SVN Solovelanet Global
by Fabio Amoretti
T
he barber hauler owes its name to the
Barber brothers, who introduced it for the
first time in the 1950s on the Lightning
which they raced in the waters off San
Diego. In a nutshell, it was a simple line
to move the jib clew laterally and inwards to close
the jib-mainsail channel and get a tighter angle on
the wind. Over the years it has undergone a remar-
kable development and has ultimately replaced the
use of tracks and travellers to adjust the position of
the sheet clew of headsails, especially on off-shore
racing boats.
Barber haulers can be split into two broad catego-
ries: simple tweakers, and complete barber haulers.
Tweakers are lines mounted in addition to the tracks
and travellers of the headsails. They generally allow
only transverse adjustments and are used to move
the jib clew inwards, thus narrowing the jib-mainsail
channel and getting a tighter angle on the wind. On
the other hand, barber haulers completely replace
the tracks and travellers of the headsail sheets,
as they allow both transverse and verti-
cal adjustment. With these two types
of adjustments, the sail sheet can be
moved in any direction, always en-
suring an optimal setting.
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