Mainsheet – from block or boom?

[hughsheehy]

Hi,

given the existence of OK class rule 16.4 (http://goo.gl/OHybP) is it at all practical or permissible to sheet the sail directly from the boom, as one would with a Finn?

H

[davecooper]

As I understand it, Finn sailors grab hold of the mainsheet fall and pump the boom like that. It’s definitely illegal in an OK as the rule you mention states.
Yeah, here’s someone:

You can’t (legally) do that in an OK.

Dave

[hughsheehy]

hi

i suspected as much. it seems odd to design the sheeting of the main that way – dead ending it on the boom – and then to prohibit the main opportunity you get from sheeting it like that.

ah well, I suppose it means i needn’t get my arms as strong as i initially thought!

thanks for the confirmation!

h

[davecooper]

Umm, I might be being stupid, but if you want a 3 purchase mainsheet, how else could it go? If the mainsheet ended on the traveller it would come to your hand from the boom, and that would be ridiculous!
Someone can probably explain why the Finn class allow continuous pumping – it seems such a blatant violation of rule 42.
Dave

[hughsheehy]

Well, I saw people in various places “complaining” that the sheet loads were very high on an OK so I initially presumed the decision to go for a 3-sheet and a dead end on the boom rather than a 4-sheet was to allow direct sheeting.

A 4-sheet ending back on the traveller would mean more sheet in the bottom of the boat boat upwind and less feel of the sail downwind, true, but not that much different to a 3 sheet and it would probably make upwind adjustment easier in a blow, hence my puzzlement at the combination of a 3-sheet set up and a ban on direct sheeting.

H

[burt]

you can sheet off the boom for adjusment however your not allowed to pumpi sheet off the boom in light winds but when its above force 1 or 2 then its from the block

also thomas h-m has it 4 to 1 because he has bad elbows and he is no slouch!!

[Tony Woods]

Hi Hugh, welcome to the class. It’s a good one, you’ll love it. There always seems to be confusion over the OK mainsheet rule, but if you read the rule it is quite simple and makes sense. In the first couple of years that I have sailed an OK i have been told off quite regulary for taking the boom straight from the 1st part of the mainsheet. The guy’s doing the telling off have sailed OK’s for years and they should have known better. Even at this years Worlds I had a lengthy discussion with a German sailor all the way down the run who also believed you couldn’t hold the boom straight from the mainsheet rather than the mainsheet through the mainsheet block in the boat and he is on the International commitee. Even Burt’s force 1-2 comment isn’t quite right in that you can hold the boom from wherever you want regardless of wind strength untill you wish to pump in surfing conditions. At that stage rule 16.4 which is a class rule amendment to rule 42 kicks in, and if you wish to pump (legally) you need to take the mainshhet from the cockpit floor. In practice in light conditions downwind it makes sense to take the boom directly as you can feel what is happening in the sail. When surfing conditions apply you need to transfer the mainsheet via the block in the floor. This transfer is worth practicing because it’s quite easy to make an arse of it. Been there, done that.
The rule makes sense and is a good one, cutting down on some of the downwind gymnastics that all classes take part in, and of course with the Finns ‘free pumping’ rule they have taken this a step further.
The interpretation of the rule seems to have got skewed along the way so that people have been arguing over it when it doesn’t apply. You’ll probably get some differant advice than the above but if they read the rule I don’t understand how you wouldn’t come to the same conclusion as I have. Good luck, and good question which the whole fleet can learn from.
Regards, Tony Woods

[hughsheehy]

Hi Tony,

indeed, as you say, from reading the rule it’s clear that you can do whatever you like unless you’re pumping to plane/surf.

thanks

H

[okgorgeous]

I go with Tony’s summary of this, as I over the years have had the same discussions on the water over the subject. My standard answer nowadays is ” protest me then, and we will see what happens”. To this date, nobody has done this yet, I guess they must have gone away and read the rule properly.

[Bill B]

I agree with the above comments. There is no rule telling you how you adjust your sail trim. The rule in question is to control pumping- performed legally of course.

Tony’s comment about practicing changing to sheeting from the floor and gathering up the slack sheet is a good one – it is easy to make a complete b***s of that bit.

Bill

[bradjohanson]

On the triangle legs in light air I sheet the main loosely and then play the mainsheet directly from the boom to reduce friction. Playing the main to adjust for changing wind loads and angles is never pumping. good discssion to remind us newbies of the pumping rules.
I have tried a four ppart mainsheet and if I lived in a predominently heavy air location I would concider it. while it makes it easier upwind it sure does slow down sheeting in at the leeward make. Lots of rope in the cockpit.
Brad
USA-1010

[hughsheehy]

Funny….this topic just resurfaced in Australia!

http://www.ok.yachting.org.au/?Page=65523

Perhaps there’s a need for a single international forum!

H

[andyt15064]

We only moan at Neil to break his concentration, not because we think he is infringing the rule.

Andy

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