What is this?

[IanS]

Rhythm came with many 'treasures'. Most of them are obvious (misc. blocks, shackles, etc.) but what is this. It looks like it has a purpose.

[Ozzie]

Love these type of things mainly because it shows how inventive people are. Ian, I’m guessing from the rough estimate of the floor board width that the the radius of the D shape is about 22 to 25 mm or pulpit/ taffrail diameter but obviously that can’t be slipped over continuous rail. Could it however be a locking device as David suggests for a folding boarding ladder if you have one. One end slips over the 22mm upright and the other locks in behind the other side fixed upright. Mine kept falling down till I fitted one of the foam fingers I use for mast raising.

If the D shape is larger the other idea was a tensioning arm for a tie down strap. I had an old webbing strap with one that looked like that but the D shape part was square. Did you also get a tie down strap that would fit through that D shape. If so you thread your strap through the D shape, secure it roughly at both ends with hook and buckle, then the using your bracket as a turning handle wind the excess around the D loop till the slack is taken up. Then the other end simply hooks over the tightened webbing. They were moderately successful at doing the job but far less safe than modern ratchet straps. Given the age of our boats there may be common stuff from that period still comes with them from the original owners.

If I can lay my hand on my old one I’ll post a pic.

[IanS]

Tiller locking pin, tensioning arm, all possibilities. It's intriguing...

Thanks for your thoughts so far.

[Peter T]

I wonder if that D section fits over the throttle arm of the outboard and that it might be used to lock the steering of the outboard ?

[Peter T]

I wonder if that D section fits over the throttle arm of the outboard and that it might be used to lock the steering of the outboard ? Or ties its turning to the rudder , or the other way around. Ie does the D fit over the tiller and the pin fit to the outboard ?
Just a thought

[IanS]

Interesting idea...

[Ozzie]

Found it

[Peter T]

Wow Ozzie, that's interesting but I don't quite get how it works.

[IanS]

Interesting, is it to put on a bit of extra tension on a tiedown strap?

[Ozzie]

Exactly. The bar acts as a crank handle to put loops in the webbing. There is sufficient mechanical advantage in the length of the bar to get it tight and tensioned. The little hook on the end stops it from sliding off the tightened web.

Only issue is sometimes you do a couple of turns and can’t quite get it down to hook you then have to adjust the buckle on the other end to get more play. As I said inferior to a good ratchet strap but useable.