V-Cleat on front crossbar?

I have a cheap V style cleat on the front face of my front crossbar. Is this an OEM cleat for the furler? I think on top of the cross bar would have been a much better location...

Yes.

Possibly.

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if its not,,, it works perfectly for it. only took me about 8 seasons to figger than one out too.

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eric, sail #205

I have always seen them on the bottom of the crossbar, near the mast base. And yes, it is for the furler line. I believe the thought was that you could furl from the tramp if needed. I only use it to keep the sail furled on the beach.

Over the years, Hobie used several different V-cleats for the furler line and they all seemed to have the same tendency to slip. You'll be sitting around between races and next thing you know, half of your jib is rolled out. The problem is that as the rig bounces around, the line goes slack and without tension it slips in the cleat.

A lot of people install an upgraded cleat on the top of the crossbar for the furler line (either a lance cleat or a small cam cleat). On my boat we simply tie off the furler line to one of the hiking straps when we want the jib furled. Its simple and it doesn't slip.

sm

When I bought my boat it came with the standard V-cleat centered underneath the cross bar as well as another V-cleat mounted on top of the cross bar about 8" to the left of the mast. I tried both setups and found the non-standard top-mounted cleat to be more convenient (easier to access and "lock" the line in place without the tramp and/or downhaul intrusions).