Did you know that you can customize Harken Ratchamatic blocks to better suit your strength and sailing style?
The magic of ratchet blocks is they allow you to hold loads with little effort and ease loaded sheets with good control. On Ratchamatic blocks, it’s all automatic; these load-sensing blocks roll freely in both directions under low loads and automatically engage the ratchet as loads increase. Shifting between ratchet and light-air modes is seamless. Unloaded main and jib sheets run out freely during mark rounding, and asymmetrical spinnakers free instantly during jibes.
What’s really cool is that you can customize the ‘engage point’ on your Harken Ratchamatic blocks; you get to choose if the ratchet engages at a high load, a low load, or somewhere in between. It all depends on how much holding power you desire. As a young Blockhead, you might want to set the block up to engage at a lower load level so instead of focusing on holding your line, you can focus on wind shifts, waves, puffs, lulls, or the fleet around you.
Watch the video to see how easy it is to adjust the engagement point:
Still hungry to learn more? Learn more about ratchet blocks in this article – Ideas that Click.