The J/109 Class Association Forum

I regrettably shortened my outhaul line and now seek to replace it.

Would anyone know how long it is?
What would be an ideal type of line to use? What do you wish you had?
Mine is 6mm wide, would there be an issue inside the boom making it 7mm so it might be fed through a clutch?

I replaced the outhaul on Growth Spurt this year and am happy with the result. I have 4mm spectra inside the boom for the 4:1 purchase; the spectra is then spliced to 6mm endura braid near the end of the purchase and run to base of mast and aft to one of the clutches that accepts 6mm line. You really need to get in there to get the right lengths.

70 feet is the answer for Hull #332. Add 6 feet to make it to the cabin top clutch.

The out haul line on it's own could be 6 or 7 mm it won't make much difference since that line runs off a pulley and directly back to the end of the boom. I don't know how much exactly but 12 feet should be plenty. There is however a number of other lines and pulley's inside the boom starting with a configuration of 3 blocks attached to the forward part of the boom and connected to 3 blocks located inside the boom. They are subsequently attached to a long line that loops nearly the length of the boom and then back to the front where it connects to the forward part of the boom. There is a block on that line and a pin end. The pin end is finally attached to the out haul you see coming out the rear of the boom. All those other lines and the out haul add up to right around 70 feet of line.

The yard disassembled the outhaul for #301 today. It had been incredibly stiff ever since we bought the boat. Upon disassembly, the yard pro noticed that in addition to the triple block system and doubler, the boom had a second doubler. If I remember my college physics correctly, the triple blocks and single double provide leverage of 8:1. Which is the spec for the boat. The addition of the second doubler brings it to 10:1. In the case of 301, the system has antal rings instead of blocks and one of those rings had an oversize line running through it which is probably the source of friction.
My question for the group is whether I should ditch the second doubler and go back to the 8:1 system? Is that plenty of leverage to pull on outhaul in heavy air or does anyone recommend moving to 10:1?

Not the full answer here, just writing to say I had not thought to use an Antal ring. There might be a plus to that, even if it adds some friction. I have taken this apart and reassembled it five times, twice finding nothing wrong and wondering if things just got twisted inside as the problem went away, and once actually seeing it twisted up as it came out, wondering how it worked at all. (The other two times, once I wanted a longer line that reached to the clutch, the other was a broken block).

The ring might be a plus in a system that can get twisted and tangled easily.

What I think is normal, is my current system, crew needs to stand in the middle of the boom, one hand on the boom and push the mainsail out. Not much effort, but is manual at most wind speeds. Tensioning the outhaul varies based on load, one hand not under load and two hands for the last bit when it is. No winch.

My outhaul used 68 feet of line, results may vary, measure your existing before using my number

For the length, I'd say go a tad longer to play it safe. Polyester lines are solid for durability and handling.