hunter 280 main sail effort
- Thread starter Jstonge
- Start date
HVe you tried cleaning the slot? Or spraying some dry lube in the slot?
If you have sail slugs try dosing each one with a shot of dry lube .
a good way to clean the slot is to run a small rag up the slot using the halyard. Soak the rag in carburetor cleaner. Attach a messenger line so you can pull the rag (and halyard) back down. Repeat with a new rag saturated in dry lube.
If you have sail slugs try dosing each one with a shot of dry lube .
a good way to clean the slot is to run a small rag up the slot using the halyard. Soak the rag in carburetor cleaner. Attach a messenger line so you can pull the rag (and halyard) back down. Repeat with a new rag saturated in dry lube.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,217
No it is not normal. You should be able to the top of the mast with out resorting to using a winch for more than the last 3 feet.
Dirt, failed sail lugs, bad halyard sheeves, chafed/frayed halyards, or too big of halyard for the mast sheave all or individually can contribute friction that causes your sail to be difficult to raise.
Even at my retirment age, I can still pull the sail on my 35ft boat to near the top of the mast (mayber with in a foot). The key is to eliminate friction. I use "SailCoat" to help on the sails slugs. I keep the mast slide clean by using a rag to free the dirt and grime that accumulates. I clean my halyards. When I had the mast down for service I cleand or replaced the sheaves and made sure the halyard size matched the hardware.
Cleaning or replacing blocks at the bottom of your mast may be required.
I agree…you should be able to get it most of the way up…
But, dirty slides and track, full battens, friction in the halyard run to the cockpit, old stiff rope…all could contribute to making it hard to raise the sail.
On my H280, I had Harkin batt cars on a full-batten main sail. The cars needed to be cleaned periodically, but generally made raising the sail a lot easier.
My current boat (O’Day 322) had standard plastic slides in the mast groove. If it got hard to raise, I would spray the stack of slides with some dry silicone (or use Sailkote if you have the $$$) and then run the sail up. If the track is really dirty, you may need to run a cloth or something up the sail groove.:
When I replaced the sail a few years ago, I wanted a full-batten sail. The North Sails guy suggested the battens would add a fair amount of friction, and suggested a Tides Marine Strong track (HDPE track). the slides are really smooth, heavy SST…a very nice solution. I really like this system.
Good luck,
Greg
But, dirty slides and track, full battens, friction in the halyard run to the cockpit, old stiff rope…all could contribute to making it hard to raise the sail.
On my H280, I had Harkin batt cars on a full-batten main sail. The cars needed to be cleaned periodically, but generally made raising the sail a lot easier.
My current boat (O’Day 322) had standard plastic slides in the mast groove. If it got hard to raise, I would spray the stack of slides with some dry silicone (or use Sailkote if you have the $$$) and then run the sail up. If the track is really dirty, you may need to run a cloth or something up the sail groove.:
When I replaced the sail a few years ago, I wanted a full-batten sail. The North Sails guy suggested the battens would add a fair amount of friction, and suggested a Tides Marine Strong track (HDPE track). the slides are really smooth, heavy SST…a very nice solution. I really like this system.
Good luck,
Greg
I also have a Hunter 280 with a full roach, fully battened main. By design, our boats were made to carry a lot more main than a typical 28 footer. When I'm raising the main single-handed, it's easy to fall off of a direct heading into the wind, and catching even a small amount of wind in the main can quickly make raising it by hand more difficult. Even with the mainsheet clutch open, there's still enough resistance to add a little power to the sail so I'll also release the traveler and manually add some slack in the main sheet.
After that, I agree with the previous posts. Check your sail slides. If you have crew, have someone slowly raise the main while you stand at the mast and, one by one, and shoot each sail slide with a generous dose of Sailkote. I've never had to clean my track (yet).
Good luck,
-Rob
After that, I agree with the previous posts. Check your sail slides. If you have crew, have someone slowly raise the main while you stand at the mast and, one by one, and shoot each sail slide with a generous dose of Sailkote. I've never had to clean my track (yet).
Good luck,
-Rob
Thanks so much gorvthe advice. Cleaned the track with carb cleaner hoisting a rag up and down a few times. Cleaned the slides then coated with sailkote. Big difference. Thanks again!!
Glad it worked out for you. I keep a can of this in my boat's tool bag.
I'm not endorsing this particular teflon spray, it is just what Walmart had on the shelf. But it is a good idea to keep something like this around. A few times a year, I spray all of my turning blocks, slugs, companion way slides etc. I would also spary the carpet on my trailer bunks. It made the "bump" a lot less dramatic when getting the boat settled for a trailer ride. You are probably not trailering your 280 so not an issue for you.
I'm not endorsing this particular teflon spray, it is just what Walmart had on the shelf. But it is a good idea to keep something like this around. A few times a year, I spray all of my turning blocks, slugs, companion way slides etc. I would also spary the carpet on my trailer bunks. It made the "bump" a lot less dramatic when getting the boat settled for a trailer ride. You are probably not trailering your 280 so not an issue for you.
This thread is pretty old, now; have you discovered the problem yet? It may be the pre-bend of the mast not matching the luff of the mainsail. I had that problem and tried the obvious fixes including replacing the shives at the bottom of the mast and getting a new turning block. (Have a strong downhaul line and connection if you use a cloth to clean and lubricate the slot.) One thing that helped was changing the angle of the turning block so the halyard runs level through the shive. As built, it entered against the upper edge of the block but exited against the bottom of the shive. Remounting with a wedge meant redrilling the mounting bolts but it really helped.