Clutch winch

[Mikey Maguire]

Hi all,

As a new TopHat owner I was just after some guidance on the rig. My boat has a mainsail halyard and boom toppling lift, both about 8mm rope which run up to the masthead and then down internally in the mast an through exit sheaves to blocks/cleats. Additionally on the port side of the the mast there is a mast mounted clutch winch with a full wire halyard that runs externally to the mast head and through a block mounted on the side of the spar at the masthead and back down via a series of padeyes to the winch. Can anyone give me guidance on what this may have been for. I am assuming it could have been the original main halyard, does this make any sense? If so do most owners remove the system?

Mike.

[Miker]

Hey Mike,
You may need to show us a photo or two. It's possibly going to depend on what model Top Hat you have, and how it was rigged originally. For example, the earlier Mk1 rigs sometimes had two clutch winches, one either side of the mast. One for Main, one for Headsail, sometimes a third for the Spinnaker. Do you have a furling headsail? What's the halyard set up for that?

[Mikey Maguire]

Miker,

Thanks. I’ll get some photos and post them. Spinnaker halyard is also internal to the the mast. The headsail has been converted to a furling rig and it is a single return halyard which stays aligned with the forestay ie doesn’t return to the deck vis the mast. That being the case I suspect the clutch winch may be the old Genoa halyard as I have a raft of sails that have piston hanks from the days before the furler was fitted.

Mike.