Mugshots....

Right, further examination (and a lot of hitting of the block) has revealed to me that its not going to work.

I'm now looking at this block:

<edited out out broken link>

and the Rooster Polilite mainsheet. Anyone tried either of them?

(Thanks to Vareo yahoo group thingy for suggestions so far  )


Edited by Villan

ah yes ... 

 http://dinghystore.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_i nfo&products_id=286

Originally posted by Villan ah yes ...   http://dinghystore.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_i nfo&products_id=286

I can heartily recommend that ratchet with 2 reservations:-

It chews up a mainsheet a season - in my boat even if swapped end-for-end.

Make sure all the screws are tight - almost lost some first time out and have now Loctited them in.

I used a Holt autoratchet before (for simplicity) but it exploded on the final beat one windy race. Actually it was a couple of weeks after I shattered my Holt Lightning stick extension... maybe it's just me but I tend to stay clear of all but the simplest Holt parts now.

Edited by Matt Jackson

I would agree with doug there. It is the best ratchet i have had. It grips the rope well, but not over the top (can't let it out even when you what to!). I have moved my Freddy from the laser to my 29er and i will most certainly be geting one for my 600. I have a rooster mainsheet which hastn't been chewed up at all by the ratchet, it's also very grippy and not easily turned into a big tangled mess!

We're still using holt auto-ratchets, the smaller ones for our kite sheets. At least 3 seasons of use and still going strong. However we were sailing yesterday and the crew mentioned that the loads seemed higher using those blocks than Harkens on another 49er, might be purely down to the smaller diameter of the wheel within the block. The holties on the old 5000 exploded on us but they were the older bigger blocks.