Highfield lever Highfield lever A Highfield lever is a lever device which allows tension to be rapidly set up in a wire and equally rapidly released to the required extent. It is frequently used in sailing boats where tension in some part of the rigging needs to be adjusted to a pre-set amount as the wind impinges on one side of the sails or the other. It is typically used in running backstays (runners). To make it work, the backstay is led through a block or fairlead along the deck to a two-legged, second order lever mounted with its fulcrum above deck
Lever frame or behind it. This may be accompanied by a description of the lever's function. Usually, a large track diagram is positioned within easy view of the operator, which clearly shows each lever number adjacent to symbols representing the items of equipment that they operate. Levers are commonly coloured according to the type of equipment they control, the code of colours varying between different railway administrations. For example, in British practice, the following code generally applies: a red lever controls a stop signal or shunt signal, a yellow lever controls a distant signal, a black lever controls a set of points,