Spy photos

Originally posted by WildWood I find with the aft mainsheet on the Enterprise I get pulled down the deck toward the back of the boat when sheeted in in breezy weather.  I've just fitted a ratchet to try to prevent that though! I wouldn't want to go centre main as it just wouldn't work in an Ent.

Going back to ancient history when i sailed an ent i always bemoaned the fact that it had a rear mainsheet. Maybe it's not possible to fit one, but the rules do allow you to take the mainsheet off the boom like a skiff(!). Never thought about having a GNAV like on that mirror, now that would be appreciated by some of the crews that sailed with me.

Originally posted by WildWood I wouldn't want to go centre main as it just wouldn't work in an Ent.

Why not? I fitted an off-the-boom centre main on a friend's Wanderer (just a heavy Ent, after all) and it worked just fine. He found it a big improvement on transom sheeting.

There isn't room in the cockpit of an Ent for a centre main and the crew.  The places it could sheet from would be the back of the centre board casing or the boom and both of these options would foul the crew.  If you bring it down to the centre board casing there wouldn't be enongh room to cross the boat when tacking and gybing as there are also two two thwarts running across the boat.  Off the bood it would tangle round the crew sailing down wind.  Both of these options prevent the crew sliding back down the deck which is essential when the boat is planning.  Besides, the enterprise works perfectly well with aft sheeting - it's worked fine for the last 50 years and there the centre sheeting options are def. not better.

So if you allowed centre-sheeting in the Ent just for the heretics, none of the top sailors would adopt it? I don't think so!

But if you're right, why not allow it so that even unbelievers such as myself can sail an Ent too - slowly but without looking aft every gybe... It's surely just a matter of choice/comfort, like changing he seats in your car, and I fail to see why Ent sailors should be denied that choice on principle.

I don't have a problem with the class rules being changed to allow it.  Having sailed them for years I don't think the layout wouldn't work.  The boat design, with no spinnaker isn't really suited, as a lot of the time sailing down wind the crew sits on the leward side deck or centre board casing and often has to slide forward and aft.  If you have a centre main they can't do that because the sheets in the way.

Like I said in the original post it isn't a problem for me using aft sheeting.  If people want to try centre main I don't see that it makes any difference and the rules should allow it, but I think it would be a waste of time.