Originally Posted by
MoAlpha
That certainly makes sense, but halyards can find their way back into them inadvertently, which may have been what happened. On the J/105s, I think it was was a class or fleet rule that the main halyard cleat had to be removed or taped over. They other rule I try to follow is "halyard in your hand: look up where you stand." It avoids a lot of trouble.
When I had a boat with a spin halyard cleat on the mast, I mounted it off set from the line of the halyard by about 4 inches. When the clutch was closed, the bowman popped it out of the mast cleat. Since it was offset, there was very little risk of it re-engaging. Worked well except when you forgot to release the damn thing.