Datawiz said..
Hi Ramona,
I've got a descender as well, but in setting it up, found that the line is twisted by the descender as the boom is manually swung through its full gybing range.
The effect of the line twist is to change the friction offered by the descender on each pass, so the gybe control setting is not repeatable. Also, the friction offered is not constant over the range of the gybing boom.
Note I have not tried the system for real, but expect it will operate as is does in the manual tests.
I'd be interested in your thoughts on this.
From my research, I think the Wichard looks effective, although I've not seen it in action.
regards,
Allan
The turning point for the rope needs to be on the toe rail each side abeam the gooseneck so that the tension set does not alter as the boom swings over. I have shifted mine further out on the boom now. I started with it just aft of the boom vang. By moving it further out on the boom I'm working on the theory that the descender will have to travel along the rope further so adding more friction.
I spent hours on the lathe making a copy of the wichard but after a couple of exciting gybes that involved an overriding turn I settled for simplicity.
I also think both sides of the descenders rope needs to be tensioned before that exciting gybe!
