John you make a good point and there are plenty of flaws in this sort of speculation, guesswork. I could also point out that there are huge frictional losses in the block and tackle. So the result at the business end is definitely not eight times the input effort.



I just realized something. Even if I were pulling at 375#, there is a hexaratchet block there. Don't those things offer a 15:1 level of reverse resistance? That means that even if the sail had 3000 pounds of pull at the clew, you would divide that by 8:1 for the block and tackle and then subtract out the inherent friction (that I will guesitmate at 10%) and then divide that result by the 15:1 holding power offered by the hexaratchet.

[(3000/8)-(.1*3000)]/15=22.5

So it looks like the cam cleats are working at about 5% of their rating. (22.5#/500#)

GARY