So Many strings
Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Dinghy development
Forum Discription: The latest moves in the dinghy market
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13768
Printed Date: 27 Jun 25 at 10:54pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: So Many strings
Posted By: Mark Aged 42
Subject: So Many strings
Date Posted: 08 Apr 21 at 2:34pm
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So I watched a You Tube video last night. It featured a lady showing off her new Merlin, probably at the dinghy show. I have never seen so much string in all my life. Admittedly I am a Laser sailor, and so am bereft of a jib, spinnaker, trapezes, standing rigging et al. But I am blown away by the complexity of modern 2 man boats. I would be really happy if someone gave a list of all the strings, and what they do. Cheers
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Replies:
Posted By: Gordon 1430
Date Posted: 08 Apr 21 at 3:50pm
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On My Phantom which is only a single hander I have Forestay, lowers, downhaul/Cunningham, outhaul, Kicker all on each side and continuous. yet to be fitted is flattener Plus centreboard up and down also to both sides and continuous. Merlin would also have shroud adjustment, jib cunningham and barber haulers on both jib and spinnaker plus i am sure a few more would be my guess. ------------- Gordon Phantom 1430 |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 08 Apr 21 at 4:17pm
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And a Merlin may have one string raking (which probably involves about a dozen strings but you only get to pull one if them...). ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Chris_H
Date Posted: 08 Apr 21 at 5:13pm
Have a look at at a modern 5o5 for a string-fest 
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Posted By: Mark Aged 42
Date Posted: 08 Apr 21 at 6:39pm
Accept the challenge - what do all the strings do? I'm genuinely curious.
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Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 08 Apr 21 at 7:48pm
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Merlin? They need a load of string to hold them together.. really old boat class, used mainly by drunkards. ------------- https://www.corekite.co.uk/snow-accessories-11-c.asp" rel="nofollow - Snow Equipment Deals https://www.corekite.co.uk" rel="nofollow - New Core Kite website |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 08 Apr 21 at 8:21pm
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Ignoring sheets, halyards and rudder up/down, i.e. anything that might be led to the thwart or side decks :- Kicker Cunningham Outhaul Inhaul Centreboard (up) Centreboard (down) Rig tension Mast rake (forward) Mast rake (back) Barber hauler (jib port) Barber hauler (jib starboard) Barber hauler (kite port Barber hauler (kite starboard) Traveller port Traveller starboard Pole out (x 2?) Pole downhaul (x 2?) ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 08 Apr 21 at 10:23pm
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I saw one once, on a Merlin, very clever, one bit of string raked the mast adjusting the forestay and the shrouds and something else, lower mast ram maybe.
Every year for ten years I'd go to the dinghy show and test myself on the 505 stand to see if I knew what they all did. Even then I never got the difference between Downhaul and Cunningham. Then I decided, length and number of string is just a penile substitute and in all probability the longer the string the smaller the dick(s). ------------- https://www.corekite.co.uk/snow-accessories-11-c.asp" rel="nofollow - Snow Equipment Deals https://www.corekite.co.uk" rel="nofollow - New Core Kite website |
Posted By: Mark Aged 42
Date Posted: 09 Apr 21 at 8:56am
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I have the occaissional brain overload when rounding up in the Laser - steer, board down, sheet in, kicker on, outhaul on and cunningham on. Some have adjustable toe straps. But add into the mix kite down, jib barber hauler, jib sheet, mast rake, traveller, clip onto trapeze for some and the rest, surely you are halfway up the beat before its all sorted!
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Posted By: Chris_H
Date Posted: 09 Apr 21 at 9:02am
The crew generally does all that other stuff. Thats why they are often unsung heroes...
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Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 09 Apr 21 at 10:05am
Almost nothing. If the mainsail fits in a track on the boom then the clew is pinned at the inner end of the boom, and can't change position. So the downhaul function is provided by a second eye a few inches up from the clew. |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 09 Apr 21 at 1:07pm
Briggs Cunningham was from the northern hemisphere. Not sure if Aussies and New Zealanders ever took to the name. ------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: Mike Holt
Date Posted: 09 Apr 21 at 9:23pm
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5O5's will only have a cunningham, as do all dinghies I can think of.. As to the length of the string.. That is just down to not cutting it to the right length. A modern 5oh appears to have lots of string as most controls are double sided, due mainly to the width of the boat and being able to adjust the controls while hiking. The purpose of them all being one thing, keep the boat at optimum power for the crew weight as the wind increases. Listing what they all do here, as best I can remember in order of importance: 3 halyards, Main, jib, spinnaker sheets, guys, pole launchers, Kicker, forestay, shrouds, ram(strut) up and down, cunningham, jib cloth, board up/down, jib lead in/out, pole up.
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Posted By: patj
Date Posted: 11 Apr 21 at 10:09am
Don't forget the Merlin's pullers, tweakers and snodgers! 
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Posted By: Old bloke
Date Posted: 11 Apr 21 at 10:40am
| Never, but never, forget the snodger! |
Posted By: Daniel Holman
Date Posted: 11 Apr 21 at 7:27pm
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Whats a "jib cloth" Mike Holt? |
Posted By: Mike Holt
Date Posted: 12 Apr 21 at 4:01am
| The jib "cloth" is the halyard, for the sail, we don't have a downhaul/cunningham, that tack is fixed and we control the luff (cloth) via the halyard. It is built in to the forestay setup but we fine tune it. More as the wind builds! |
Posted By: Do Different
Date Posted: 12 Apr 21 at 5:21am
Natty  . You're zip luffs aren't you, clever.
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Posted By: Daniel Holman
Date Posted: 13 Apr 21 at 7:44pm
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thanks Mike! |
Posted By: NickA
Date Posted: 18 May 21 at 12:05am
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What do "tweakers" do on a merlin? I thought those were the things 5o5s use to change the height of the trapeze attachment to the mast. ------------- Javelin 558 Contender 2574 |
Posted By: NicolaJayne
Date Posted: 18 May 21 at 7:38am
i'm guessing ist's what they call one of the sets of lead adjustment for either jib or spinni sheets ... certainly if give n the freedom a lot of boats potentially benefit from being abl to adjut sheeting / lead angles with a couple of different ways ( see also short whisker poles on some none spinnaker classes as well as the full length goos winging poles) |
Posted By: Sussex Lad
Date Posted: 18 May 21 at 11:00am
| ...........we're all on the spectrum somewhere |
Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 18 May 21 at 2:26pm
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Tourettes when it all gets wrapped around your legs and throat as you tack... ------------- https://www.corekite.co.uk/snow-accessories-11-c.asp" rel="nofollow - Snow Equipment Deals https://www.corekite.co.uk" rel="nofollow - New Core Kite website |
Posted By: Sussex Lad
Date Posted: 18 May 21 at 2:51pm
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....BONDAGE....... Oooops, sorry about that outburst. |
Posted By: ClubRacer
Date Posted: 18 May 21 at 9:09pm
| I think tweakers and Barber haulers have become the same thing just under different names in the dinghy world, tweaker has stuck for the kite and the latter for the jib. It's much easier to shout abuse at your crew when you don't have to explain which Barber hauler you want them to trim. |
Posted By: Presuming Ed
Date Posted: 19 May 21 at 8:58pm
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Last time I looked at a Flying Dutchman, it strings everything else into a cocked hat. Adjustable mast foot, adjustable centre board pivot, Uncle Tom Cobley and all. Plus a stupid sized Genoa.
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Posted By: Strangler
Date Posted: 20 May 21 at 6:20pm
Oh you do exaggerate, no adjustable mast foot, not these days anyway. Stupid sized genoa. Yup
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 20 May 21 at 6:59pm
| Why does the crew need toe straps? And is that luminescent rope?! |
Posted By: Strangler
Date Posted: 20 May 21 at 8:58pm
| Not many boats use crew toestraps. Kinetics on the run? Or just to feel locked in on the run. Photo lifted from internet. Luminous?? |
Posted By: Mark Aged 42
Date Posted: 21 May 21 at 7:50am
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Two questions spring to mid, looking at that FD photo. 1) How long does it take to rig up? 2) How long does it take to tune?
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Posted By: Gordon 1430
Date Posted: 21 May 21 at 12:32pm
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Hi Mark When I sailed with Hugh we reckoned 20 minutes from trailer ready to sail. most of it is pretty much standard-attach shrouds, lowers forestay, kicker, outhaul, trapeze, rig spinnaker fit specific genoa for conditions and carefully furl. If it was a Mader boat everything was cut to length and worked first time out the box. They are a sheer join to sail upwind and a tweekers joy. ------------- Gordon Phantom 1430 |
Posted By: NickA
Date Posted: 29 May 21 at 7:51pm
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20 minutes!? Takes me that long to rig my javelin for a club race ... With the mast up and the sail on the boom already; more like an hour from a trailer. Split rings, I blame split rings. ------------- Javelin 558 Contender 2574 |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 31 May 21 at 9:04am
I agree, split rings are the work of the devil... But I just can't bring myself to trust fast pins  ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: NickA
Date Posted: 15 Jun 21 at 6:48pm
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"can't bring myself to trust fast pins " Trust them on lowers not on shrouds. Bloke at my club put fast pins on the shrouds of his K6, then snagged the bit of line on the fast pin whilst tacking. That was expensive (mast snapped at the lowers as it fell over). Might consider them on some of the other pesky attachment points tho. ------------- Javelin 558 Contender 2574 |
Posted By: CarbonCopy3459
Date Posted: 16 Jun 21 at 3:10pm
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Happily use fast pins on the shrouds. I've replaced the big rings with ones that are no bigger than the adjuster plates and we have six inches of bicycle inner tube that pulls down over the shroud plates to keep it all snug. It's worth periodically checking that the ball is still springy. After about 5 years one needed replacing after it lost its mojo. So far, so good! ------------- CC |