With a horn cleat, I just attach it to the mast with a single stainless hose clamp ( you need the cleat with the hole near the base ). Doing it this way, you can eliminate drilling holes in the mast, and enables you to position the cleat just by loosening the hose clamp.
very important information. Our experience in year around heavy trade winds: Never drill the mast. My favorite is the line with the cloverhitch with the use of boomblock in stead of a timble, the smaller the line the less it will slip and if you are not sure you can use a tie wrap above the clover hitch
Hey Lee! You have given me a great idea! I bought a new Sunfish mast a few weeks ago. For me, I agree that having a horn cleat on the mast is a definite plus. From a practical standpoint, I am small. Having a mast cleat makes it that much easier for me to hoist the sail and secure the sail as tightly as possible to the mast. Secondly, my hull has had several decades of use. I do not want to put any more pressure on the deck than I need to. With the new mast, I had challenges (high wind, not sure if my tools are truly up to spec), and after successfully drilling the first screw hole, I could not align or finish drilling the second screw hole. I am going to try your suggestion of a hose clamp covered with duct tape as an alternative. I will seal the one drill hole with marine adhesive and go from there. As always, thank you for your videos. Hope to see you in Saratoga again!
Hi Lee - greetings from Lake Norman! I'm re-watching this video as I prepare to add a cleat to a second rig I have set up. It got me thinking about the padeye on the deck next to the mast. My boat is a 1976 vintage that I got for free (hull only). I dried it out, and installed inspection ports based on your other videos. My padeye was beat to (heck) and loose, so I replaced it with new, and reinforced it with a piece of starboard underneath. It is solid as a rock now. Have you ever reinforced yours below the deck? It originally had a piece of wood, which was spongy and rotten - a recipe for disaster. Looking forward to more videos, and getting out on my Sunfish more this season!
HI!!! Thanks for the comments! Yes i have reinforced some parts, i forgot which ones…. But haveijg the backing plate is great especially Starboard…. If the fairlead is plastic, it may eventually fail… if it has a SS ring, that set up you did will last a long time!
Do you think rivnuts would work better than self tapping screws? You may be able to get them in aluminum or stainless steel. Just a thought. Of course you can't use them on the leased boats, but on your personal boat, I don't see why you couldn't use them. When using a clamp on cleat, I think bulldog tape would be ideal to use because it grips well, works great in wet environments, and shouldn't slip.
Hi Brian thanks for the comment. That tape was basically white duck tape. I figured that having that between the clamp and the aluminum mast will give it a little bit extra something to hold onto. After this week at the worlds the duck tape will slip so every once in a while you would have to make sure the screw on the clamp is tight.
Right now I am up im the air about what i recommend fully- I do recommend a pipe clamp- Het a cleat that it fits in the middle, not bigger than four inches…. And not smaller than 2-2.5 inches. It needa to be able to hold your halyard. Ive seem many sizes. Plastic or metal seem to work well.
The hose clamp idea is great. I wish I'd known about it before I drilled holes for my cleat. One other option for attaching a cleat is aluminum pop rivets. I used that with the nylon cleat on our boat. Do you see corrosion(elctrolysis) from the stainless screws on your mast?
Lee, With the cleat on the mast are you able to raise your sail while on the water? I'm looking to be able to raise and lower my Rocket sail on the water.
When raising the sail on the water i 1. get as close to the mast as possible (so to pull the halyard vertically as possible). 2. Get the bow pointed into the wind as much as possible 3. Reach as high as possible and use your body weight to lift the sail…. The while holding the halyard down with one hand reach as high as you can in the halyard…. Pull down, using you arm and body weight to lift…. Afyer a few of these- the sail will be completely up- Cleat off…. Go sail. :). Dont need a mast cleat
I have some vlogger friends that say its better to hit the like button at the end of the video just before it finishes. It seems RUclips gives more brownie points to likes at the end.
I believe it's viewer retention that counts the most... the longer RUclips can keep a viewer on its platform, then more advertising it can show people... :) so i think your vlogger friends are right about best to be able to get your viewers to the end of the video, but i don't think it matters when you SMASH that like button :)
The sail is on the port side of the boom. Which means the halyard would run from the left (port) to the right. Does this answer your question? The fairlead on the deck is on the starboard side so the halyard would run down the right side of the Mast.
@@LeeSideSailing we recently had mast cleats installed. We believe they are 1/4 off. The installer insisted the halyard goes through the mast cap back to front when I believe it’s left to right. How can we fix this error? I don’t feel comfortable removing the cap.
I gotta think mounting the cleat as high as you can will decrease the incidents of mast failure. The leverage on the mast should be less the higher up the mast you go. The further the holes are from that low, max leverage, the less pressure will be on the mast where the holes are. You could mount as high as you can reach while standing in a foot of water next to the boat. That would be pretty high up. If you want to be able to mess with it on the water, then the equation will be different.
Thanks for the comment! You are right. The position of the cleat really depends on the sailor and their height. Too high and it can’t be rigged easily. Plus if you’re concerned with being class legal, four feet from the bottom is the highest.
Lee- I really like your content but unless your target audience is only racing enthusiasts lack of photos, diagrams, video etc is really hurting (in my opinion!) your channel.
Thanks for the comment! Most of the information is targeted to actually non-racers as most racers know this information…. However ill try to give more diagrams and video- I appreciate the input :). !!!
I am representing Jennifer Anniston is her pursuit of having yahoo’s like you , using her image in promoting your products, which is not limited to print, video, audio and the internet without her consent…! 😇🤣😉
With a horn cleat, I just attach it to the mast with a single stainless hose clamp ( you need the cleat with the hole near the base ). Doing it this way, you can eliminate drilling holes in the mast, and enables you to position the cleat just by loosening the hose clamp.
Exactly!
very important information. Our experience in year around heavy trade winds: Never drill the mast. My favorite is the line with the cloverhitch with the use of boomblock in stead of a timble, the smaller the line the less it will slip and if you are not sure you can use a tie wrap above the clover hitch
Thanks Alex for sharing your extensive knowledge!!
What keeps the mast attached to the boat if you turtle?
Hey Lee! You have given me a great idea! I bought a new Sunfish mast a few weeks ago. For me, I agree that having a horn cleat on the mast is a definite plus. From a practical standpoint, I am small. Having a mast cleat makes it that much easier for me to hoist the sail and secure the sail as tightly as possible to the mast. Secondly, my hull has had several decades of use. I do not want to put any more pressure on the deck than I need to. With the new mast, I had challenges (high wind, not sure if my tools are truly up to spec), and after successfully drilling the first screw hole, I could not align or finish drilling the second screw hole. I am going to try your suggestion of a hose clamp covered with duct tape as an alternative. I will seal the one drill hole with marine adhesive and go from there. As always, thank you for your videos. Hope to see you in Saratoga again!
Excellent. Glad to hear and you figured oit there is always more than one way do do things! I plan on being at the Mega Bowl in august!
@@LeeSideSailing Lee, thanks for all the great videos. And yes, I am planning to be at the Mega Bowl in August, too.
Relevant before World Championships. Nice job, I forgot all about the tie/restrictor knot as an option.
Thanks Will
Hi Lee - greetings from Lake Norman! I'm re-watching this video as I prepare to add a cleat to a second rig I have set up. It got me thinking about the padeye on the deck next to the mast. My boat is a 1976 vintage that I got for free (hull only). I dried it out, and installed inspection ports based on your other videos. My padeye was beat to (heck) and loose, so I replaced it with new, and reinforced it with a piece of starboard underneath. It is solid as a rock now. Have you ever reinforced yours below the deck? It originally had a piece of wood, which was spongy and rotten - a recipe for disaster.
Looking forward to more videos, and getting out on my Sunfish more this season!
HI!!! Thanks for the comments! Yes i have reinforced some parts, i forgot which ones…. But haveijg the backing plate is great especially Starboard…. If the fairlead is plastic, it may eventually fail… if it has a SS ring, that set up you did will last a long time!
Nice options. I don’t race and added mast cleats to all 3 of my boats. A great inexpensive upgrade!
Yes it is!
Do you think rivnuts would work better than self tapping screws? You may be able to get them in aluminum or stainless steel. Just a thought. Of course you can't use them on the leased boats, but on your personal boat, I don't see why you couldn't use them. When using a clamp on cleat, I think bulldog tape would be ideal to use because it grips well, works great in wet environments, and shouldn't slip.
Yes. I think they will work. The bulldog tape is a great idea.
Look at a pipe hitch knot for the thimble method.
That looks good!
I enjoyed the video. Thank you. Could you tell me what size cleat you are using on your mast?
I use about a four inch cleat. Thanks for watching
Another super helpful video Lee! What is the white tape you wrapped the mast with underneath the hose clamp at 10:59 in the video?
Hi Brian thanks for the comment. That tape was basically white duck tape. I figured that having that between the clamp and the aluminum mast will give it a little bit extra something to hold onto. After this week at the worlds the duck tape will slip so every once in a while you would have to make sure the screw on the clamp is tight.
Will you please provide link for recommended cleat?
Right now I am up im the air about what i recommend fully- I do recommend a pipe clamp- Het a cleat that it fits in the middle, not bigger than four inches…. And not smaller than 2-2.5 inches. It needa to be able to hold your halyard. Ive seem many sizes. Plastic or metal seem to work well.
The hose clamp idea is great. I wish I'd known about it before I drilled holes for my cleat.
One other option for attaching a cleat is aluminum pop rivets. I used that with the nylon cleat on our boat.
Do you see corrosion(elctrolysis) from the stainless screws on your mast?
Hi MB2452…. I have never noticed corrosion from the SS screws. But I’m
Sure there would be some over the years. Especially in salt water environs.
@@LeeSideSailing if you notice it, it's too late! Use tefgel, lanacote or locktite on the bolt to isolate the stainless from the aluminium.
Lee, With the cleat on the mast are you able to raise your sail while on the water? I'm looking to be able to raise and lower my Rocket sail on the water.
When raising the sail on the water i 1. get as close to the mast as possible (so to pull the halyard vertically as possible). 2. Get the bow pointed into the wind as much as possible 3. Reach as high as possible and use your body weight to lift the sail…. The while holding the halyard down with one hand reach as high as you can in the halyard…. Pull down, using you arm and body weight to lift…. Afyer a few of these- the sail will be completely up- Cleat off…. Go sail. :). Dont need a mast cleat
Would zip ties work to attach the cleat?
Hmmmm. I dont think so…. When i do the pipe clamp i screw it down VERY tightly, i doubt the zip ties can get that tight under load
Ok You can buy electrical zip ties with 50lb loads
I have some vlogger friends that say its better to hit the like button at the end of the video just before it finishes. It seems RUclips gives more brownie points to likes at the end.
I believe it's viewer retention that counts the most... the longer RUclips can keep a viewer on its platform, then more advertising it can show people... :) so i think your vlogger friends are right about best to be able to get your viewers to the end of the video, but i don't think it matters when you SMASH that like button :)
Does the halyard run left to right or back to front on the mast (when properly rigged)? Which direction does the eye face?
The sail is on the port side of the boom. Which means the halyard would run from the left (port) to the right. Does this answer your question? The fairlead on the deck is on the starboard side so the halyard would run down the right side of the Mast.
@@LeeSideSailing we recently had mast cleats installed. We believe they are 1/4 off. The installer insisted the halyard goes through the mast cap back to front when I believe it’s left to right. How can we fix this error? I don’t feel comfortable removing the cap.
Try sailing with them…. The mast may rotate a bit and not be an issue.
I gotta think mounting the cleat as high as you can will decrease the incidents of mast failure. The leverage on the mast should be less the higher up the mast you go. The further the holes are from that low, max leverage, the less pressure will be on the mast where the holes are.
You could mount as high as you can reach while standing in a foot of water next to the boat. That would be pretty high up. If you want to be able to mess with it on the water, then the equation will be different.
Thanks for the comment! You are right. The position of the cleat really depends on the sailor and their height. Too high and it can’t be rigged easily. Plus if you’re concerned with being class legal, four feet from the bottom is the highest.
@@LeeSideSailing I wasn't aware there was a maximum. The higher the better as far as breaking the mast.
Yes class rules allow upto four feet.
Self tapping screws
Lee- I really like your content but unless your target audience is only racing enthusiasts lack of photos, diagrams, video etc is really hurting (in my opinion!) your channel.
Thanks for the comment! Most of the information is targeted to actually non-racers as most racers know this information…. However ill try to give more diagrams and video- I appreciate the input :). !!!
I am representing Jennifer Anniston is her pursuit of having yahoo’s like you , using her image in promoting your products, which is not limited to print, video, audio and the internet without her consent…! 😇🤣😉
you can sue me ;)