I spotted this on the middle of the port side only of my wishbone. Any ideas what it’s for?
Perhaps it was added to route the halyard away from mast when sail is down to prevent it slapping and making a racket in the wind?
My guess is the same as Brian’s.
– Bob
Well- that’s pretty cleaver, if that’s what it is! My neighbor complains about that very thing!!!
I tried tighten the halyard and loosening the stupid thing. Nothing seems to work! When the wind gets up and blow the “right” direction - bang, bang, bang!!
I do basically the same thing by 1/4 turn locking the halyard fitting to a midship stanchion base , routing the line inside the wishboom.
I clip my halyard shackle to one of the StackPack hanging eyes. Works well when I remember to tension the line! 
I clip the halyard shackle to a shackle that I moused onto the port deck organizer. One of the jacklines stands in for Hilary’s shiny skene chock.
I’ve never had complaints about halyard slap, but in my marina there’s usually no one there but the workmen on rich people’s boats, and they go home at 5:00.
– Bob
This is kind of brilliant. I have always unclipped my main halyard on other boats and clipped it to a turnbuckle (which we don’t have) or on the lifelines or fouled them on the spreaders (which we don’t have). With this gizmo I can leave the halyard attached to the sail and just bring it though the gizmo before snugging it up to keep the slapping at bay.
Thanks everyone.
I might mouse that snap shackle because when they disconnect unexpectedly its VERY disappointing.
Interesting to hear about how others care for their boats and how past experiences influence current perspective.
Two experiences that have influenced my perspective on the mystery fitting :
- I’m reluctant to drill any more holes or add any stainless fittings in proximity to aluminum. My two seasons with Soave, has involved many hours of corrosion remediation. My mantra is minimize potential for corrosion.
- My previous 20 years of sailing was dingy racing. Dingy’s don’t usually have topping lifts… I got used to bringing the halyard back and attaching it to the boom as support before putting the cover on. Still feels weird to me to not remove the main and carefully roll it to avoid creases. My first season with Soave I continued this practice ( with the halyard not the sail rolling) , this past season, I used a bungee to keep the main halyard taut and the pre-bend in Soave’s mast is enough to prevent slapping in all but the most forceful winds.
Lots of correct solutions on sailboats and great to have a place to exchange thoughts with others that sail the same boat.
Happy New Year,
Rob…
My impression is that the stresses on the wishbones are very different from those on the mast, which would make the risk of stress fractures from drilled holes less on wishbones.
Corrosion from stainless fittings in contact with aluminum is, IMHO, the bigger concern. The picture shows a very clean fixture on a very smooth boom with no visible signs of corrosion, however. Hopefully, the skene chock is well-bedded. In any case, it’s a slow enough process that routine inspection at seasonal intervals is sufficient.
– Bob