How to Rig Mainsail on Selden In-Mast

[asmits]

Can anyone point me to a procedure to rig the main on a Selden In-Mast? This Selden mast is on a Hunter 31 (2006), which I bought towards the end of the season in 2008, and the sails were taken down for winter before I could study it. Any help would be much appreciated...almost time to decommission!

Thanks,
Allan

 

[Marc14857]

Allan

With two people it is pretty straight forward.I assume it is the same procedure as my H36/H44.The toughest part is attaching the head of the sail to the halyard. You need to remove the two plastic plugs on the port side of the mast to gain access to the halyard fitting. Next you need to fit the head of the sail through the slot on the mast and using a twist shackle attach the head of the sale to the black triangle looking piece (i don't recall the name of the piece) that the halyard is attached to. Again you gain access from the cutouts on the port side of the mast. Skinny fingers help. I use a ty wrap to prevent the retaining pin on the shackle from twisting out. Next feed the luff of the sail into the sail track inside the mast and have someone start to raise the sail. I find it easy to have someone at the mast feeding the sail into the track while someone else raises the sail. Before the sail is fully up you need to attach the loop attached to the tack of the sail to the hook that is inside the mast. Again you gain access to the loop and the hook through the port side cutout in the mast. Once the loop is on the hook go ahead and tighten up the halyard.

I will assume that the outhaul is already rigged to the boom. At this point you simply attach the outhaul to the clew and tension the outhaul to pull the rest of the sail out. Next you need to use the furling system (continuous loop) to furl the main into the mast. Remember that the sail should furl in a counterclockwise direction. This is important and helps ensure that the sail will furl and unfurl without binding.

Sounds tougher than it actually is. Obviously you would want a calm wind. We usually do ours in the morning before the wind has a chance to come up.

If you are still concerned or have any questions, I don't live too far away (Westport) and would be happy to come down and give you a hand. Feel free to e mail me with any additional questions.

 

[Scott B]

From the Selden website.... In Mast

There are two access panels in the mast at the same level as the boom.

The Main Halyard is attached to the Halyard Swivel inside the mast. The head of the sail is attached to the swivel with a shackle. Similar to a jib furler, the luff is fead into a track. Once the main is fully raised, there is a tack hook inside the lower access panel in the mast.

The clew is attached to the outhaul car on the boom.

It's hard to descirbe the set-up via the internet. I rig ours just by knowing how it goes together, but not necessarily by the proper description.

Hope this helps.

 

[asmits]

Many thanks, Marc and Scott. The step-by-step procedure (Marc) and the Selden pdf (Scott) were just what I needed. You guys are awesome! I feel confident that I can do this now.

Best,
Allan

 

[Scott B]

No problem Allan. Yours won't be exactly the same as the pdf , in particular the way the outhaul car is rigged, but you will get the general idea. Have a look around your marina for other newer Hunters, they're all rigged generally the same. It helped me the first time I rigged ours.

 

[John]

Owners manual

Have you looked around on your boat for the owner's manual? If it's not there, I'd bet you can find it on-line. My own experience is that it's extremely helpful to have these manuals for everything on the boat. It would almost certainly provide you not only with illustrated explanations, but also with maintenance tips.