I am having a problem with my jib not unrolling all the way. There seems to be one or two "wraps" left of the sail when I try to unroll it using the small pull line. Could I have made a mistake when reattaching the jib wire to the mast? Also, if the vang is too tight, will this prevent the sail from being raised all the way? Yesterday, my third sail, I noticed that the sail along the mast was not up all the way, and wondered if this could have been caused by the vang. I'm new to sailing, and have sailed a few times on the Hunter 170 by myself using only the mainsail. Also, where I sail it is very shallow, and am looking for a trick to get the rudder to rise quickly, as the line seems to get stuck in the tiller extension cleat so at times, I have sailed without the tiller line through the cleat. Thanks, Kevin
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R
Rusty
Some answers
You have experienced very common situations and all have very easy answers. I encountered all three myself. First, the jib. You have left your jib rolled up as if it was furled. If you keep your jib on the boat, which you may do, or you have taken the jib off, but kept it rolled as if it was furled, it will do exactly as you say. You will notice that the jib luff (the forward edge) gets a memory and it will not unfurl. You will actually see a crease about 1 inch aft of the luff and it will look as if it has been ironed. This crease is what is causing the problem...it will not unroll at this point...it wants to pull. This is from the furling and I have not seen any way to fix this if the boat is stored with the jib furled (either up or down). Now if you trailor the boat and dissassemble it frequently, this is not a problem IF you unfurl the sail after removal and roll it up from the BOTTOM of the sail to the TOP for storage. If you leave the sail stored as it was furled (fore to aft) you will continue to have this problem. I am making the assumption here that there is plenty of line yet in the furler to roll out!! Rolling bottom to top will remove the crease and allow for easy furling! Naturally, you will need to roll the sail with the crease opened or this will do you no good either. As for the second question, this was answered last week. The answer is yes. See the archives. Not only will the vang cause this, but any tension on the leech (back edge)of the sail will cause this, i.e. tight vang, tight mainsheet, weight of the boom, your buddy drinking a beer and leaning on the boom as you do all the work of rigging the boat... Another easy solution... rig the sails after removing all tension from the mainsheet and the vang(which is a good safety tip anyway, as the wind can come up as your raising the main and blow you away or over if the main cannot luff out and release the force as you are rasing it). Make adjustments after the sail is up. If you want to see the force of your boom weight alone on the leach of the sail, drop your main, release the topping lift and try to raise your sail. It will stop or feel like it is stuck the instant that the leach of the sail tightens, yet you will have a whole bunch of loose sail near the mast. To lift the rest of this 1)simply have a buddy lift the aft portion of the boom and raise the sail or 2) reattach the topping lift and raise the remainder. A good lesson as to how the sail operates. This also happens if your topping lift is tied off to long. See the archives... As for question number three. EASY... I sail singlehanded alot and came across the same thing. Where I sail the water gets very shallow near shore and I have to deal with the rudder and the centerboard. I may be paranoid, but I do not like to have the centerboard hit bottom and kick up. I do not give the same respect to the rudder, after one experience where I forget to unhook the safety cable from the centerboard (which locks it down) and hit shallow water, in moderate breezes, I got my boat STUCK in the mud 200 feet from shore because the centerboard would not give and neither would the wind pushing us in. I looked pretty stupid!!! I have hit the rudder into the bottom in shallow water and I tell you what, the line did not break not did the rudder!!! So what to do as you come to beach? Here's what I now do. Release the safety strap from the centerboard well out. Release the line which holds the rudder down from it's cleat. Keep the rudder down. Hold this line between the palm of your hand and the tiller which will provide enough tension to keep the rudder down (you can even just run the line through your fingers if you want). As you approach the shore, start pulling the centerboard up and cleating. May do this several times depending on speed, distance and water depth. As you approach the shore, your rudder will hit the bottom and move up, pulling the line out from between the tiller and your hand. Very simple...very easy. A couple of suggestions also. Add additional line to the centerboard line to extend it to the back of the boat. Also, see the archives about adding a few pullies to get some leverage to raising the centerboard. I also added round stopper balls to the lines from the rudder which lock it up and down (it came with one, very odd). The lock up is a red ball..stop, while the lock down is green (go). If you have trouble hitting the bottom frequently (shallow water vs beaching), here's something to try...Replace part of the string which holds the rudder down with 3/8" or so shock cord. You will have to test how long of a piece and how thick, but if you have enough tension to hold the rudder down and enough length to give it play up and down, it might be to your advantage. Just ensure that if you get "smoking in the wind" your tiller doesn't pop up due to water resistence!!!! Good luck, hope this helps.
You have experienced very common situations and all have very easy answers. I encountered all three myself. First, the jib. You have left your jib rolled up as if it was furled. If you keep your jib on the boat, which you may do, or you have taken the jib off, but kept it rolled as if it was furled, it will do exactly as you say. You will notice that the jib luff (the forward edge) gets a memory and it will not unfurl. You will actually see a crease about 1 inch aft of the luff and it will look as if it has been ironed. This crease is what is causing the problem...it will not unroll at this point...it wants to pull. This is from the furling and I have not seen any way to fix this if the boat is stored with the jib furled (either up or down). Now if you trailor the boat and dissassemble it frequently, this is not a problem IF you unfurl the sail after removal and roll it up from the BOTTOM of the sail to the TOP for storage. If you leave the sail stored as it was furled (fore to aft) you will continue to have this problem. I am making the assumption here that there is plenty of line yet in the furler to roll out!! Rolling bottom to top will remove the crease and allow for easy furling! Naturally, you will need to roll the sail with the crease opened or this will do you no good either. As for the second question, this was answered last week. The answer is yes. See the archives. Not only will the vang cause this, but any tension on the leech (back edge)of the sail will cause this, i.e. tight vang, tight mainsheet, weight of the boom, your buddy drinking a beer and leaning on the boom as you do all the work of rigging the boat... Another easy solution... rig the sails after removing all tension from the mainsheet and the vang(which is a good safety tip anyway, as the wind can come up as your raising the main and blow you away or over if the main cannot luff out and release the force as you are rasing it). Make adjustments after the sail is up. If you want to see the force of your boom weight alone on the leach of the sail, drop your main, release the topping lift and try to raise your sail. It will stop or feel like it is stuck the instant that the leach of the sail tightens, yet you will have a whole bunch of loose sail near the mast. To lift the rest of this 1)simply have a buddy lift the aft portion of the boom and raise the sail or 2) reattach the topping lift and raise the remainder. A good lesson as to how the sail operates. This also happens if your topping lift is tied off to long. See the archives... As for question number three. EASY... I sail singlehanded alot and came across the same thing. Where I sail the water gets very shallow near shore and I have to deal with the rudder and the centerboard. I may be paranoid, but I do not like to have the centerboard hit bottom and kick up. I do not give the same respect to the rudder, after one experience where I forget to unhook the safety cable from the centerboard (which locks it down) and hit shallow water, in moderate breezes, I got my boat STUCK in the mud 200 feet from shore because the centerboard would not give and neither would the wind pushing us in. I looked pretty stupid!!! I have hit the rudder into the bottom in shallow water and I tell you what, the line did not break not did the rudder!!! So what to do as you come to beach? Here's what I now do. Release the safety strap from the centerboard well out. Release the line which holds the rudder down from it's cleat. Keep the rudder down. Hold this line between the palm of your hand and the tiller which will provide enough tension to keep the rudder down (you can even just run the line through your fingers if you want). As you approach the shore, start pulling the centerboard up and cleating. May do this several times depending on speed, distance and water depth. As you approach the shore, your rudder will hit the bottom and move up, pulling the line out from between the tiller and your hand. Very simple...very easy. A couple of suggestions also. Add additional line to the centerboard line to extend it to the back of the boat. Also, see the archives about adding a few pullies to get some leverage to raising the centerboard. I also added round stopper balls to the lines from the rudder which lock it up and down (it came with one, very odd). The lock up is a red ball..stop, while the lock down is green (go). If you have trouble hitting the bottom frequently (shallow water vs beaching), here's something to try...Replace part of the string which holds the rudder down with 3/8" or so shock cord. You will have to test how long of a piece and how thick, but if you have enough tension to hold the rudder down and enough length to give it play up and down, it might be to your advantage. Just ensure that if you get "smoking in the wind" your tiller doesn't pop up due to water resistence!!!! Good luck, hope this helps.
C
Chuck F.
Quick release cleat
I too, got my rudder stuck coming into shore. Like Rusty, I was more concerned with the centerboard and forgot about the rudder. I replaced the cleat with a quick release style. I use it set to the tightest setting. I hit a submerged log in the lake I frequent and the rudder popped right up. To reset the cleat, you just push it back down. I have yet to have it release when I don't want it to.
I too, got my rudder stuck coming into shore. Like Rusty, I was more concerned with the centerboard and forgot about the rudder. I replaced the cleat with a quick release style. I use it set to the tightest setting. I hit a submerged log in the lake I frequent and the rudder popped right up. To reset the cleat, you just push it back down. I have yet to have it release when I don't want it to.
R
Rusty
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