Jib Halyard :: National Firefly Association

Jib Halyard	Date Posted: 05 Feb 10 19:13
I wonder if anyone can help?! I have Firefly 550 which is in original condition. The jib halyard arrangement is a little strange, on the mast,below the bridle which leads to the forestay. The halyard is wire and approx twice the length of the forestay, with a turning block attaching it to the forestay. I cannot see any deck or mast fittings that could be used to tension it and there does not appear to be any fittings missing (the boat was sold in a sailing condition) The previous owner sadly passed away so I wonder if anyone has any ideas.
Author: Chris Newman	Message ID: 213

Jib Halyard	Date Posted: 06 Feb 10 09:41
the original arrangement saw the jib halyard run round a turning block at the hounds and back down passing through the deck at the jib tack (if you have the original triangular bow fitting you will see the hole that the wire passes through). the halyard is then led back under the foredeck to a wooden cleat under the deck and tensioned by pulling the wire sideways and hooking it over one of the teeth on a metal rack also attached under the foredeck. this is a pretty awful system and most (if not all) boats have now converted to a more customary arrangement with the jib halyard running down inside the mast and hooking onto a block and tackle system running down the side of the centreboard case. hope this helps Ed
Author: Edward Smith	Reply ID: 627

Jib Halyard	Date Posted: 07 Feb 10 18:44
Hi Chris, Further to the previous post, if you look under the foredeck, you should see, right at the bow, a turning block. The wire need to go through the deck and round that block, then aft, where it (or would have originally) wrapped round 2 wooden cleats under where the foredeck turns to side deck. There is then a rack (metal) under the deck, which you use to pull the halyard sideways to get jib tension. On some boats this was replaced with a block floating on the halyard under the deck, with a rope designed to pull the halyard sideways on it, so it could be adjusted while sailing. This is, as was noted, a very archaic system. However, if you have the mast with a wooden top, it is the only one that can be used, really. If you are interested in keeping the boat "as is" then I would suggest a visit to the Classic and Vintage Dinghy Racing Assn, www.cvrda.org, where classic boats are discussed and raced. If sailing her with no wish to race, then the mast will be fine, I'd think. If you want to sail competitivly against other newer or updated Fireflies, then a new, fixed (non rotating) mast will prove rather faster for all sorts of reasons.
Author: Rupert Whelan	Reply ID: 628

Jib Halyard	Date Posted: 13 Feb 10 13:50
Rupert, many thanks for your reply, the system is the original one. Pretty awful, like you said, however, the rest of the boat is original so I will probably keep it. Thank you for your help. Chris
Author: Chris Newman	Reply ID: 633