Legend 37 - How Much Mast Rake?

[Ringydingydo]

Hi Legend owners,
I am close to buying a 1989 Legend 37. The main is impossible to raise the last 15 - 20 feet without going to a winch. It goes up to the point of the rake in the mast and its like hitting a hard rubber wall.
Does anyone else have this issue raising their main?
How much rake is too much? This boat visually has a lot.
The thought is that the sail slugs are binding once the sail gets to the pre-bend.
The sail headboard has only 1 hole for the halyard and it is right close to the mast making the problem as bad as can be.
thanks
Dan

 

[Marmalade]

My guess is it's the full battens loading-up/binding. We had the same problem... went with a Tides Strongtrack, now I can pull the main all the way up by hand, then just set luff tension with the winch.

Someone probably knows some other solutions... search full batten binding on mast... but one I considered was having a sail-maker replace the batten receivers with Schaefer Battslides w/ internal slide for your track (MM8/0.9", I believe)

Hope you enjoy the Legend 37!

 

[dlochner]

Hi Legend owners,
I am close to buying a 1989 Legend 37. The main is impossible to raise the last 15 - 20 feet without going to a winch. It goes up to the point of the rake in the mast and its like hitting a hard rubber wall.
Does anyone else have this issue raising their main?
How much rake is too much? This boat visually has a lot.
The thought is that the sail slugs are binding once the sail gets to the pre-bend.
The sail headboard has only 1 hole for the halyard and it is right close to the mast making the problem as bad as can be.
thanks
Dan

Rake and Pre-bend are different. Rake is the amount the mast tips aft, pre-bend is the curvature of the mast. Rake moves the center of effort aft, prebend matches the mainsail's luff curve to the mast.

Excessive batten pressure can cause binding. Depending on the sail, it can be done by easing there pressure on the velcro holding the batten in the pocket or by an adjusting screw on the batten car.

Dirty sail tracks or slugs can cause jamming and excessive pressure on the slugs. Spiders like sail tracks to hide in.

Replacing the slugs on the batten cars with one size smaller may relieve the pressure and reduce binding.

 

[smokey73]

Check your boom angle when the sail is down. If the aft end of the boom is too far down, when you get to some point you are lifting the boom up when you get to a some point when raising the main.

 

[dlochner]

Check your boom angle when the sail is down. If the aft end of the boom is too far down, when you get to some point you are lifting the boom up when you get to a some point when raising the main.

Good point, also check the mainsheet and the vang are released.

 

[jon hansen]

how often do you clean and lube the slot inside your mast? ... and the slugs?

 

[Ringydingydo]

dlochner, Agreed on rake vs pre-bend and thanks for the 3 suggestions. Not my boat (yet), but will check the full battens next time I'm at the broker. Mainsheet and vang are off.

smokey73, Thanks but the resistance happens while there are many flakes of sail still on the boom and no pressure on the aft end of it - topping lift is holding the boom up.


jon hansen, The broker is to 'McLube' the track. Not my boat yet.

Thanks for the support.
After a good clean and lube...
I had been thinking about:
1. Drilling another lift point in the headboard aft of the exiting one. See pic.
2. Lengthing the webbing between the slugs and the sail in the top 20 feet of sail.
3. Easing off some tension on the backstays
4. Easing the upper shrouds
5. checking tension on the forestay.

Also note the black sail slug in the headboard pic. It has a flat part that runs outside the track as well as the part inside the track. I would think that as soon as the halyard does not pull 100% parallel to the mast that the slug's exterior part will drag the outside of the track.

Do you guys have as much prebend in your as you see in the pics?

 

[dlochner]

Presumably, difficulty raising the main is not an old issue, so any physical modifications to the sails might be better put off to last. Cleaning the mast track and slugs, checking batten tension, checking rigging tension would be the first order of business. The owner might want to send a rigger up the mast to inspect the track and clean it.