Shown here, on a bronze Spartan stanchion base, is a Ronstan Series 40 block. Others shown are, from left, counterclockwise, a Holt-Allen Dynamic, a Harken 29 mm Carbo, a Harken Big Bullet (new this year), a Lewmar 50 mm Synchro, a Schaefer 5 Series, a Lewmar 60 mm Synchro, and a very expensive but light Orbit block from Frederiksen. Except on really big boats, most of these blocks would be overkill for the fairlead task.

First, the obligatory horror stories: "Never use a winch on a furling headsail."

That's the view of Andrew Spiro, the veteran rigger at the Ship's Store in Portsmouth, RI.

"If you have to use a winch to furl the headsail, something's wrong," Spiro told us, "and you'd better correct it before you tear up the pea patch. At the very least, you may wrap and jam the halyard." To make his point, Spiro cited an incident in which the forestay twisted severely, resisting the pull on the furling line, so the boat owner went to low gear on his two-speed winch and the stay broke—bringing down the mast.…