The Washing Line (Not X)

One last modification is the Phil Neal washing line.  This makes Port tack (windward) drops easier.  Tie a piece of shock cord to the mast tensioning bottle screw. Run a thin line from the port bow forestay plate to the webbing loop at the forward edge of the tramp. Tie the bungee to the thin line so it tensions it – it should be about 12" above the spinnaker tack line and the bungee is at about 45 degrees angle. Make sure you rig the genneker sheets over the rope/ bungee!! You will find the sheets no longer get caught round the mast and everything is tidier during the drops, with the shock cord helping the kite into the chute.

Some people have altered this so that the line goes to the diamond bottle screw and the bungie goes to the dolphin striker.

Bridle Wire Cover (X Only)

To stop the spinnaker clew catching on the port bridle wire during drops, some Shadow X sailors are covering the wire with a 5mm clip on shroud cover

Spanner Bungie

Putting a bungie from the end of the spanner to the gooseneck stops the mast rotation and downhaul lines catching around the spanner.

Girlie Block

Girly block – most people now have an extra block on their mainsheet attached to a loop above the jammer.  The loose end is then sent through the hole in the upper block and secured with a stopper knot or similar method

Main Sheet Strop & Hook

You want to be able to sheet in hard and have the sail fairly centred. The strop needs to be about 100-150mm, so the blocks can never be block to block- check it on the shore. Tie a short bowline so that the sail is held close to the boom.

A modification some folk have done is to have a permanent loop tied on the sail (just big enough to pass over the end of the boom) with a short strop to a bowline with a shackle on it and that goes onto to the main block.  This makes detaching the main block much easier when ashore. 

Trapeze Bungie

Some people like to bring the trapeze bungees through blocks tied to the shroud plates which keeps them out the way. 

Daggerboards

Draw a line across your daggerboards at the point that they no longer protrude from the bottom of the boat.  This saves costly mistakes when back ashore.