gear test: rope clutches

The rope clutches have created quite a revolution in the world of sailing gear. They can take quite a load, they are easy to handle and by now there are different suppliers, so prices are coming down. Mostly, they are used for the halyards or reefing ropes.

By now I have two generations of Lewmar rope clutches and one set by Spinlock. I use them for the sails and for the reefs. One old Lewmar rope clutch I use for the tension of the backstay.
They work perfectly, although the older Lewmar ones, which are nearly 15 years old. The old ones are starting to show their age and nearing the end of their useful lifetimes. The levers to open them no longer stay open, so you have to put them down manually and hold them down. But this is after a long life... 
The Spinlock and the Lewmar have two different holding down designs for the ropes. 

The Spinlock uses one bracket to hold down the rope, upper picture. The Lewmar ones have 6 to 8, picture below. There are technical discussions in every yachting magazine or forums about them. I don´t wanna start another one.

But there is two key reasons why I prefer the Spinlock design. 

1. Every spring I fiddle the ropes through them. And there is the difference. The Spinlock just has one clamp to hold down the rope, the Lewmar 6.  So it takes some time to get the rope through it.
2. Simple maintance. With just one clamp the maintance is quite easy.

 

As mentioned before there are many tests in magazines and forums where the holding strength and damage to ropes is discussed, here are some of them.

PBO June 2012 issue 
YBW Forum 
Sailnet

Honestly,  I can´t see any reason to complain about the different methods for holding down the rope.

I never recognized slip of the rope or any heavy damage to the rope. So I think it is all about a peronal opinion of the yacht owner.

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Merry Christmas

I wish you all a Merry Christmans

 

A frozen Geronimo

Why I like to work with wood

Personally, I like wood as a material. Many people call it a warm material, not like cold steel. I also like to work with steel or aluminum, but what I favor about wood is the whole atmosphere it creates.

I started to work on the rudder for the wind vane, which is built out of marine plywood. Let me tell you a bit more about the process: 

So there is this piece of wood.

 You draw your design on it. Then you take your saw and follow the lines you’ve just drawn. Wood chips are flying around you and you first recognize the smell of wood. You keep focused and finish the cut. And in the background there is this nice smell. To achieve the profile of the rudder you then have to plane it. For this you move with the sander, brushing away the woodchips with your hands. One by one you reshape this piece of wood to get the profile you desire. By that time you are likely to start tasting the wood on your lips. What is this taste …?

Then you take the sandpaper to get an even nicer surface. You inhale more of this scent. With your hand you go over the surface, to see if it smooth enough. You feel the texture of the wood under your fingertips. You forget time. You go on with the scrubbing, until you are happy with the texture of this surface. You scratch your nose and you smell the wood in the dust on your hands. 

You get thirsty and then there is the idea of a good old whiskey, which is stored beneath the working bench. You take a glass and pour a good shot of whiskey. And then you admire your work, with this beautiful taste and smell of w.......

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A glimpse on the Walt Murray wind vane

I finally construct the wind fane in a 3D CAD model. Here is the first glimpse of it.

I´m planning to change the wood design to an aluminium construction, for a longer life time.