Sail Line Fatigue

Sailing a Revo 16. The longer I sail and the harder the wind is blowing, the more taxing it is with the sail line tugging my arm backward over my shoulder for hours on end. Would be nice to route it through another pulley in front of me or something but haven't quite wrapped my mind around the possibilities or the best path. Just wondering if anyone has come up with a solution???

Lots of great ideas for rigging to be found just by scrolling down in this kayak sailing forum.
I posted some pics in the furling topic here viewtopic.php?f=32&t=49713&start=30 detailing my Adventure rigging, but others have posted many useful ideas that will work on the Revo16.

Yup you gotta route the sheet to the front of the cockpit and then back to your hand so that you pull rather than push to sheet the sail in.

As mentioned there's plenty of info on this forum if you dig a bit but at the risk of repeating what I and others have said on the subject:

Best thing is to buy a very small (micro), but high quality, block (pulley) from a dinghy sailing shop and tie it onto one of the plastic padeyes that Hobie installs around the cockpit (in my old Adventure there's one near my right knee). Tying it on is non-destructive (you can change your mind with no downside) and you don't need strong rope - just some very light synthetic cord. Tie one on at the stern of the boat too - having no friction in the sheet lead is important as it allows you to lose all the power in the sail in a hurry (like if you are about to get capsized). Don't buy blocks with a swivel on the becket - these can allow the sheet to twist up on itself and create the very friction that you are trying to reduce - just a block with a simple becket is all you need. Ronstan or Harken are what I use.

The other thing you need to do (if your standard Hobie sheet is anything like mine was all those years ago) is buy a longer rope for the sheet because it probably won't be long enough to lead all the way back and then all the way forward and give you the required range of sheeting angles. A slightly thicker rope is less tiring to hold than a thinner one (as long as it is not going to bind in the blocks).

Finally, tie a double overhand stopper knot in the end of the sheet so that the rope can't pass back through the block - then you will always have it to hand.

When you get comfortable with the limitations of your boat w.r.t. stability in given wind conditions you can also use a cleat to belay (lock off) the sheet and rest your hand - a lot of people seem to be afraid of doing this but I do it all the time and for me its a godsend - it just requires you to know how your boat behaves and be conservative about when to lock the sheet off and when not to. I use a "clam cleat" for this (not to be confused with a "cam" cleat); again you only need a small one, you can find somewhere convenient to mount it (requires drilling) - mine is in the RH cargo shelf behind the netting - and there are various shims and 'keepers' which provide some pretty neat extra features to help you align the cleat to the run of the sheet, make it easier to lock and adjust the sheet, and prevent it from locking up inadvertently... all without compromising your ability to unlock it in a hurry; they provide a very neat solution.

A ratchet block can reduce arm fatigue; see http://www.ronstan.com/info/practicalsailor_ratchetarticle.asp

Also strongly agree that it is less tiring to pull the main sheet from a point in front of you, rather than from behind you. What is the best way to route the main sheet from the stern of the boat to a ratcheting block located on the centre line of the boat and in front of you? Via a boom on the sail.

Boom....just dropped the microphone.