Athwartships jib track rigging

[Warren Nethercote]

Chad,

You use athwartships jib tracks as shown below from your build log. If I interpret the picture correctly, it looks like you have to pull the cars outboard which is contrary to my expectation based on self-tacker experience on the Soling. Did it really work that way? I would have expected to have to pull inboard. Or does the load on the twing tend to pull the car inboard?

[Chad]

It's all about where the sheet is led- with a self tacker, it'll be led forward or up the mast, to neutralize its effect on the car position. My sheet lead is aft and somewhat inboard, to ensure there was always an inward pull on the car. If the lead was elsewhere, it would cause forces on the car to reverse as it is moved in or out, requiring both the out-puller I have, and an additional in-haul --that I didn't want to add.
Hope that makes sense...

[Warren Nethercote]

Aha! Complete sense. I will need to think carefully about my leads, as you evidently did.