05 36 - New owners looking for procedures on furled main and jib for winter storage.

[Pura Vida WI]

Last week my wife and I became proud new owners of a 2005 Hunter 36 which we will use in the Milwaukee WI area. We have limited experience (mostly bareboat charter crew and ASA courses) prior to owning this boat and will not have much time before we have to haul it out for the winter.
I am having a difficult time finding documentation on how to remove the main and jib sails. I need to remove them this weekend as it will be hauled out Saturday. Since I cannot find procedures I wrote my own and I’d appreciate any commentary on my procedures. Do I have anything out of order or did I leave out any steps? Also, is this possible if we have 10-15 MPH winds?
The old owner mentioned that when they did this, they pulled the sails through the hatch hole below each sail. Is this technique a good one?
Again, any information or links to proper procedures will be very helpful and appreciated. Thank you.

Removing Mainsail procedures in furling mast:
1. Move furling selector from “Ratchet” to “Free”.
2. Unlock unending “in-haul” furling lines.
3. Unlock Clew outhaul line.
4. Unfurl main sail.
5. Loosen main halyard.
6. Unhook tack from furling post.
7. Unhook Clew from outhaul.
8. While keeping light tension on main halyard pull mail sail out of mast.
9. Unhook sail head from halyard.
10. Secure mail halyard so it will not travel up mast.

Removing Jib sail :
1. Un-cleat “in-haul” jib furling line.
2. Fully unfurl Jib
3. Loosen Jib halyard.
4. Unhook tack from furling post
5. While keeping light tension on jib halyard pull jib sail out of jib furling.
6. Unhook jib head from jib halyard.
7. Secure jib halyard so it will not travel up jib furling post.

 

[chuckwayne]

That's basically it - we collect and fold the sails on deck after we pull them down. However, 10-15 is too much wind to handle the sails. If possible, start early in the AM or late in the day when the wind settles down, and try to have the boat pointing into the wind - doing it on a mooring if possible will let the boat swing as the sail fills. depending on your hardware, be careful with the main halyard shackles - it's easy to drop the pin and/or shackle inside the mast.

 

[Pura Vida WI]

Thank you chuckwayne. I am hoping the wind forecast for Saturday is wrong in that case. Still too much wind if we are underway motoring directly into the wind? Thank you again for verifying my procedures!

 

[alexco38]

Try to go to a slip temporary. You can fan fold the sails from the boat right onto the slip. Don't need to drag it to a large flat space.

 

[Joe]

Why are you trying to take the sails down while motoring? It shouldn't take you more than a few minutes to take off each one. Just release the halyard and pull them down while you're waiting for the lift crew. If the weather is nasty, just do it later... when the boat's on the hard and the weather is calm. Roll them up and take them somewhere that you can lay them out and fold properly... Essentially you flake the sail loosely from bottom to top.... That means you and your crew stand on opposite sides at the foot of the sail and pull 18-24 foot sections over each other... the last section should leave the headboard on the foot side of the stack... then roll it up lightly from the clew end toward the tack... Put the sail in the bag so the clew, tack and head are all facing up....

 

[meb135]

8. While keeping light tension on main halyard pull mail sail out of mast.
5. While keeping light tension on jib halyard pull jib sail out of jib furling.

Hopefully I'm misreading these 2 items but it sounds like you're keeping tension on the halyards and "pulling" the sails out of their tracks. Lower the sails and let them fall out of their tracks.

 

[chuckwayne]

Don't try to do this underway!
The 356 sails are pretty big and it's easy to lose control if there's wind. Joe's right, they should come down pretty quickly - but I do like to keep control of the halyard so you don't get too much coming down at once. If you have two people, you can gather the sail - one on the luff and one on the leach as it drops. If you have standard cloth sails, this works well. I have laminate sails and they are quite stiff and have to be folded carefully.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

second that on what Chuckwayne and Joe, never mess with the sails while motoring.

 

[Pura Vida WI]

Note taken on not attempting to do this while motoring. Thank you all for the advise. I will wait until we have calm winds either while on a mooring or once she is on the cradle.

From what you explain Meb135, it sounds like the sails will fall easily out of their tracks. I will not need to pull them down, only need to loosen the halyards. I will modify my procedures.

Thank you all again.

 

[DayDreamer41]

I did not see in your procedure to remove battens? I have a roller furling main with vertical battens, these should be removed before you drop the sail, also the top fitting is not easily reached and is only accessed through a small slot in the side of the mast, real PITA, specially if its blowing at all. I wanted and did get mine down before put on the stands, I did not want to attempt dropping the sails once on the hard.
Neither the Jib nor the Main just fell out of their tracks, I did drop ours with about a 10 kt wind coming from the port stern, it wasn't really that bad, I was in our well with a (4) point tie-off)

 

[chuckwayne]

vertical battens were introduced on the 36, which has a larger mast section than the 356 - but a very good point for all of those reading this thread

 

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