Many yachts run all rigging aft these days. It can get cluttered quickly in the cockpit and some things are best left forward. In the end of the day, being able to reef from the cockpit and have basic sail control has become a must for most short handed offshore cruisers. We were approached to run these controls aft for a couple who regularly short hands their Bristol 45.5.

The boom was also modified to accommodate single line reefing. These modifications were carried out by The Yacht Rigger.

Marking up leads, ensuring all hardware will fit and run correctly. This is done all the way aft, including clutch and winch locations.

Starboard view. Vang and main halyard led aft.

Tunnel blanks were used to trace and cut holes through each side of the coaming. Traveller track removed and deck filled to make room for high beam track on risers.

Port side glue in tunnel, with cove plate.

Original dedicated sheet winch moved to starboard, new Andersen 46ST added to port. Clutches on riser blocks to clear lines through tunnels without chafe, yet low enough to prevent overwraps on winches. Lewmar clutches were used as the handle opens aft, which lets operation happen in limited real estate. Traveller lines were relocated aft as well, with a new car which will support 6:1 controls if desired.

Delrin riser pucks and track install. The deck area showed signs of stress from the original traveller installation so the solid bar was added into the design to create stiffness across the area and distribute load better.

Starboard side tunnel. Care was taken to leave room for additional controls lead aft in the future.

Port side view. Mainsheet and Reef 1,2,3.

View from front, before cover plate install or deck cleanup/correction.