Rigging questions

[Mike_S]

Hi all,

My new to me 1990 C34 looks like it has gone through some changes over the years, and I'm starting to piece some things back together but could use some advice here and there.

The mainsail has a cringle for a cunningham, but there isn't one run.  I'm thinking of running one so that the line will be led to the cockpit along the starboard side of the companion way hatch to a cam cleat.  I was thinking of going 4:1, but I'm not sure if that's enough purchase.

The outhaul on this boat terminates on boom itself.  I've been playing with it a bit, trying to see how the boat reacts to a flatter main, but I think my main is too old to really see much difference.  For those that have bought new sails, have you run the outhaul into the cockpit too?

The boat came with a mast track and a turning block to raise the car.  There is also a few fairleads in spinnaker looking locations, including one that is on the cabin top near the forward hatch and another couple to the starboard side of the companion way and a cam cleat labeled downhaul.  Yet there isn't a block on the foredeck where I'd expect one to be.  The boat came with a symmetrical chute that measures about right (~43' luff and ~22' along the foot, I'd guess the girth is less than 24'.  The boat didn't come with a pole or a sheave for the toping lift (though there is another line entrance on the port side of the mast).  I don't see any patches or repair work where the previous owners might have removed some of the hardware.  The boat also only has a single set of winches on the cockpit coamings ... I almost wonder if they were in the process of adding rigging, but just never got finished, though it's odd to buy the chute first.  Anyway, does anyone have any pictures of how they've rigged their boat for a symmetrical spinnaker they could send me?

Cheers,
Mike

[Stu Jackson]

Hi, Mike, welcome aboard.

Cunningham:  we have a 3:1 purchase and it works just fine.  A 4:1 would work, although you'd end up with more spaghetti in the cockpit.  We connect the 3:1 purchase to a line which then runs through the cunningham cringle to a small cleat on the mast below the boom.  This line keeps the top block of the cunningham from banging against and getting caught up in the boom/gooseneck.

Identification:  thanks for noting your year, try this:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=1506.0

We don't have a spinnaker setup, so I'll leave that for others.

Hope you join the C34IA, too.