The negative to the base cleat and my clutch idea is it's more difficult to blow the halyard from the port side. Right now I just grab the retrieval line, give it a yank, then grab the halyard tail that's on the deck, give it a hard yank which uncleats it and lets me keep dousing, always staying over the center of the tramp. Hence it's easy to douse on port or starboard.

Is anyone doing something radically different?