Talk:Downhaul

Cunningham
Please don't give me grief about the use of "downhaul" for Cunningham. It's quite common (e.g. in Bermuda, where I'm from, as well as in the US). Do a web search for "downhaul"+"mainsail" and you will see lots of uses for "downhaul" in that sense. Noel (talk) 17:16, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

-- Yes, it is common but do you know why? It is because a Cunningham is a type of down haul. It is called a Cunningham when it is attached directly to the sail, while a downhaul is attached to the underside of the boom, dragging it down and the sail along with it (obviously, the sail must be close footed for a regular downhaul to be applied). Thus, the statement in the article saying that the most common downhaul is the spinnaker foreguy is incorrect: the most common down haul is the main sail down haul whether a standard rig (Hobie Cats for instance) or a Cunningham (like on a J-24 for instance) because every sailboat has a main but not all can handle a spinnaker.. Further, calling a downhaul which attaches to the underside of the boom, rather than the sail itself, a Cunningham is incorrect no matter how common. The article should reflect this information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.205.138.88 (talk) 19:35, 23 June 2010 (UTC)