Jib Sheet Routing and thingypit Engine Hatch queries

[dougsharpin]

Hi Sharsp - from the horses mouth !!! the original winch positions were worked out by Tom Stephenson (WORLD 1/2 Tom Champion) and John Bertrand who you might have heard of !!! John had his North sail loft right next door to the H25 factory.
ALL H25 came with the angled teak pad and the sheet goes aft a few feet to a single or double cheek block - 2 bolts thru coaming and outer 2 bolts on tube pillars angled down. The double cheek block is used for "peeling" the genoas (change) in a twinfoil headstay track - set up new sail inside the working sail with new sheets then tack and new sheet becomes working sheet and pull down old sail under cover of the new sail - no time loss on the change !(if you're good)
The teak winch pads are angled some 20mm to line with the return block - no way can you lead straight from jib cars and you could't adjust the cars under load. Also sheets easy to grab being always in same place
In close racing and heeling , easy stance with knees against thingypit side and wind winch right over the top (coaming winch would be too far to leeward & too far outboard to wind.
We also used to cross-winch often - just lead the sheet around leeward winch and up to the weather winch where crew weight is req'd.
Your password "Kermit" might relate to the Nth Qld H25 (4 tone green) that won all Champs for quite a number of years - is Kermit now Omega ? stunning colour scheme from "Imp", Hollands 2 ton Champion USA & UK
So theres a few sippets of info from the builder - Doug Sharpin - [e-mail]

[kermitjames]

Hi Doug...belated reply. Kermit is still Kermit (Not Omega) . Yes it was four shades of green (including green bunk cushions and laminex in the galley. I have owned it for 30 years and done a lot of fast, (uncomfortable), safe coastal passages. Kermit's jib leads include a barber haul system to allow a wide grove in heavy (and light) weather, and up and down adjustment for sail shaping. The winches are all on the cabin top with all controls lead to those five winches (including a small snubbing winch for spinnaker and out haul functions). The setup facilitates crossing lines particularly for going up wind and spinnaker hoists. From the cabin top the winches are worked from a standing position which works well in most cases. The winches are on plywood pads and there has been no structural consequences of this mounting method. Of course the thingypit is more open as a consequence.

[sharsp]

Hi again everyone,

This reply is a long time coming but I wanted to give my last bit of input for this particular thread.

Now having completed the re-assemble of Omega I would like to share my setup regarding the genoa sheeting and winch positioning etc.

There should be photos below to ad pics to my description.

In all I listened to Doug's advice regarding the original positioning of the winches and felt (as a mere mortal) I should leave be alone and try before I decide to change things. Therefore my new Harken self tailer's are located on the cackpit seats as originally intended with genoa sheets lead aft to substantial custom built blocks (which include angled top sheaves for spinnaker lines) then routed to the winches. I replaced the cracking wooden pads from both winches and blocks with UV stable HDPE (polyethelene) blocks machined to shape by the fantastic guys/girls at E-Plas in Adelaide. They should be super strong, UV resistant and low maintenance with the added bonus of blending in beautifully with the black Harken radial winches I fitted. The original pads were used as templates.

As mentioned I have been sailing the boat and can testify to Doug's comments about the original design and that the winches are in deed in a fantastic position to allow ease of access i.e. not too far to leeward/downhill when heeled and also allowing the possibility of cross winching which I love to be honest, especially when single handing.

I am glad I didn't rush in and change the design.

I moved the original 2 speed winches to the cabin top to replace the rather undersized originals and now have a strong, versatile setup that allows winching ease.

Thanks again Doug for your info and input into the forum.

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