When mentioned my intend to try a mid boom sheeting setup a befriended sailors said that I should put the block at the middle of the foot or farther forward. He said that one would pull the boom too much towards himself if the block was further back. Apparently he tried this setup himself as well. Apart from that he was pretty ambiquious about which setup is better. He seemed to see advantages and disadvantages of both. Note that we are talking about the boom sheeting setup here and not the centre sheeting setup where the ratchet block is fitted to the trampoline and a vertical stage from tramp to boom is present. This latter setup looks clumsy to me and I will get in to trouble with my crew with that setup. The boom sheeting setup leaves enough open space for me crew.
There are a few other considerations I have for this mid boom system.
-1- I'm considering it because it allows my crew to sheet the mainsail much better while keeping the rear of the trampoline clear. At this time (rear sheeting) the sheet is nearly running over my legs rubbing against it. In a blow my crew can not stand to the rear of me as then the sheet will have to go through my upper body. With the mid boom sheeting I expect this to improof allow us to drive the boat harder.
-2- With the double ended setup , I as the skipper can still work the mainsail just as much as the crew can. I think this to be important for downwind legs when the crew is busy with the spinnaker. Also as a safetly will this be important especially if the crews end of the mainsheet is boosted by another 2:1 stage which will limit the play.
-3- I'm looking to boost the crews end of the mainsheet with a 2:1 so that when singlehanding I can sheet it continiously with one hand and arm and still retain enough strength for holding and working the spi sheet on the downwind legs under spi. I have a double handed main and I seems that I need to trim it continiously to really make it go singlehandedly.
-4- I feel that I can wildthing alot better with the mid boom setup if I ever need to do that. Like singlehanding on a reach and such.
-5- I sailed with a mid boom sheeting setup on the 49-er skiffs and I works okay apart from not having a cleat on the boat.
Also note how a boosting stage at the crews end of the mainsheet will pull the boom less to the luff side of the boat. The load ont he sheet line determines how much you pull the boom towards the luff part of the boat. I reduce this sheet load by a factor of 2 by adding a booster stage then the boom will move less by a factor of 2 as well and then by far most of the effect will be to pull the boom down.
Wouter
