Can the main halyard double as a downhaul?

Hi,

When I compare how my friend's main is rigged on his Getaway compared to my 16, besides the boom obviously, I see that his main halyard doubles as a downhaul.

Once his main is hoisted and stopper hooked to the mast, he feeds the end of the main halyard through the eye of the cleat, back up to through the tack of the sail, pulls down and then cleats it.

I was wondering one could do the same on the 16, with the exception of feeding the halyard through the tack of the sail, instead feed it through the downhaul ring?

Thanks,
Marc...

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

I have no idea why you'd want to do that, since the downhaul works great on the 16. But I'd also say, try it. I wouldn't want to come close to putting stress on the locking V on the mast or you may loose your sail.

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H18, H17 & Various motor boats

True, I've never thought of the pressure on the top plate. I assumed the Getaway was supposed to be rigged that way, but I checked the manual and it's also supposed to use a downhaul.

The only reason I was asking is that I am in the process of replacing all my lines. I figured if I could eliminate an extra line, it would help to keep things tidier.

I'll stick to the original configuration.

Thanks,
Marc...

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

Gotcha.

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H18, H17 & Various motor boats

Not to mention you would be feeding about 25 feet of halyard line through the cleat and tack of the sail, might get kind of aggrevating when all you really need is about 5 feet if its a 2-to-1 downhaul.

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1990 "Formula 1" H16 (# 009)