. I countersunk the holes and used Bed-It Butyl Tape for bedding to keep the water out.
I chose to use a Spinlock XTS rope clutch, which may not be the best choice for the price. However, it exactly matches my other rope clutches on the cabintop (I replaced them a few years ago) allowing me to carry a smaller selection of spare parts aboard.
I also have a furling line that’s long enough to route from the aft turning block all the way forward to turn a few times around a cabintop winch if needed. The larger sheet winches can’t accommodate the smaller furling line, while the small cabintop winches can. I try to avoid using a winch for furling out of fear of damaging the sail or rigging during a jam, but nonetheless I’ve used it a few times when the winds suddenly got over 25 knots or so.
As a result of my improvements, headsail handling is much improved in medium or heavy air. With the clutch closed, the line will not go out, and I can safely pull the furling line hand over hand without fear of it “popping” out of my hands.