It depends %100 on where your turning block is on the cabin top.  If it is in front of the spreader position you need to run the lift line in front to avoid rubbing on the spreader.  And vice versa.
Patrick

On Mon, May 27, 2024 at 12:12 PM Graham Parker <gramille at tds.net> wrote:

> So my boat was a 2011 and the cleat for the topping lift is on the  of the
> port side of the cabin top. It is fed from the top of the mast through a
> feed halfway down the port side of cabin top. Visually it looks like it
> should descend aft of the spreader BUT so far this thread has a 2 -1 bias
> towards the line coming down in front of the spreader! I would love a few
> more opinions before I attempt to rig it tomorrow.
>  Many thanks.
> Graham Parker
>
> > On May 27, 2024, at 10:03, ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Just to further muddy the waters, if you ever want to be able to fly a
> cruising or triradial spinnaker, you will find you run out of masthead
> blocks.  I solved this shortage by attaching my topping lift to the aft end
> of the masthead and running the line down to the boom.  At the aft end of
> the boom, I mounted a small cam cleat.  This solution has worked well.  I
> can adjust the topping lift from the aft end of the cockpit and I have
> enough halyards for my spinnakers.
> > Roger Pihlaja
> > S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> > 1978. Sanford, MI
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >> On May 26, 2024, at 9:05 PM, Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Graham,
> >>
> >> There are two pulleys to port and two pulleys to starboard at the top
> of the mast. You would have discovered this pretty quickly once you had the
> mast down, and this detail doesn't really matter a great deal.
> >>
> >> I'm pretty sure that the location of the small block at the edge of the
> cabin top on my boat dictates that the topping lift line will come down to
> the deck forward of the spreader.  On other boats apparently that block is
> further aft, and the line passes aft of the spreader.  You will need to
> figure out which path is correct for your boat.  It should be easy to
> reroute the line one way or the other with a boat hook.
> >>
> >> Peter Nyberg
> >> Coventry, CT
> >> s/v Silverheels (19888/2016)
> >>
> >>
> >> [ Sent From rhodes22.net ]
> >>
> >>> On 2024-05-26, at 13:04:47 EDT, Graham Parker wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi everyone,
> >>> I am not sure if the line that controls the boom height is really
> called a
> >>> topping lift? but that is the line I am talking about. It came out of
> the
> >>> masthead top pulley during mast raising and now I have to drop the
> mast and re
> >>> rig it so I want to make sure I do it correctly. Is there a diagram
> anywhere in
> >>> the archives? I think the line goes from the rear top of the boom up
> into a
> >>> pulley (one or two pulleys?) on the top of the mast and then down on
> the aft
> >>> side of the port spreader and into the cleat on the cabin top?
> >>> Can anyone clarify before I drop the mast?
> >>> Cheers
> >>> Graham Parker
> >>> sv 00Sailin
> >>> Lake Champlain
> >>>
> >>
> >>
>
>