Toby Ritter of Mamaroneck, NY, has a nice preventer rig aboard his Sparkman & Stephens center-cockpit 48-footer, Tiger Too. He sent us the following description:
Our preventer runs from the aft end of the boom, where it terminates in a Wichard Quick-Release shackle, forward along the underside of the boom through small guide blocks to the mast, then down to the deck, through a turning block to a deck organizer, and back to the cockpit through an Antal rope clutch.
Before going to sea, we rig flat nylon webbing from the bow cleats on port and starboard, outside of everything, aft to about the boarding gates amidships. The webbing straps terminate in sewn eyes (6000 lb. test) which are secured to the rail with light line.
To rig the preventer we release the preventer line from the clutch, take the shackle forward from the end of the boom, clip it to the loop on the webbing, and release the webbing. We can then trim the preventer from the cockpit without ever having to go forward on deck.
In a jibe, as the main is centered, the preventer is released from the webbing on the leeward side, walked around the aft end of the cockpit, and attached to the webbing on the windward side. The boat is jibed, the main eased, and the preventer tensioned on the other side from the cockpit. It works like a charm.
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Click here to view a drawing of Ritter’s preventer rig.
