Posted by Vyv Cox on April 24, 2001 at 07:13:39:
In Reply to: CRUISING SHUTES posted by DAVID PARKER on April 23, 2001 at 13:01:25:
There are good reasons for attaching the tack via a block and line back to the cockpit. Gybing a cruising chute with the sheets led outside the luff requires a lot of hauling and runs the risk of a tangle. The alternative is to run the sheets inside the luff, but the space between the chute luff and the forestay is then quite small. The answer is to release the tack line a metre or two before gybing, upon which the chute will very easily pass through the much larger gap available. The wind tends to help, instead of hinder, and the whole process is much easier than the alternative.
No mechanical advantage is required, I tack my turning block to a large shackle fitted to the aftermost hole in the stem fitting.