Roger,

One of the more difficult things to do as a J24 owner is to figure out what is "fad" and what is "fact". Because there are lots of layers of BS out there. I'm sure you will get lots of responses, so take them each with a grain of salt.

I carried my spinnaker sheets inboard for a long time just because that is the way they have been set up since the boat first hit the water, and I too carried the twings just aft of the turnbuckles and outboard a bit.

At some point my crew finally talked me into changing, and I have been a big fan of the sheets outboard and the twing cleats up against the rail ever since. Yes it definitely does clean up the deck and how the crew sits on the rail, and it does allow the Chute to project better on most angles, particularly dead down wind when the guy generally rubs the lifeline raw. The location of the twing cleats is still just aft of the main bulkhead but all the way outboard.

A few people move the twings further aft to the widest part of the boat, but I've never felt that the twings worked well there because the guy does not pull the pole down enough to steady it.

Try the sheets inboard and then try them outboard on the same practice day to check it out. Don't worry about even attaching the twings while you are experimenting. Use your hand pressing down on the guy to simulate a twing line when checking out the best placement while doing your practice sail. You will be surprised.

Good Luck

I did a little research on this subject before I installed the twings on our boat. I went with putting them as outboard as possible for two reasons: 1. You get more leverage (a better angle) to get the pole off the forestay during a reach... a big plus if you don't have secondary winches. 2. placing the twings inboard of the lifelines causes the spinnaker sheet to have to run over the lifeline rather than straight to the block. Outside of the lifeline only causes the guy to have to to do that.

The next decision was how far forward or back the twings should go. Further forward allows you to do away with a foreguy in many conditions but you give up a lot of leverage for getting the pole off the forestay because the boat is narrower up forward. Therefore, if you put the twings far forward you better have a strong pole trimmer or secondary winches. Twings further back require you to always use a foreguy but you gain that all important leverage from the wider beam.

Tom

What are the different location options to put the spin twings and what are the pros and cons of each? I have always sailed with them installed just behind the turnbuckles. What am I giving up by not having them out on the rail? I clearly am gaining a little cleaner traffic pattern.