Hey all.
My son just bought a Hood23 for his first sailboat but I've been told we can call this a yacht so we are telling everybody, ( In posh voice, while holding our snifter of brandy), Yes, we own a yacht..

Anyhoo, the bloke we bought it off knows very little about the yacht he bought years before and did nothing with.

So my son and I are fumbling through the rigging and I stumbled across a search from this website about a Hood23 someone had a constitution for but I can't reply to because it is too old.

Soo, I'm starting a new thread hoping the champion gentle person will reply and we can work out where these sheets are supposed to go.

Already worked out the main and jib halyard( We think) but just watched a video on reefing the main and he had many more sheets than we have.

Really looking forward to getting some water under the hull soon so any help appreciated .

Red sky at night...

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GREGTED22 said..
Hey all.
My son just bought a Hood23 for his first sailboat but I've been told we can call this a yacht so we are telling everybody, ( In posh voice, while holding our snifter of brandy), Yes, we own a yacht..

Anyhoo, the bloke we bought it off knows very little about the yacht he bought years before and did nothing with.

So my son and I are fumbling through the rigging and I stumbled across a search from this website about a Hood23 someone had a constitution for but I can't reply to because it is too old.

Soo, I'm starting a new thread hoping the champion gentle person will reply and we can work out where these sheets are supposed to go.

Already worked out the main and jib halyard( We think) but just watched a video on reefing the main and he had many more sheets than we have.

Really looking forward to getting some water under the hull soon so any help appreciated .

Red sky at night...

Is there a track or any cleats or winch on the side of the boom? Pictures?

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GREGTED22 said..
Hey all.
My son just bought a Hood23 for his first sailboat but I've been told we can call this a yacht so we are telling everybody, ( In posh voice, while holding our snifter of brandy), Yes, we own a yacht..

Anyhoo, the bloke we bought it off knows very little about the yacht he bought years before and did nothing with.

So my son and I are fumbling through the rigging and I stumbled across a search from this website about a Hood23 someone had a constitution for but I can't reply to because it is too old.

Soo, I'm starting a new thread hoping the champion gentle person will reply and we can work out where these sheets are supposed to go.

Already worked out the main and jib halyard( We think) but just watched a video on reefing the main and he had many more sheets than we have.

Really looking forward to getting some water under the hull soon so any help appreciated .

Red sky at night...

And congratulations on buying a fantastic little boat. Great big cockpit, great visibility forward plenty of deck space and simple maintenance without inboard diesel hassles (or difficult to use outboard wells). My dad had one and we had lots of fun as teenagers on it. Perfect boat for a day out on the harbour which is all that most people do anyway. Watched them being built at Spit Bridge Marina.Such a shame that their attributes are never highlighted in ads but they are instead insultingly advertised as "Mooring Minders" :(. The upside is bargain price :).

Hi Greg
As Jules has said, Congrats.

Is it on a trailer or a keeler job?
Do you have all of the lines (sheets, reefing lines, etc)?
Do you have two foresails ( a big genoa and a smaller jib)?
Of do you have a roller furling foresail?
Do you have a dilly bag of blocks (pullies)?
Do you have pile of long ropes (sheets)?
Do you have a boom vang rig ( a lighter line rigged with a couple of double purchase blocks)?

That is all the basic gear that you will need to get going.

Drag everything out on the lawn and take an inventory.
Better still take photos and post here.
That way, we can see what you have to work with and advise accordingly.

Gary

Thanks all for the replies.
I have included some pics ( We all love pics of boats ).
We have worked out the rear stay and attachment points on the stern.
Forestay and attachment point on the bow.
Side stays ( or shrouds ). 3 each side.
Now what we don't know.....
On the mast port side is a sheet that we think is the main halyard. It seems to be connected to the longest sheet that goes to the rear so we have that on the rear of the boom atm.
We have 2 sheets exiting each side at the base of the mast and several connection points of unknown origin and purpose at the head of the mast.
We have 2 front sheets exiting the top of the mast and one seems to be connected to the jib halyard and the other seems to be jammed and won't move. ( I think the outer braid of rope is delaminated and is jamming). No the good type of jamming as in Red Hot Chilli Peppers either.

At the top of the mast is a d shackle and cable that is a mystery but seems to be connect to one of the sheets at the base.

Have tried to add he photos with the caption Hood23 rigging.

Hope it works

Greg.

No images appearing for me,

sounds like you have 5 lines exiting the mast
the two exiting to the bow at the on the mast would be a Jib/Genoa Halyard and Spinnaker Halyard
the two exiting to the top of the mast to stern would be topping lift and mainsail halyard

The 5th could be a few other things, you'd need to trace the connections (hoping the colours are not all the same).


improvesailing.com/guides/sailboat-parts-explained#rigging

Hey Gary,

Sorry I forgot to answer your questions.

Not sure if we have all lines. There seems to be 2 sheets coming out the base of the mast on each side. One of the port sheets at the base is connected to a sheet that reaches from the top of the mast and disappears into a hole near the top. We think this is the main halyard. The other port sheet goes to a steel cable ( stay ? ) that travels inside the mast and also exits from the rear of the mast head to a d shackle. We think this connects to the rear of the boom. ( Topping lift ? ).

Part way up the front of the mast near the spreader bars is a pulley where one of the starboard sheets exits. That is connected to one of the sheets at the starboard base of the mast. We think this is the storm jib. ( The sheet is smaller diameter than the rest ).

The other starboard sheet is also connect to a steel cable somewhere inside the mast.

So we have 2 full length sheets and 2 sheets connected to cables inside the mast each side.

We do not have a roller furling.

We do not have a pile of sheets.

We do not have a bag of pulleys. Just the ones already connected.

We do not have a boom vang.

We seem to have 7 sails. 2 mains ( with plastic things to travel in the track of the mast ), 1 large Genoa ( maybe spinnaker ? ), and 4 Jibs.

Expecting a storm atm so will raise the mast this weekend and check out the sails.

Have posted some pics ( I hope )

Greg

So, I just found out that as a new member I cannot upload photos...

Guess I'll have to wait a bit....

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GREGTED22 said..
So, I just found out that as a new member I cannot upload photos...

Guess I'll have to wait a bit....

Wire halyard spliced to synthetic tail will be the sail halyards, main and head, The one going up the mast and disappearing into a hole near the top would probably be the topping lift and the one exiting part way up the forward edge of the mast would be a topping lift for a spinnaker pole, or at least that would be my best guess.

Hey loopers,

Great movie btw. Bruce Willis at his best.

Thanks for the pic. What we just found out this arvo matches your pic except that the topping lift in your pic seems to be at the bow and not the stern. Unless I'm reading the lines wrong.

So we have 2 sheets connected to cables inside the mast somewhere and 2 full sheets ???

Curious..

Greg

Thanks UncleBob,

So now we know. The synthetic spliced ones are sail halyards.

Learning, learning. Just keep swimming..

Greg

Hey Jules,

Thanks for the reply.

There is a track and some pulleys ( blocks ? ) on the port side of the boom.

Are they for the main sail reefing sheets? The main sails that came with the yacht have 2 reefing lines..

If that is the case, I guess we need some reefing sheets. How do they attach and where do they run?

From videos and forums, it looks like the reefing sheets connect to the boom, then travel through the reefing outhalls back to the blocks on the track, then forward to the front of the boom and through another block back to the helm.

Am I anywhere near correct?

Greg

Hi Greg
I think you have to have 10 posts before you can upload photos. maybe more, so keep posting and trying.

Ropes

As you probably know each rope on a boat has a name. And the old saying is that the only rope on a sailing ship was the bell rope.
Ropes are usually called lines.
I will not confuse you with a long list, but here are a few lines.

Halyard.
In the old sailing ship days most sails were connected to a long wooden spar that went across the ship.
This was called a yard and the line that hauled it up was a halyard.
So the lines that haul your sails to the top of the mast are your halyards.

You will have at least 3.
The foresail halyard.
The mainsail halyard
The spinnaker halyard.

Older mainsail and foresail halyards were wire at the sail end and polyester braided line at the handling end.
The wire is there to alleviate stretch. These halyards usually run inside the mast and exit at the base.
The spinnaker halyard will be braided line and will run outside the mast.


OK. Now you have hauled your sails up you need to control their shape and position.

Sheets
The shape and position of the sails are controlled by lines called sheets, They will be braided line.

Foresail sheets.
From the back corner there will be two sheets that come back to the cabin.
One on the port side and one on the starboard side,
If you pull either one it will pull the sail in and change its position and shape.
A lot of power is needed to control these sails when they are full of wind and that is whet the sheet winches are for.

Mainsail sheet.
The mainsail is controlled by one mainsail sheet.
This is connected to the boom and has 4 to1 or 6 to 1 purchase block system to handle the power needed.

Lifts / Topping lifts.

Back to the old sailing ships.
The yards needed to be lifted to control them They were called yard topping lifts.
So the lines that lift your boom and you spinnaker pole are lifts.
The boom topping lift and the spinnaker pole topping lift.


There you have it.
Halyards, sheets and topping lifts.

gary

Thanks again Gary,

This reply will be post 8 so I hope to be able to upload pics soon.

We currently have 4 ropes/halyards/sheets exiting the mast at the base and head.

Looks like we may have the halyards sorted, main and jib. Also the topping lift for the mainsail and the topping lift for the spinnaker.

We have a ship and sail store in Gladstone which is 25 mins from us.

Do I need to take a sample of our current rigging in to the shop or are there standard sizes for halyards, lifts and sheets?

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GREGTED22 said..
Hey Jules,

Thanks for the reply.

There is a track and some pulleys ( blocks ? ) on the port side of the boom.

Are they for the main sail reefing sheets? The main sails that came with the yacht have 2 reefing lines..

If that is the case, I guess we need some reefing sheets. How do they attach and where do they run?

From videos and forums, it looks like the reefing sheets connect to the boom, then travel through the reefing outhalls back to the blocks on the track, then forward to the front of the boom and through another block back to the helm.

Am I anywhere near correct?

Greg

Hi Greg.

Yes you are correct that the track and blocks on the side of the boom are for reefing and in particular to secure what will become the new rear bottom (clew) of the sail.
During reefing the new front lower corner of the sail (tack) also needs to be attached and secured (before the rear) and the blocks, track and ropes (called lines not sheets) have nothing to do with securing the tack.

On your boat I don't think anyone goes to the complication of leading the reefing lines down from the front of the boom to the deck then back to the cockpit. You have to go up to the mast anyway to lower the main halliard a bit and secure the new tack. You have a nice wide flat (although heeled over) deck to stand on while doing this. The topping lift must be on whilst doing this and the main sheet eased a little.

Now to the track, reefing lines and blocks necessary to secure the new clew to the boom. The lines run from the boom ( in your case probably an eye formed as part of the block)under the boom then up through the clew cringle (not called "outhaul" as outhaul is a rope or wire that pulls the clew cringle backwards) then back down around the sheave in the block then forward along the boom to a cleat more towards the front of the boom.

The blocks should be set on the track about 60mm behind the clew they relate to.

The arrangement should look like the attached picture. You hopefully have the cleat(s) on the boom and you will need two (8mm or maybe 10mm) reefing lines.

Reef early as its difficult in high winds.

Hope this helps.

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GREGTED22 said..
Thanks again Gary,

This reply will be post 8 so I hope to be able to upload pics soon.

We currently have 4 ropes/halyards/sheets exiting the mast at the base and head.

Looks like we may have the halyards sorted, main and jib. Also the topping lift for the mainsail and the topping lift for the spinnaker.

We have a ship and sail store in Gladstone which is 25 mins from us.

Do I need to take a sample of our current rigging in to the shop or are there standard sizes for halyards, lifts and sheets?

The word topping lift is reserved for the rope or wire that holds the back of the boom up so you have 1 topping lift and 3 halyards. On your boat I would think most ropes (called lines) would be 10 mm although perhaps 8. Rope for halliards generally comes in 6, 8, 10 or 12 mm diameters

To make your sailing better you should probably also have a boom vang which holds the boom down when the main sheet is eased which it will be when you are reaching or running. This involves another couple of blocks and rope but you will be able to Google this.

Thanks Jules,

That information and those drawings are just what I needed and you just answered my next question which was what size of braid to buy.

I have seen 10mm polyester dbl braid on ebay for $1.95/m. I can buy a roll of 70m for $80 which would work out to be half price but that would give me the same color for all and I think we would like different colors for different purposes. Just to make it easier for us beginners.

Do most of you use the same color or different colors?

I have seen on some sites that they recommend 8mm for some lines and 10mm for others. Is this just a cost saving measure and if so wouldn't it be easier to just buy 10mm for all lines and have them stronger? From what I've seen, the 10mm is not much more expensive.

Our current lines/halyards are very thick but I think they are very old and probably frayed so that would make sense.

Another thing I would like to know is our current halyards are hybrid? cable and braid. Was this an old idea before modern braids became strong enough to handle the loads?

Once again thanks for all the information. This is helping us a lot.

Greg

Just found out the local chandlers sell 10mm braid for $2.75/m so looks like ebay gets the sale at $70 for 80m. That same 80m would be $220 locally.

Is there a cheaper option than ebay?

Is there an length that would be sufficient for a Hood23? I'm guessing 80m should cover all lines/halyards.

Note to the moderators. Just wondering when I can post pics. I have 10 posts now and will have many more questions and pics will make this much easier.

I am more than happy to help out others when I can although most here know more than I will probably ever learn.

Thanks.

Greg

I use this bloke for any rope:

ropegalore.com.au/o10mm-double-braided-yacht-rope-multi-colours/

You are better off to have different colours for different lines!!

Thanks Lazz,

I checked out that site. That works out to be the same price as our local supplier at $2.20/m for his cheapest buy.

On another note. Found a site that gave guidelines for lengths of lines/halyards.

Premium ropes..

That has helped a lot but they state the main sheet should be Boom length x (purchase +1).

Can't seem to find out what purchase plus 1 means.

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GREGTED22 said..
Thanks Lazz,

I checked out that site. That works out to be the same price as our local supplier at $2.20/m for his cheapest buy.

On another note. Found a site that gave guidelines for lengths of lines/halyards.

Premium ropes..

That has helped a lot but they state the main sheet should be Boom length x (purchase +1).

Can't seem to find out what purchase plus 1 means.

For halyards they used to use wire for the bulk of it and the synthetic tail to work it. Wire doesn't stretch, which is exactly what you want so for their replacements you will need a higher tech non stretch rope, which is rarely found on flea bay.

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UncleBob said..

GREGTED22 said..
Thanks Lazz,

I checked out that site. That works out to be the same price as our local supplier at $2.20/m for his cheapest buy.

On another note. Found a site that gave guidelines for lengths of lines/halyards.

Premium ropes..

That has helped a lot but they state the main sheet should be Boom length x (purchase +1).

Can't seem to find out what purchase plus 1 means.

For halyards they used to use wire for the bulk of it and the synthetic tail to work it. Wire doesn't stretch, which is exactly what you want so for their replacements you will need a higher tech non stretch rope, which is rarely found on flea bay.

Ok. So for the halyards I can keep my wires which look ok and just replace the ropes with the 10mm double braid.

That will save us a fair bit..

On the subject of (purchase + 1), I guess they mean that depends on what type of block system you are using.

On our boom there is a connection point under the boom about a meter from the rear of the boom so I am assuming that is where the main sheet attaches.

So the length of the main sheet will need to be the distance from the boom to the deck times the amount of blocks you use plus the travel from rear to 90 degrees of the boom. Plus some to hold onto.

I have seen some pics of boom blocks and they look like a large pulley and a smaller pulley in a housing.

Our yacht came with no blocks at all for the boom so I guess we need to buy 2 blocks for the main sheet ( 1 at the boom and 1 at the deck) and 2 for the vang.

There doesn't seem to be an attachment point for the vang unless it is a slightly raised and notched stainless part near the front of the boom.

Just found the Ronstan site and it looks like we need 4 x Rf 51500 blocks for our boom main sheet and vang.

These have max diameter of 10mm which will tie in with our new sheets.

Or 1 x 51500 and 1 x 51530 for each main and vang.

Only $403.64 to add to the shopping list.

Not too bad so far. $70 for 80m of double braid plus the blocks at $403.64 equals $473.64.

I think Ronstan would be overcapitalising.

www.ebay.com.au/itm/261714287895

etc. Even the Lewmar brand new would be about 100 a pop.

Whereabouts are you located? Somebody probably has one in a bucket of bits.....

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JonE said..
I think Ronstan would be overcapitalising.

www.ebay.com.au/itm/261714287895

This gear isn't too bad - I'm using a fair bit of it.

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GREGTED22 said..
Thanks Lazz,

I checked out that site. That works out to be the same price as our local supplier at $2.20/m for his cheapest buy.

Yeah but .............................. you can buy different colours in the lengths you want so you will have designated colours for different lines AND you will have decent rope that will outlast fleabay stuff.


BTW if you're gonna count out every dollar I don't think you're ready for a boat!! I'm not saying don't look for bargains ...............BUT!!
I bought a lot of second hand stuff when I was setting up my boat off eBay etc. Is there a second hand chandlery near you??

Thanks Jon and Lazz,

Those cheaper ones from evilbay look ok and would probably do for us initially.

We will be only be in the harbor between Tannum and Facing island for a good while so 10 knots wind speed would probably send us back to the safety of the river.

Not really counting cents, just making conversation.

Haven't tried Gumtree or Facebook marketplace yet but may give that a go for some second hand ones but at $35 I think we'll go with new.

I'm located at Tannum Sands which is just south of Gladstone in Qld so If anyone near me is willing to help with the kit out with some un-needed bits or advice, I would be more than grateful.

I have bought a few of the Master tagged blocks and the quality is first class.

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Lazzz said..

JonE said..
I think Ronstan would be overcapitalising.

www.ebay.com.au/itm/261714287895

This gear isn't too bad - I'm using a fair bit of it.

GREGTED22 said..
Thanks Lazz,

I checked out that site. That works out to be the same price as our local supplier at $2.20/m for his cheapest buy.

Yeah but .............................. you can buy different colours in the lengths you want so you will have designated colours for different lines AND you will have decent rope that will outlast fleabay stuff.

Yep, having different colors can prevent simple errors. Good idea to color offset between port and starboard sheets for example.
I get the appeal on cheap rope but I'm kinda leery of it. If you do use cheap stuff make it into sheets, its much easier to manage. A broken sheet means your sail flaps annoyingly, a broken halyard usually less pleasant. Boom on head or headsails going over rails type thing..

It's weird, I've got quite a few 30+ mtr dyneema lines with snapped casings in a big plastic tub in the shed. They are long enough to be a pain for general purpose use, but every time I go to cut one up into more manageable lengths I can't do it. I make some sort of excuse and leave them full length. It's completely illogical but there they sit!

SLOW DOWN Greg
( Greg! The Stop Sign! if you are into TISM)


Sometimes top shelf is a bargain in the long run an sometimes it is overkill.
Sometimes cheap low quality braid is just that. The famous stuff from the big green shed lasted about a week. Not so cheap.
I mean the braid . don't know anything about the Dynema that Shaggy mentioned.

I would strongly suggest that you hook up with another or some other Hood owners. They will have been through what you are facing and will be able to put you straight with gear.

As JonE said
Whereabouts are you located? Somebody probably has one in a bucket of bits.....

There is nothing worse that hearing, "Why didn't you tell me you were after a ...... I've a half a dozen the shed that you can have."
PAINFUL after you have spent ya dough.


Gary

Gary that's gold Greg we are test rigging a little hood ? Over the years i have experienced some different braids from the big green shed & the quality has been from fall apart immediately to a stretchy but reasonable for price life span job to an almost indestructible weathers well but hard as hell lucky to bend around turning block job. You have the running rigging ? At least some of it ? Rig the wee beast with what you have, buy a roll of 8mm three strand poly to cut for whatever you need, I keep a roll around invaluable for an indescribable amount of tasks, lashings, kedgeing, impromptu halyards, a line for the bucket, some thing to tie your pants up if the button pops. You get my drift, I wouldn't use it on the main sheet if I was racing but I would use it to figure out just how long the main sheet should be. It's a great adventure enjoy

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woko said..
Gary that's gold Greg we are test rigging a little hood ? Over the years i have experienced some different braids from the big green shed & the quality has been from fall apart immediately to a stretchy but reasonable for price life span job to an almost indestructible weathers well but hard as hell lucky to bend around turning block job. You have the running rigging ? At least some of it ? Rig the wee beast with what you have, buy a roll of 8mm three strand poly to cut for whatever you need, I keep a roll around invaluable for an indescribable amount of tasks, lashings, kedgeing, impromptu halyards, a line for the bucket, some thing to tie your pants up if the button pops. You get my drift, I wouldn't use it on the main sheet if I was racing but I would use it to figure out just how long the main sheet should be. It's a great adventure enjoy

Got me worried now woko have you used this? For main halyard on PR25. If no good I can use it for other running rigging not halyards. thanks.

www.bunnings.com.au/grunt-10mm-x-30m-high-strength-rope_p4310554