As requested by NickA this is what I have done to my 29er to make sailing with a very young crew or singlehanding easier...if I did it again I would use the Holt ball bearing swivel cleat.

Saw this on the Soloswift website a while ago

Could be the way to go. You could however get a face full of cleat!

Thanks Blobby!   Hope you got to sail it as well as photo it!

Sharp edges aside (!!) that looks pretty functional.  But how much drag is there from that block-free eye?  Also, is there a rotation stop in the swivel or do you just have to be careful to tack and gybe in front of the cleats?

The Swift Solo solution is a good one, rope-drag wise, but you have to get your sheet hand aligned with the cleats to cleat the rope - which is probably hard if you're right back at the transom.

My V3000 is in build, and Jeff the builder "has some ideas" which I'll share when he tells me what they are!  But he'll be receiving both these suggestions in the post too.

The Swift cleat works well on high performance skiffs because the crew moves aft as the boom goes out (generally).  The boom is rarely out more than 25 degrees (apparent wind keeps it fairly close) and the lead angle is not an issue once you have it set up correctly for going to weather.  It does need to be about 24" from the gooseneck to work right. 

Bram

Wow, is that your crew holding the boom? He is tiny. You must go like a bullet off-wind.

That is the stand-in crew (Alec aged 5 1/2) the real crew is 2 1/2 years older but not much bigger!

Filing off the edges - yep needs to be done but I wanted to see if it worked first.

I did get a cracking sail in on Saturday in 12 - 15kts, sunshine and 32 Degrees.  Tipped it in twice to start with whilst the cobwebs while remembering how to sail but after that is was just fantastic...

No problems with the rotation at all - then main sheet is naturally in the front hand and pulls the cleat round the right way when tacking / gybing.  I have no problem with the drag on the sheet - and I have put in an auto ratchet on the transom hawse so it all goes in and out very smoothly.

Just for K_Kirk - Kerem this is what I have done with the cleat for the main...

A few of cats are a 'pull down' to uncleat. Enterprise jib cleats are 'pull back' to uncleat. It isn't hard to switch.

Do all your crews wear swimming goggles ...

I offered my non-sailing nephew a ride in the MPS on a windy day and he ran off and came back with swimming goggles on which I took as a vote of no confidence in my abilty to keep the boat upright but then he informed me that they were prescription goggles ... he had a good time!!

Rick

When you are trapese-helming you are at a higher angle than when sitting-in so it's easier to "cleat-up". Also, with gravity working the way it does, once the sheet is uncleated there is little tendency to recleat.

Blobby, thanks for the photo. This looks easy & cheap enough to try. I saw another option mentioned on SA forum which uses a different approach... See this thread for a posting by Corksfloat

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=48361 - http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=483 61

Essentially he installed a ratchet + swivel base cleat on the central grab bar. Looks like a very clean installation if not a little more costly upfront but with the benefit of no additional holes in your rig.

So the question is whether cleating up or cleating down is most appropriate in the 29er when you are on the wire. I actually think cleating down might be tough and may require you to bend your knees to go low closer to the cleat hight. Will ask Corksfloat about this.

Any thoughts?

My 6 year old routinely wears one when we sail together. Its a function of height I suppose. Simple splash from the waves hit me in the midsection but hits her right in the face when we are both sitting on the gunnel. She is very happy to go sailing as long as her eyes don't burn all the time!!!

Agree with that - and add in sunblock dripping into your eyes because fo the sweat and goggles are almost a must...once sailed for an hour with no.1 crew in a good 15kts in a 420 and crew with his eyes shut the whoel time because the goggles had been left behind...

...and he still came out with me again!

Cleating up or down - I find the boom cleating great as you don't have the mainsheet tight in the middle of the boat getting in your way the whole time.  When you are out on the wire it works well because the sheeting angle means the main is naturally out of the cleat and then you can lift the sheet into the cleat when you need to.  I haven't had any problems with the sheet falling out of the cleat when I didn't want it to.

Childrens sun cream does not sting !  I use it all the time.