I've just had to give up sea kayaking due to recurring shoulder problems when paddling. Seemed like a great reason to buy a Hobie Mirage SOT
, so after researching this wonderfully informative forum I've ordered an Adventure with the sail, daggerboard, large rudder, furler, solid cranks, an extra batten for a boombat and a mini block.
While I wait for it to arrive, I have a rigging question: I haven‘t sailed much for many years now, so this may be nonsense, but has anyone tried having the mainsheet start with a knot at the stern pad eye attachment point, then leading it directly up through a mini block tied to the sail clew eye, then finally having the other knotted end of the mainsheet falling into your lap, for a 2:1 reduction? (I'm not planning to cleat it off as it's often very gusty where I am). I’ve seen this done on lug sail canoe rigs.
It seems to me like the pro's might be:
1. an easy way to get a virtual sheeting angle similar to what Roadrunner acheived by moving his pulley forward on the aft deck, but with the option of adjusting the effective sheeting angle on the fly by how you hold the mainsheet
2. simple rigging
3. less likelihood of the sheet catching your head/back when gybing than with Roadrunner's solution?
4. the possibility of using the mainsheet to help locate you while hiking out
5. Ready easy access to the mainsheet as it falls to hand
Any thoughts?