A neat bit of kit

Originally posted by Smight at BBSC Originally posted by laser4000 Originally posted by Paramedic I quite liked them but they are slightly too large for the spinny sheets on mine so i got the Harken switchables instead. To be honest i'm glad i did becuase you generally know when you want the ratchet on and when it goes light and looks to be staying that way you just switch them off (On my boat anyway). Uh? I think you'll find the most 800 / 4000s and similar skiff sailors use auto-ratchets, in that way when the let the kite go on the gybe the old sheet runs out smoothly - I'd hate to be doing a force 3 gybe with a "permanently on" ratchet. We've got small ronstan auto's on the 200 and they work great. But they are only 40mm blocks http://www.ronstan.com/marine/range.asp?RnID=010 Plus when they're not ratcheting they run for about a minute

Tbh george you could just use blocks. Kite loads on a 200 arent really overwhelmingly huge are they?

Originally posted by laser4000 Uh? I think you'll find the most 800 / 4000s and similar skiff sailors use auto-ratchets, in that way when the let the kite go on the gybe the old sheet runs out smoothly - I'd hate to be doing a force 3 gybe with a "permanently on" ratchet.

Like everything it depends what you're sailing. I'm not sailing a 800/4000 i'm sailing a Merlin. We only actually need ratchet blocks when it's seriously windy, and then it doesn't matter about leaving them switched on. I'd say it's probably the same for most symmetric/small assy classes.

I hadn't thought about using them on the spinnaker...

Good call - bad news though - another 100 quid and another trip over to
bloody Whitstable, which will mean I'll end up buying more junk - in fact
talking of Junk, what's with that Pro Grip? The most expensive over priced
piece of useless none stick garbage I've yet to come across.

I'm going to fit stomp pads from snow boards, far more effective and they
might stay on longer than one race.

pro grip is ace so long as you have the patience and understanding of what the your doing with it. You need to prepare the surface properly and take the relative time to do so. It also makes a difference, infact a massive difference if you round the corners, its blatently obvious that leaving a sharp lip will cause it to peel. You can probably get a better bon with the non self adhesive stuff but that requires even more time and preperation and patience to get right but to be honest ive nly ever used self adhesive and never had a problem nor has anyone else i know thats read the insturctions or taken advice from folk who have fitted it successfully.

If progrip didn't work, people wouldn't buy it! Simple as. If done properly it works a treat, you clearly just fitted it wrong. If it didn't work, then why do 99.9% of Contenders use it? 0.01% are those who haven't yet. Not to mention the hundreds of other classes and thousands of sailors. Agreed, it is expensive. But when you take into account the number of times you go sailing (say, twice a week) and how long it lasts (years), £60 on progrip is nothing and probably equates to to under a penny every time you go sailing. You're thinking short term costs. The only down side to progrip is that it adds a lot weight in larger amounts. I believe the cherub  Oops put 5 kilos on in progrip.

You don't have to round the corners, but it makes sense to. It looks better and it reduces the change of it lifting.

A bit of advise- put your brain in gear first before blurting out complete bollocks...and before fitting progrip.

PS: I think progrip was developed by windsurfers, or it might have been surfers...I cant remember now. I'll dig up the topic.