Originally posted by Ed Austin:
Mango,
Mounting the main halyard block on the deck may cause som issues since the deck was not designed to carry the halyard load. This may pull the deck upwards and cause some damage. I have seen some other designs with blocks mounted to the deck have a small stay from the bottom of the deck below the halyard blocks to a point on the mast to keep the deck from lifting.
For the eight years that I have owned the boat I have been interested in upgrading the reefing by being able to obtain greater foot tension. To this end I am planning to install Schaefer diamond-shaped base plates on deck in the area of the mast collar. To these bases I will lash Harken 57mm Ti-Lite blocks through which the reefing lines will be lead to the secondary winches. I have a question about the ability of the deck to sustain the load of the reefing system. Do you think that I might be proceding in the wrong direction with this? I seem to vaguely recall an owner in California who described (in an old forum thread) a similar installation as he was preparing his boat for a TransPac. I sail a good bit in the "longshore" environment and I reef enough to be quite dissatisfied with the OEM setup - I find it quite inferior in obtaining and holding decent foot tension, at a time when I want the flattest main I can get.
