More issues with the Class-Approved changes to Class Rule F.6 to permit a rope backstay pennant

[MattAdministrator]

So, it turns out that Andrew Palfrey’s description that includes using a Harken 311 self-contained sheave for the backstay pennant turning sheave may not work for older Etchells. Not a show stopper, as an old-style metal sheave can be used. But this discovery opens up some troubling questions, given that the Etchells is supposed to be a one-design with “closed” class rules.

1224 needed to fix its sticky backstay adjustment system and in the process discovered that the sheave at the transom (under the deck) needed to be replaced. (There was no bushing in the sheave, or the bushing was the wrong ID, so basically, it was acting like a bullseye, not a sheave.) 1224’s bracket that holds the turning sheave is built according to the original class drawing and the bracket permits only a 1/4-inch wide sheave. The Harken 311 sheave that Andrew recommends is a 13/32 inch wide, and that is 5/32 inches too wide to fit in the original-style bracket. Why the Harken 311 sheave fits on Andrew’s modern boat opens up some questions related to what actually is class legal viz-a-viz the class drawings on the website. Maybe the mysterious and super-secret “builder’s specification” would address those questions, but of course we class members inexplicably do not have access to that document, assuming it exists.

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