J46 main halyard

[Jim Brainard]

Jboats enthusiasts— Have any skippers switched to 2:1 main halyard systems? If so please share your experiences.

I am still able to jump our main almost to the top, we have the electric halyard winch, and the main luff tension on our 1:1 with Cunningham is usually sufficient. We only “club race”.

Unnecessary or a huge improvement?

JIm Brainard. Brainwaves. J46. Sent from my iPhone

[Al Goethe]

I still have the 1:1 halyard and no electrical winch. I make my crew put some muscle into the hoist. 

When I’m double handing with my wife I run the halyard to a primary winch -which is electric. If anybody contemplates this, do NOT take the halyard from the cabin top to the primary. It’s a recipe for a severe override on the primary. Instead, put a snatch block on the rail and run the halyard through it to the primary. Works like charm for us. 

Al Goethe

On Mar 24, 2026, at 13:40, Jim Brainard <brain...@gmail.com> wrote:

Jboats enthusiasts—   Have any skippers switched to 2:1 main halyard systems?   If so please share your experiences.  

I am still able to jump our main almost to the top, we have the electric halyard winch, and the main luff tension on our 1:1 with Cunningham is usually sufficient.  We only “club race”.  

Unnecessary or a huge improvement?   

JIm Brainard.    Brainwaves.  J46.   Sent from my iPhone

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[Bernie Coyne]

We used to have a 2:1 halyard but you end up with miles of halyard line in the cockpit. It also took twice as long to hoist manually. So we converted back to 1:1 and use a Milwaukee right handed cordless drill with a winch bit in the secondary winch.

Bernie
Mystic Rose J/46 #10

Bernie Coyne
Email: bernie...@outlook.com
Cell/text: 781-789-0762

-----Original Message-----
From: j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com <j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Jim Brainard
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2026 2:40 PM
To: j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [J/4X-owners] J46 main halyard

Jboats enthusiasts- Have any skippers switched to 2:1 main halyard systems? If so please share your experiences.

I am still able to jump our main almost to the top, we have the electric halyard winch, and the main luff tension on our 1:1 with Cunningham is usually sufficient. We only "club race".

Unnecessary or a huge improvement?

JIm Brainard. Brainwaves. J46. Sent from my iPhone

[Wayne Cassady]

I first saw the 2:1 on Melges 32s and thought it was a good idea. It was not. As previously mentioned here, miles of halyard in the cockpit and not that much easier to hoist. Went back to the 1:1.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 24, 2026, at 3:46 PM, Bernie Coyne <bernie...@outlook.com> wrote:
>
> We used to have a 2:1 halyard but you end up with miles of halyard line in the cockpit. It also took twice as long to hoist manually. So we converted back to 1:1 and use a Milwaukee right handed cordless drill with a winch bit in the secondary winch.

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/PH0P221MB996792F3B7391A84A2445E0B709B48A%40PH0P221MB996792.NAMP221.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

[Fred Hawes]

I put a 40 inch bowsprit on Anona, a 2000 J-46, and bought a Quantum code zero and a furling A2. These sails are fabulous. We can carry the A2 above 70 degrees in flat water. The boat flies and we love it, added more than a knot. BUT the 2:1 warpspeed halyard that the rigger recommended is a problem, ALWAYS. Something about the way it rolls over the sheave at the top of the mast causes it to accumulate torque (twist), which shows up in the loop between the head of the sail and the sheave. It generates heat passing thru the Facnor swivel and the last twenty feet require hard winching. The built in FACNOR swivel at the head of the sail doe NOT swivel out this twist. The Facnor furler (4500) works great, but came from the factory with a defective rachet, and since it was new to us, we didn't realize it was defective for a year's worth of sailing. The owner is 45 feet away from this evolution, the bow man needs to understand the features of the furler.

When we want to lay this sail down on the deck, say while working upwind, the double halyard makes this evolution harder than it needs to be. It takes at least two men to pull this double rigged halyard down when the boat is heeled, not just the extra length, but the twist tooI make it hard. I see no advantage to the double halyard. This year I'm going to use the other halyard which is single.

Fred Hawes

619-920-6661

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/A68C46C1-63E9-4E63-B82B-4C648151AB84%40gmail.com.