third
A third reason for footblocks is easier genoa car trimming. The footblock, being lower than a winch, will allow a shallow sheet angle through the genoa car. Which makes less load on the car resulting in easier fine tune adjustments of the car. Racers believe this is important enough put up with the huge load on the footblock (double the sheet load), extra friction, longer sheets and extra weight aft. However, with the advent of Harken style ball bearing cars (easy adjustment under load) some racers are removing the footblocks.
Cheers, Russ L
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