Let's try this stuff in order:
Quote:
The Turbo wire under the tramp
Herb sails the boat "both ways" and he probably forgot to undo the wire, or just didn't bother. It doesn't do anything but add weight when sailing in the "classic 14" mode.
Quote:
main halyard (all 400 ft of it) wound around the dolphin striker
The main halyard is only about 24 ft long. We wrap it like that to keep the mast in the step, since the 14 likes a really loose rig (see Bob Curry's tuning guide to the 14 if you want to know more about rig tension -
here.) If you don't do something to keep the mast in the socket, it'll pop out in a capsize.
Quote:
6:1 downhaul, a mast rotation bar, and what appears to be a rake adjustment throught the block normally used for the jib furler. Is all this class legal?
Yep. Mast rotator was made class legal in 2006, 6:1 downhaul class legal in 2004, rake adjuster line has been legal for about 35 years.
If you go to Stuart Crabbe's H14 gallery
here, you can see more photos of the 14's at the North Americans.
Of the things you've mentioned, the halyard mast keeper and the rake adjuster line are most important. The rake adjuster has two positions - all the way tight (downwind) and loose (upwind). If you have it tight going upwind, you'll rip the cleat off the crossbar or break the line.
The 6:1 downhaul is convenient, but hardly necessary. You loosen it downwind; tighten it back for upwind. The purchase and cleat make it a lot faster (and one-handed) to do this.
The rotator is marginally beneficial. It's nice to be able to set your rotation, but once it's set, we usually leave it alone. Since the 14's go dead downwind, we don't adjust the rotation from upwind to downwind. It's a nice handle to keep the mast rotated downwind in light air.
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