Applying the rolling hitch when jumping the main halyard at the mast?

[Kings Gambit]

We see many yachts where all lines are led aft to rope clutches at the cockpit. You can hoist (i.e., winch) the mainsail from the cockpit, but it is slow; at least on the Bavaria. When me first mate is aboard I jump the halyard at the mast as she tails it from the helm through a rope clutch on the coach top. When the sail is nearly full hoist I go to the cockpit and winch it up the rest of the way. There are no winches on the mast. Last weekend me mate was not aboard, so I had to single-hand the boat, including hoisting the mainsail. While still at anchor in a light air, but nearly short on the rode, I jumped the halyard at the mast through a loosened rolling hitch around the halyard made fast to a cleat on the mast. After piling up a few feet of halyard at the foot of the mast, I tightened the hitch, went to the cockpit to take in the halyard slack, then returned for another few moments of jumping. With the main fully hoisted, I concluded it went faster and easier than with me cranking (winching) the whole thing up from the cockpit. Prior to that point, with the mainsail nearly hoisted, and being half-way to the anchor locker, I could quickly get up the rest of the chain (windlass), then return to the cockpit to finish hoisting as the boat began to fall off. Trim the main sheet, and the boat starts sailing. Does anyone have a better way of doing something similar?

 

[thinwater]

Put a jammer on the mast, just below the exit. With the handle 1/2 way released, it is a one-way ratchet. Easy, works great. Just remember to release it sometime before lowering the sail.

Yes, if you can simply hoist at the mast (clean, well lubed track) it is much faster. Even if you can only get 80% of the sail that way, it's a help.

 

[Jackdaw]

Easy, use a Halyard Parking Bracket.

It holds a Harken 150 cam cleat upside down below the mast exit. After you jump to (close to) full hoist, you simply pull the halyard up and into the 150. Once the pit person pulls it tight with the winch, it automatically pulls down and out of the cleat.

All good race boats use them (normally for Spinnaker's) but it would be perfect for your application.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Cool! I found a bit more illustrative a picture of the device. I'll probably try it out.
Thanks,
KG

 

[JRacer]

Got a link to the supplier on that bracket? Haven't seen that inverted application before.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Got a link to the supplier on that bracket? Haven't seen that inverted application before.

Try this one.
http://www.apsltd.com/spinnaker-halyard-parking-bracket.html

 

[Gunni]

Install a low-friction Tidesmarine StrongTrack for your mainsail and do the hoist from your cockpit. Sweating the main from the mast is fun if you have the crew, but for short-handed cruising skip the mast cams and clutches and do it from the safety of your cockpit. I typically only winch the last 4 feet, the rest of the hoist is hand-over-hand.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I have the Selden roller-bearing batten cars on the mainsail luff. It's fairly easy to hoist the sail at the mast. Pulling on the halyard through the deck block and rope clutch from the cockpit is what adds up the friction, forcing me to start winching up with maybe less than half the hoist completed. Maybe I'm not all that strong. As I said, I usually have me first mate aboard when I (typically) go to the mast. The only difference is that there is no one to tail when she's not aboard, so I need to stop-off the halyard at the mast so I can clear the tail though the rope clutch back in the cockpit, etc., w/o the sail coming back down; obviously. I hoisted at the mast for 11 yr in my P-30; no hay problema. If the conditions are bad I can always hoist (slowly) from the Bavaria cockpit, which I have done.

 

[DougM]

It doesn't seem like it should be that difficult to hoist the main. Some Mclube on the slugs and in the mast track should suffice to make it an easy task, without the need to jump the halyard.

I like that parking bracket, except it looks like one would have to go to the mast in order to release the halyard when dousing the sail.

 

[Jackdaw]

I like that parking bracket, except it looks like one would have to go to the mast in order to release the halyard when dousing the sail.

Nope. That's the beauty of it. When you pull the halyard tight with the winch, it pulls it down and out of the parking bracket and frees it automatically.

It's great for racing with Spinnaker's, because the mast person is always much faster than the pit person at hoisting. This way when they see the mark on the halyard meaning it's all the way up, they lock it and they're done. The pit person can pull it in more or less at their leisure.