I just went through the second set of clam cleats in
three years on my M15. The last set was the more
expensive aluminum ones with the hope that they would
last longer than the phenolic ones. I replaced the
jib sheets at the same time with soft easy to grip
line.
I intend to replace them with C cleats.
I plan on mounting a block of wood in the original
clam cleat holes and have T nuts in the locations for
the C cleats. This should avoid any new thru deck
holes.
Is there a better way?
How have others done this?
Doug Kelch
"Seas the Day"
These clam cleats work well in light airs but I had a
great weekend sail with strong gusty winds. I kept
the working 110% jib up too long before dropping to
the 70% jib and that was the end of the clam cleats.
I spent 1 day with 110% and single reefed main and was
overpowered frequently. The second day I was almost
constantly backwinding the single reefed main about 30
- 40% until I changed jibs. The M15 handled very will
with the 80% jib and single reefed main. I would
guess the conditions at 18kts steady state with gust
as high as 25 to 28 kts. In the strong gusts with the
reduced rig we would still have to be quick to avoid
too much heel but were in not at risk at all.
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