Hi brainstrust,

recent events have lead me to assess the sailhandling arrangements on my current boat, a 30ft cat, as per some comments in another thread my already suggest. In particular, the ability for any of our crew to to release pressure from the mainsail when suddenly overpowered.

A number of scenarios in combination could require such quick action when sailing in stronger winds: Sudden unforeseen squall,just getting ready to put that reef in,not having put the reef in in time, leaving the helm momentarily for a drink/pee/jumper, taking evasive action, novice helmsman, unpredictable seas etc.

In the case where the boat cant be sailed through or steered out of a momentary increase in pressure, and the windward hull starts to lift, how long do you have to take evasive action? The rig tries to accelerate, the leeward hull goes down under pressure, the boat reacts and tries to catch up to the rig, with pressure enough to lift and begin spilling to a degree. The windward hull now has pressure below it and things dont start to look good.

What if you could drop the mainsheet completely from the boom end? The boom end isnt complicated by having the traveller, and you replace a clevis pin or a shackle with a releasable version. Something like a small 12V solenoid in the boom, ideally controlled via Bluetooth, to avoid cabling.Power is done by battery, or small solar cells mounted on the boomcap, and you have a paired Bluetooth switch at the helm, or anywhere to activate it. (Lifejacket?)

I'm sure there are a number of ways of looking at the hardware issues, electric door/gate locks for example may be similar and are 12V?
Other sailing hardware have pins releasable under load, just need to remotely actuate it.

There are plenty of smarter Seabreezers than myself, so what you do think?