mainsheet block stand-up spring

last summer, I upgraded from a swiveling fairlead and cleat to a ratcheting carbo block for my mainsheet.  the ratcheting carbo block (a Harken 2135) was/is a nice improvement – I like how the grooved edges of the sheave in the block grip the rope to ease the tension my hands/arms see from the sail pulling on the mainsheet.  I haven’t installed a cam cleat on the cockpit lip of my new Sunfish yet, though – the plastic trim on the cockpit lip is sort of in the way, so I haven’t decided what to do there yet.

I had originally bought a stand-up spring, but as I mentioned back in October:

it was ridiculously hard to compress the spring down and then to try to slowly feed the little split ring onto the pin holding the ratchet block in place

but, a few weeks ago I followed the advice of some posters from the Sunfish Forum, and used (2) zip-ties to slowly compress the stand-up spring (a Harken 071) so that I could install the ratchet block.  I also installed a spring cup (Harken HSB2) – which sits above the spring, and just below the base of the block. it’s about $2 for both the spring and spring cup, so a cheap upgrade.

for my sail on walled lake last week, I got to test out the ratchet block with the stand-up spring, and I must say – I am a big fan.  it works just fine, and will automatically rotate with the mainsheet when I change tacks.  there are a few times with really light wind where I’ll have to reach up and twist the block to the right direction, but overall it performed adequately.  I just wish I had installed the stand-up spring earlier now, as it keeps the block from flopping around and scratching up the surface of the deck.

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