F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post Reply
User avatar
newt2u
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:24 am
Location: UK

F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by newt2u »

I currently have a blade jib which is raised and lowered by someone going forward. It uses a dyneema line on a single block at the mast and the jib is hanked onto the downhaul as it is raised. It can be lowered and manages itself quite well on deck but I still need to go forward to lower it. Today after a great week of sailing I have decided that I want to do everything from the cockpit and sketched out a plan and ordered the bits. All in all about £80 for everything.

Here is my sketch of the solution.
Blade control.jpg
Blade control.jpg (119.22 KiB) Viewed 3005 times
I will post some pictures and see how it works when everything arrives and I get time to travel down to the boat again.
Rockin - F21 twin drop keels - located Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK

User avatar
newt2u
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:24 am
Location: UK

Re: F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by newt2u »

Dyneema and double block arrived today and I made my first two soft shackles. I was surprised at how easy it was. I made one regular size to attach both uphaul and downhaul to the sail and one longer one to attach with a cow hitch either side of the sail on the pullpit.
F2CE2DF5-E9A3-43DE-AF19-C76AD367D9BA.jpeg
F2CE2DF5-E9A3-43DE-AF19-C76AD367D9BA.jpeg (774.72 KiB) Viewed 2968 times
Rockin - F21 twin drop keels - located Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK

bad
Posts: 184
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 11:14 am

Re: F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by bad »

Great job. My experience is that the attachment on that block will wear and cut the dyneema over time.

User avatar
newt2u
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:24 am
Location: UK

Re: F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by newt2u »

Yes, I thought that may be an issue but I want it to drop down a bit when I bring the jib down hence the soft shackle. I will keep an eye on it. I have several meters of Dyneema left over so no problem in making up another one if it does wear. For anyone interested I found this video very useful in learning the ropes, sorry, bad pun! I found his treatment of the diamond knot very simple.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZh1M8ETLRk
Rockin - F21 twin drop keels - located Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK

iansan5653
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 4:39 pm

Re: F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by iansan5653 »

Nice soft shackles! I was also surprised at how easy they are to make - I ended up making a half dozen spares in various sizes just to keep on the boat. They are incredibly useful.

You may want to switch out for a block specifically made for soft attachments, like this double by Harken: https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pa ... id=2393939 or you could double up on this single by Ronstan: https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pa ... id=1196816.
Ian Sanders
1983 Freedom 21 - Shoal Draft
St Petersburg (Tampa Bay), FL

User avatar
newt2u
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:24 am
Location: UK

Re: F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by newt2u »

Hi Ian, thanks for the links. I did have a look at the Harken blocks but they are so damned expensive over here. List is £55 best offer I found was £45, which in USD is close to twice the price of the one in your link in your link. The Ronstan block I can get £ for $, which is good to know, just a bit worried that doubling up on a soft link will splay them under load and chafe the lines. A shame they don't seem to make doubles for lashing.
Rockin - F21 twin drop keels - located Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK

User avatar
newt2u
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:24 am
Location: UK

Re: F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by newt2u »

I managed to get my jib management system sorted today, I haven't been able to get to the boat since the late summer.

I had to keep everything small as there is not much room where my jammers are. I have an additional jammer (and a 4:1 pulley system which is used to raise/lower my drop keels) on both clusters. So I used 4mm Dyneema with a breaking load of 1600Kg and the smaller Ronstad 20mm lashing blocks with a working load of 250Kg.
IMG_1624.jpg
IMG_1624.jpg (2.48 MiB) Viewed 2678 times
I used a small eye on the coach roof which held both uphaul and downhaul lines.
IMG_1623.jpg
IMG_1623.jpg (2.35 MiB) Viewed 2678 times
And in the cockpit I used a small Spinlock PXR Cam Cleat for 4-6mm line with a working load of 140Kg.
IMG_1627.jpg
IMG_1627.jpg (2.11 MiB) Viewed 2678 times
I raised and lowered the jib a couple of times in quite a windy day, F6 outside the marina and very blustery within, and it worked a treat. In setting it up, it's much easier to hank on the jib. I attach the head using an eye splice on the uphaul plus a loop and ball on the downhaul. Clip on the tack and I then raise the head a little and put some tension on both lines to allow me to hank on the jib. I can then return to the cockpit and raise or lower the jib. I can also use the winch to tension the uphaul and get a nice tight "stay". Its only a single speed winch so I'm not worried about breaking anything.

I also changed the jib sheets from a single line to a system where I use a block on the clew and 2 lines going down to the deck through blocks and back to both sides of the cockpit. Its still self tacking but I can easily trim the jib on. either tack using the windward line.
Rockin - F21 twin drop keels - located Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK

iansan5653
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 4:39 pm

Re: F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by iansan5653 »

Looks great! I might need to get a blade jib - my boat came with a much larger (almost genoa sized) jib that I think is too big to hank like that without blowing over, and it's pretty overpowered in any decent breeze.

My boat came with Harken small boat furling hardware that I've been trying to set up, but it's challenging to get the tension you want for furling with our flexible masts. I'll share more once I make some progress.

That camcleat looks really cool - I'll have to check it out.
Ian Sanders
1983 Freedom 21 - Shoal Draft
St Petersburg (Tampa Bay), FL

User avatar
newt2u
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:24 am
Location: UK

Re: F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by newt2u »

The jib is pretty small but I have used it even in 20+knts when I have had one reef in. In light winds I have seen it give me another knt or so and I'm pretty sure it allows me to point higher when powered up.

Here is a link to my source for the cleat.

https://www.oceanchandlery.com/spinlock ... leats.html
Rockin - F21 twin drop keels - located Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK

User avatar
newt2u
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:24 am
Location: UK

Re: F21 Blade jib management from the cockpit

Post by newt2u »

We launched Rockin this week after a winter layup. Managed to get her anti fouled but not fully polished. My time down here is limited and I wanted to maximise the sailing. Anyway we took Rockin out for the first sail of the season yesterday and managed to test the cockpit management of the jib. It worked treat. handed on in the marina and then raised and lowered from the cockpit while underway. Everything worked well except the jammer used to cleat the halliard uphill. It is designed for 4-6mm chord and I was using 4mm dyneema but it just kept creeping with any tension on it. I guess I will have to replace it with a conventional cleat.

Anyone else had problems with dyneema and cam cleats?

Anyway a short video of the sail:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4nsu0xncj4u3a ... 2.mp4?dl=0
Rockin - F21 twin drop keels - located Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK

Post Reply