Whenever there is a turning point, ball bearing blocks are used, when the lead is straight and fair, then there are guides on the stanchions. The whole arrangement is about 3 inches off the deck the whole way.

The only turning points are where the lead comes off the furler and heads aft, (about 15-30 degrees) where the lead changes angle slightly as the bow meets the widest area of the beam, (about 5-10 degrees) and then all the way aft where the lead wraps 270 degrees around the last block before going into a cam cleat on a swivel.

Grabbing the lead before that last turning block I find the friction is pretty minimal and manageable. I feel the 270 wrap around the last block is the real problem.

In order to "cure" that, I could move the block, and perhaps reduce the wrap to 90 degrees, or change the size of the block to a larger diameter, so the radius of the turn is more "graceful."

Actually thinking about it a bit more, moving the block and getting a larger diameter, together should have a great impact.

The question still remains though... do they make small line blocks with a large diameter wheel?

I should go back and take a more critical look at the whole thing though... in my mind it is all clean and nice... reality may be "a crappy block attached to the toerail with a hose clamp."