> My GB is a little older than yours and the mast and boom are original....Could you describe the double-sheaves that you are using? Our 1973 (fiberglass) GB36 has its original wood mast and boom. The mast has only two stays, running slightly forward to attach to the bases of two of the flying bridge handrail stanchions. According to the boat's operations manual (also original), the wood mast and boom is designed for a maximum load of 200 pounds. Presumably that's with the boom out at 90-degrees which will maximize the load on the structure. It can probably hold more weight if the end of the boom is closer to the mast. When we acquired the boat it had a somewhat Rube Goldberg arrangement using the boat's original teak blocks to raise and lower the mast, I assume to clear bridges on the Sacramento River or something. The "proper" stainless stays were stored on the boat so we re- installed them in place of the Rube Goldberg arrangement. We then bought Ronstan blocks to replace all the original teak blocks. I sized them for heavier line that might normally be used on the boom not because the loads would be high but to give us a better grip on the line. Unfortunately I'm not at the boat right now so I can't tell you the line diameter but I THINK it's 1/2." We bought high- quality braided dacron running rigging line so it would have a minimum amount of stretch. Both the topping lift and the fall have stainless eyes spliced into one end. The topping lift is shackled to the double block at the top of the mast and is run twice through a double block at the end of the boom before coming down to be cleated off near the bottom of the mast. Same thing with the fall--- it is shackled to a double block at the end of the boom and then run twice to the double block at the "business end" of the fall before being led back forward to be cleated off at the base of the boom. When not in use the end of the fall is clipped with a large stainless karabiner to a fitting at the base of the boom. The Montgomery sailing dinghy we carry on the aft cabin top weighs somewhere between 150 and 200 pounds. When we launch it, raising and lowering the boom is very easy. I can do it with one hand. Pulling in the fall takes more strength--- I'm not sure why since the block and line arrangement is identical to that which is on the boom. I suspect raising the boom may be easier because of the lever arm of the boom itself, but I didn't do well in physics so I could be wrong on that. Anyway, the arrangement works really well. Were I to do it again I might be inclined to use triple blocks on the fall which would make it REALLY easy to launch and recover the sailing dinghy (or haul a MOB person aboard). But I don't know that triples would start getting things a bit tangled under the boom..... We have thought about mounting a manual self-tailing windlass on the base of the boom but so far have not pursued that.