OUTHAUL REPAIR

So over the course of the past few seasons, there have been grumblings about the function of the outhaul.  I thought little of it until I tried to move it under a relatively light wind load last season.  That was enough to realize something needed to be done with it this winter.

With the boom in my basement, the work has been easy to complete.  I started with removing the reefing lines out of the boom.  Very easy to take out.  Then came the removal of the cast aluminum pieces at the ends of the boom.  The aft casting came out easily after remove of a couple of screws. 

The forward casting proved to be a bit more difficult.  Two of the four fasteners were completely stripped out and did not want to back out of their holes.  So, with a bit of persuasion from a grinder, the fastener heads were ground off and the screws punched into the boom so that the casting could slide out of the boom.  Prior to reassembly, the mounting holes were drilled out and tapped to a slightly larger size fastener.

With the castings off, the guts of the outhaul could be removed.  As it turns out, the blocks inside the mast were completely seized up.  Back when the outhaul operated properly, it gave a purchase of 3:1.  The setup consisted of a set of blocks, one connected to a fixed point in the boom and the other connected to a cable running to the aft end of the boom, around a pulley, and out to the sail.

The new setup includes an added block and line to double the purchase to 6:1.  Between the newer Harken blocks and the 6:1 setup, the outhaul is moving much more smoothly.  The entire outhaul assembly had to be put together outside of the boom and then fished inside.  All in all, I think I am very happy with this upgrade.  I've considered adding a short piece of track and a Harken ball bearing car to the aft end of the boom so that the operation of the outhaul would be effortless under heavy load, but that modification may wait until a later date.