friction in running rigging

Ok, I've finally got round to taking some pictures of the before and after  deck fittings. Like Peter Wareham, I have made two hardwood blocks that fit under teh turning blocks on deck.

Although I was going to move the block back a little way, using the existing tapped aluminium plates seemed a lot more sensible that drilling new holes.

The blocks are made form some greenhart that I had lying around, which is very rot resistant.

This change means I can now hoist sails and tweak the control lines wihout needing to use the winches until the last few centimetres.

The first two pictures show the run of the lines before the change.




The second two the blocks fitted.





Pete

so after these mods you now find that you can raise the main without the use of the winch????

I have used an alternative method to reduce the friction in the running rigging.  I have placed a row of bullseye faileads mounted on a hardwood block half way down the deck.  This has worked really well for me.  I can now raise the main all the way by hand, usng the winch just to tension the luff.