When I obtained Little Grace the cleats for the jib/genoa
sheets looked like this.
As you can see there was a plate of aluminium bent up at the aft end under the clam cleats. It seems reasonable
to assume that it was intended as a retainer for the sheets
once they were cleated. The implication being that without it the sheet could be accidentally
released. Apart from being ugly the system seemed to undermine the quality of quick
release the clam cleat provides.
The video below shows the port cam cleat (for the light wind sails), the jib sheet cleat and their positions relative to each other and the winch.
In addition there seemed to be a drawback in the
use of clam cleats if someone was single handed at the helm. Concentration
would be required to locate the slot when sheeting that might not be available
in a tricky situation, when the action itself might be difficult. As a consequence
of these considerations I fitted horn cleats before I launched Little Grace for
the first time in 2010.
I had become accustomed to these on bigger boats and
had seen them fitted in photos of other Alacritys. My logic was that getting
turns and figure of eights around a cleat while concentrating on something else
and holding the tiller with the other hand should be perfectly possible. It was
but the system had its drawbacks. Firstly it was apparent that the time it took
to uncleat could be a drawback in a tricky situation, such as being overpowered.
Secondly I could see that whoever was crewing quickly became bored with
cleating and nucleating O,X,Os on short tacks. Given the nature of the boat I
realised I had to think back to my dingy sailing days for these dynamic lines rather
than my big boat days.
The obvious alternative that would provided quick cleating and
release was cam cleats, which I had on my dingy and have used on Little Grace for the light wind sails. However, the cockpit combing
is not very wide so fitting would either have to be at the wrong angle for the
line from the winch or inside the cockpit combing facing back up towards the
winch. The wrong angle was a non starter and fitting them inside the cockpit
would have meant that valuable backrest space or, when lounging, leg comfort
would have been compromised. The system would also have the issues of alignment
associated with the clam cleats and fitting fairleads would prevent handing the line to and from the winch.
One of the benefits of horn cleats is that they can
be used across the cockpit if the heel of the boat makes it prudent to sheet on
the windward side, which means crew weight does not have to move to leeward to uncleat. Additionally the line can be handled
with ease from an uphill helming position.
As a compromise between the need for quick release and the
other requirements discussed above I settled on jam cleats. The video below
shows one being used across the cockpit for another reason. No this is not a new version of a lazy
sheet; the rest was well deserved.
The video below shows the port cam cleat (for the light wind sails), the jib sheet cleat and their positions relative to each other and the winch.
