Stephen,

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure I understand %100 of what you are describing. One problem with the H-18 is a lack of freeboard/clearance under the tramp, so I think for me putting something underneath is not an option.



I'm trying to understand the idea of the tying the tail of the halyard to the head of the sail - it sounds intrigueing but I'm not sure how tangles would be avoided. Any hints? Sounds like a clean solution, further explanaiton would be great.



The halyard trailing the boat I believe is part of the boat, so what you described would be true. I was in a port-starboard situation coming into a mark, and had to pull the line in to avoid "hitting" the starboard boat - at least it seemed like I'd be at fault.



What I'm about to try is this - After looking a dog leashes a bit, and not having any concrete advice to work with yet, I happened to find a retractable clothesline at Home Depot. Very easy to swap the line - I drilled two holes in the top - one to lock the reel and the other allow access to the knot on the captive end. I've done some playing with off the boat, and it seems to fairly reliably suck up about 20 feet of 1/4" line. It cost $14. I haven't tried it on the boat yet, it may not be a long-lasting solution.