1984 H34 Main Sheet jams

[Found at Sea]

I have a 1984 Hunter 34 and am having trouble raising the main sheet any higher than the second spreader. Never had this problem before. Lubricated the cars...didn't help. Ran the halyard all the way up with a line attached and pulled smoothly all the way. Seems to have something in the mast track but can't be sure. Short of going up (or paying someone to go) in a Bosun's Chair to have a closer look, anyone have any suggestions.

 

[srhummer]

Try this site - I built it and it help my main go right up the mast. Have even lent it out to several friends.

http://www.cruisingonstrider.us/TrackLube.htm

 

[Benny17441]

If you are having problems raising the mainsail to its full heigth make sure the Voom-vang is released and that the reef lines are loose. Other than that there is an obstruction on the sail track that must be removed by someoene going up.

 

[rardiH36]

Is this something recent? Or always been the case, but now more severe? Yes,lubricant can assist, but also before hoisting the main sail, use the topping lift or rigid vang to raise the boom high enough so that after the sail halyard is tensioned, and the topping lift/vang is then slackened, the boom will fall down a few inches. (And obviously the main sheet needs to be slackened to allow the topping lift to raise the boom.) Doing this takes all the pressure of the weight of the boom off the sail when hoisting and allows the luff slides to remain much freer of tension and friction as the sail is raised. Its amazing to me that when I raise the boom like this, I can pull the main sail right to the top by hand. Conversely, if the boom is in a further down position, I can't. And then even some hard cranking in on the halyard with my cabin top winch won't be enough to tension the lower luff enough to avoid the dreaded "scallop" look when the wind freshens during the sail.

 

[Don Crowther]

If the halyard goes up when you have no load on it. It might be the sheave is seized. The second spreader is about 3/4 of the way up that's getting to be a lot of sail weight.

 

[Steve Dion]

What brand of line and what size are you using?

I had a hell of a time with StaSetX 1/2" (factory spec) on my H'31. Ended up going with a smaller sized line (7/16") and life was better. Better yet, is to stay away from StaSetX.