Rigging the Mainsail
Hello Ken I can understand your predicament - rigging the boat for the first time can be a bit intimidating. O'Day provided a pretty thorough instruction sheet for rigging, and so I'll be quoting from this: To hoist mainsail 1. The wooden battens are inserted into their respective batten pockets. 2. The tack is attached to the boom. 3. the foot of the sail is drawn tight The outhaul line should be attached to the clew, passed through the fitting on the end of the boom, and cleatedon the boom cleat (approximately 2/3's of the way up on the right side of the boom.) 4. The main halyard is attached and the sail is fed into the slot on the mast as you raise the sail. Hoist the sail fully and cleat it. 5. To tighten the luff of the sail, pull down on the downhaul and cleat it. The position of this cleat on the mast can be changed by loosening the two screws, moving the cleat and then tightening again. Hope this helps - e-mail me directly with any further Q's at hijinx@mindspring.com P.S. What color is your Widgeon? Just curious - I've only seen them in white and orange....
