Does anyone have pictures of the downhaul system for the blade or a better setup (more efficient and easy to thread) then the standard factory setup they can share?

My 9 yr old son (Omar) who is learning to crew and drive the boat has a tough time with the downhaul, in the standard setup.

Many Thanks,
Asim
Houston, TX.

Asaber,

Did you already check the improved downhaul system on the European Blade ? It is a lot easier and lighter to handle then the previous system. My Blade is still being made so I won't be able to send you pics now.

Regards,
Gill

I have the internal downhaul, original equipment from the factory. The other guys who've seen it seem to like it.

Try giving Vectorworks a call.

Asim, what kind of downhaul system do you have? Is it the external cascadin 8:1?

I to would like to upgrade this system, but frankly I have not been able to figure out, how to do so. Aparently I will need to perform some radical changes of what is located where on the mast. I am not very fond of drilling extra holes in the mast. I dont like the system very much, but I have learned to suck it up and deal with it.

These are exterior shots of the my downhaul, if you like I'll pull it apart so you can see the inside. Not much too it.

This is the distance up from the mast base. This through bolt is the main support.

Mast base.

another.

I think the simplest thing would be to order it from Vectorworks.

Yeah - I'd recommend switching to the internal system. If Vectorworks can supply the mast base, the rest is off-the-shelf parts (although I think there may be some spacers on the top bolt).

Putting it together will be a bit fiddly, but really not that hard. When I took mine apart, I successfully taped a bit of rope to the end of that top bolt, pulled the bolt out, and then lowered everything down the mast. Reassembly was just a matter of pulling the rope tight, and then sliding the bolt back through.

Initial assembly will be a little bit harder as you'll need to put stuff onto the middle bit of the rope whilst it's hanging out the bottom of the mast, but if you use sufficiently thin rope, you should be able to cut and knot it, and still get it through the bolt holes in the mast.

Paul

I think that it should mentioned that the actual downhaul can be seen in the last pic in the top left corner (peeking out from behind the rotation arm).

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