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Originally posted by Dave5041

This is a good place to remember to drill oversize, fill with epoxy, and redrill. Drill the top hole without going through the liner to verify that it is cored. If it isn't, West Systems 610 in a caulk tube is an easy way to fill the space. Pearl's cabin top is cored, but not the sides.

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Originally posted by Lee Panza

John:

Just to add a few points to what has already been shared...

As Jeremy and Peter said, the halyard winch is normally more convenient on the cabin top back at the cockpit, especially when conditions are such that you don't want to have to go forward. However, when the slugs stick in the track it's nice to be at the mast to jerk on the luff to free them. In retrospect I wish I had left the winch on the mast and added a second winch on the cabin top as Peter described.

Although you mentioned that you already have a cleat, you didn't say whether you'll be using a horned cleat or a mechanical cleat (cam cleat or clam cleat). A mechanical cleat is quicker to release than a horned cleat, although to drop the sail it's necessary to tension the halyard slightly to release it from either of those two types. A better choice is a clutch: lift the handle and the halyard is released (this can be important if you need to get the sail down in a hurry). Either way, a mechanical cleat or a clutch needs to be sized to the halyard: give some thought to whether you might want to change your halyard (ie. smaller-diameter low-stretch line) before buying and mounting either type.

Mechanical cleats are normally installed before the winch so tension can be taken up to release the line from the cleat. Clutches are also normally installed ahead of the winch, allowing you to temporarily secure the halyard while you throw another turn around the winch. A horned cleat, on the other hand, would be mounted after the winch, as in Scott's photo, because it would be tough to bend the line onto the cleat while it's in tension around the winch.

A clutch or a mechanical cleat needs to be mounted so that the line leads properly to the winch drum. The line should approach the winch from slightly below barrel of the drum, but too much of an angle will make it difficult to secure the line in a cam or clam cleat. On the other hand, it could be necessary to raise the winch on a pad if the clutch is too tall. Just 'eyeballing' it is generally sufficient rather than working to measurements.

A backing plate isn't necessary under the winch because the force on the screws is mainly shear rather than uplift. Also, keep in mind that there will probably be a gap between the exterior shell and the interior liner; they were molded as two separate units and then nested together at the factory, and the gap between them can be significant. You'll see this when you drill the holes. This means you cannot tighten the nuts on the underside indiscriminately without deforming one or the other. Proper bedding is important under the winch and other hardware. Countersink the holes in the exterior shell to produce beveled edges that create a gasket of bedding material around each screw where it penetrates the shell.

You mentioned that you already have a block to lead the halyard outboard from the base of the mast. Usually a conventional block is shackled to a mast base plate with holes on its side edges for this, but a standing block or a fixed lead block are good alternatives. You also mentioned you have a deck organizer. If only one or two lines are coming aft cheek blocks can be better than an organizer on the curved surface of the cabin top, but with more than a couple or three lines an organizer is probably necessary.

You also mentioned a lazy jack, John, which I take to mean a setup that can be deployed before dropping the sail but stowed out of the way otherwise. Lazy jacks (usually one on each side) can be run through small blocks on the spreaders; it isn't necessary to take them up to the masthead. On the other hand, if you have an available 2nd sheave at the masthead I would strongly encourage you to add an adjustable topping lift. I would never go back to a pigtail on the backstay as the primary support for my boom. This is another control line you'd want to bring to the cockpit.

+1 to Scott's suggestion about cap nuts (the term 'acorn nut' is sometimes used to describe a decorative nut with a taller, pointier crown, which you wouldn't want on the overhead). However, it may be necessary to cut the screws to fit: the inner surface of the liner may not be parallel with the outer surface of the shell (mine isn't), and cap nuts limit how much thread can be taken up inside them.

That's all I can think of right now. Good luck with your project.

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Originally posted by Captmorgan


...couldnt the cam cleat go behind the winch. Whats the advantage or disadvantage to putting it after...

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Originally posted by Dave5041

if you drill through the outer skin you will see the core. It is easier to fill with epoxy after scraping out some more core if you don't have a hole in the bottom.

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My 1980 has a void between the outer shell and the inner liner.

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Originally posted by islander

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My 1980 has a void between the outer shell and the inner liner.

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...I guess every boat is a little different.

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