RCB Stay Slide Testing Report

We had a 6-10 knot easterly at Balmoral on Saturday, January 26, coupled with a strong ebb tide. Wave conditions included a sizeable   swell with chop on top. Lots of Australia Day boating traffic added to the waves and the mix. Sailing was tricky and included lots of gear changing,  the RCB's got a good workout.

Conclusion at the end of the day was that the RCB's continued to work well under frequent use. They certainly make sailing the boat easier. The shrouds leap forward when released from the cleat and are relatively easy to pull back. The clam cleat arrangement works well, though I found the shock cord used to keep the pull back handles inboard sometimes finds its way into the cleat and gets jammed, but is easy to untangle. In the conditions it was very easy to make small, intermediate adjustments to the shrouds going upwind.

A small issue is that Liz banged her hip on the clam cleat a few times which caused some discomfort.

Next week we'll try to replace the D shackle between the clam cleat and the RCB car with a small double swivel shackle to see if we can promote a better adjusting angle from any direction the crew chooses. The current arrangement is fine for the skipper, they're always seated that much further aft and can get a good purchase on the pull back rope.

Graham Hanna