IOMICA Forum

Does the sheeting point on the sailarm have to be fixed in one position...or could it slide?

"C.7.7 RUNNING RIGGING
USE (a) The mainsail sheet and the headsail sheet may be worked by a sheet control line attached to the sheet control unit."

I started of thinking about this as an aid to fine trimming...much the same way as a worm gear would on a winch...and after seeing the sail arm cam on Lester's page (credit where credit is due)...it might take a bit of explaining so please bear with me

If a sail arm was to have a slide on it and the pulley can slide the length say 4cm for example...it would take in the majority of the line at the far end and the greatest radius, but as it comes in it will slide down allowing fine tuning at the shortest radius..I hope you're still with me, cos it get's better....so I was laying awake listening to the Tooting chorus of police cars go by...then I thought....if I were to attach a bit of elastic to the block that prevented it sliding to it's closest radius, it could act to soften the time it slides...but also to ease the sheets in the gust, just like dumping the main in big boats

So:

Its it legal?
Would it work?
Have I just blown any advantage I might have got over the rest of you???

Hi Graham
Your idea is interesting, others have had a sliding attachment on the boom. Illustrated on this page:

http://www.onemetre.net/Download/Sheeting/Sheeting.htm

Thanx Lester,

But I still don't know whether it will work!

Initally I was thinking about using it on my 6M (still in build) as a way of sheeting out longer than a sail arm would allow, while still maintaining the positive points of a sail arm, speed and precision etc.

The other variation would be to have a curve/angled guide under the sail arm. With the slider going through the arm that would link up on the curve and sheet -in a very finely by pushing it back up the slot when sheeting in....but this wouldn't allow for the dumping feature...and I still don't know if it works