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Closed
Loop or Elastic Return? How
to set up your brand new winch, well, a quick look at some other web
sites will help you. You might also take a trip to the pond with a
digital camera, as well as ask some questions of the boat manufacturer. Closed Loop
- Both the RMG
and Whirlwind web
sites have drawings of closed loop winch setups. With the closed loop,
the line goes from one section of the drum on the winch out around a
block and back to the other section of the drum. Some or this entire
loop can be on deck. Whirlwind likes to put a stout O ring in the line
and RMG uses just a solid ring, but the theory is the same. RMG
winches are often setup with the winch drum above deck level, so there
are no lines below deck to get caught around other things. The
Whirlwind, on the other hand, usually has the winch drum below deck and
the lines coming out close to the drum, however sometimes one half of
the loop is kept below deck. The distance of the active pulling side of the loop is usually as long as possible and the sheets lead from either a common aft point on this closed loop, or from two individual points. You then adjust the winch to give you the close hauled to fully out positions that you need. Individual jib and main sail adjustments are then setup somewhere in each sheet. Elastic Return - The elastic return line eliminates the return line to the winch, which exists in the closed loop, and replaces it with an elastic band stretched away to a fixed point on the boat. In the elastic setup the end of the winch line is kept tight by the elastic, as the sheets are let out. When the winch operates it winds in the sheets and pulls on the elastic, which keeps the winch line tight. This setup can be either above or below deck, depending on your preference and the boat manufacturer’s setup. Drawings of both the closed loop and the elastic return are available on the AMYA site at Sail Servo Comments down at the bottom of the page, courtesy of Hitec. Although the page discusses sail arm servos as well, they are seldom used on an International One Metre, as they aren’t really fast enough. |
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01/09/2006 |
