Lug Rig halyard question

[Chadd Hamilton]

I have an 8' Acorn Tender that I am rigging to sail. My mast is the Birds Mouth type made from Doug Fir. I am trying to decide wether to run the main halyard up through the mast(involving a retrofitted sheave or metal sleave) or simply use a cheek block and run the rigging up the side. Obviously, the latter is easier, but I would like to first hear from others who have worked with this rig before I finalize plans.

Thanks!

[Dale H]

All I did on my Acorn8 was drill a suitably oversized hole, carefully carve a groove for the halyard with a Dremel Mototool to make it as smooth and "low friction" as I could, and keep it well varnished. On such a small boat the forces and effort required are small. In fact when I let my halyard loose the rig drops into the boat as if it ran through ball bearing sheaves. Oughtred's book describes this very well.

Dale