Main Halyard Stretching?

[Suncatcher]

I recently purchased a 1994 Hunter 26. Shortly after I raise the main and the halyard appears tight, the luff becomes very loose. I then tighten it but again becomes loose. Would it be that the halyard has stretched? Or is there something else I should consider before purchasing a new halyard?

 

[JRacer]

Might be that the rope clutch is slipping. Look for wear on the teeth of the clutch. Some can be rebuilt others need to be replaced. Might also check the condition of the line where it is pinned in the clutch, if worn, may slip. If its the line and its not too bad, you may be able to swap ends on the line and find "new meat" for the clutch to grab.

 

[JTulls]

Does the main halyard run to a clutch or do you have to tie it off on a Hunter 26? If it's in a clutch, then it's most likely slipping, like JRacer said. A good test for that is to over tighten it, take it off the winch (will probably slip slightly, that's why you overtighten) and then tie a slip knot in the halyard. That way, if it slips, it'll just hit the knot and stop.

If you just tie off the halyard to a cleat, it's probably just the knot tightening up under load which would make the halyard tension loosen. If that's the case, I'd look at some sort of clutch or cleating system that doesn't require you to tie a knot.

 

[Suncatcher]

The halyard is belayed on a cleat on the mast.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

You don't have a down haul?? Why not?

 

[Joe]

Check the tack connection also.

 

[jwing]

Suncatcher - you've not given us enough info to make a well-informed diagnosis, but I'll offer my guess:
I doubt that your halyard is stretching that much. The first thing I would do to your boat is clean and lubricate the sail slot in the mast and the sail slides. Then, make sure that the main is going all the way up when you first set it. If the luff loses tension, determine if the head is creeping down the mast. If so, concentrate your efforts toward fixing the halyard so that it does not slip under load.

If the top of the sail is not coming down, then direct you attention to the gooseneck, as mentioned by TSBB 2 in #5 and the tack, as mentioned by Joe in #6. There are a few ways to keep your gooseneck from sliding up the mast, such as downhaul, cunningham, sail track stop.

 

[DougM]

What type of line is your halyard and how old is it?
Some common running rigging is likely to have a 2% to 3% stretch factor even when new. Assuming you have a 30 foot hoist, a 2% stretch factor would be slightly over 7 inches, and 3% about 9 inches. Its not surprising to see some slackening even without wear in a clutch, if you had one. You might be seeing some stretch in the luff as well as the wind loads the sail.
You noted that you cleated your halyard at the mast, are you sweating it as you cleat it, or do you have a halyard winch? If you look around at other boats that are simply pleasure sailing, you will probably see a number of mainsails and jibs that are wrinkly along the luff.
Another reply questioned whether you have a downhaul. If not, it would be a fairly simple addition and could help to take out some minor stretch.

 

[Suncatcher]

Thanks guys...you gave me lots to follow up on.

 

[dlochner]

In the past 20 years there has been significant improvement in low stretch line. If you have the original halyards, I'd suggest replacing them with a modern low stretch line. New England Ropes VPC is a good choice, low stretch and moderately priced. A second, slightly less expensive choice would be Sta-Set X.

I'm not familiar with the H26, however, unless the gooseneck is on a track a downhaul will do little good. A cunningham will tighten the luff and move the draft forward. It is fine for taking up some slack in the luff, but if you have a lot of slack, then look at the halyard and the process you use hoist the main.

One option is to put a cam cleat above the horn cleat on the mast. After hoisting and sweating the sail put the halyard in the cam cleat and then on the horn cleat. Once secured pop the halyard out of the cam cleat.

 

[Jackdaw]

Make your halyards fast, then wrap some electrical tape around your halyard just above the cleat. Mark the mast with tape perfectly in line with the tape on the halyard. Once it 'slips', check the tape alignment. That will tell you what's going on.

 

[CloudDiver]

Dyneema Core halyard like NE Endura Braid... practically zero stretch. Expensive stuff, I know... but worth it in the long run.

 

[Suncatcher]

Great suggestions...thx...I'll report back on progress.

 

[JohnVTX]

Perhaps you are not cleating it properly by underwrapping the last or last two cleats wraps