Main Sail will not go up all the way

[Mougly]

Hello again

I seem to be having difficulty lifting the main sail all the way up, it lifts up easily until about a foot from th top and that's where it seems to stick, I tried using the winch but even with the winch it will not go up all th way, do you know why this could happen? any suggestion on fixing this would be great.

Cheers

 

[Ron20324]

Is there a second hole in the headboard you could attach the halyard into?

 

[Steve Dion]

Your halyard may have absorbed moisture. I had this happen several years ago. I ended up replacing the halyard with a new a slightly smaller line.

 

[Maine Sail]

Release

First try releasing the main sheet, and the boom vang and then loosen the outhaul. You can then raise the main to full height and adjust the rest. Be careful not to force and over apply the winch or you could stretch the luff of the main..

 

[Ed Schenck]

You don't say if the luff is loose or tight when you reach that stopping point. If the luff is already tight then two things could be at work: 1) the sail is the wrong size, the luff is too short; 2) the boom is arrested by the cunningham and can not go up to it's normal position(that was true on my old C-22 at least).

If the luff is still loose then the other responses might apply. Especially check the headboard attachment and loosen everything as discussed. But I think something else is afoot since the winch won't budge it.

 

[Mougly]

The luff is loose at the bottom part, the sail is the original sail for this boat so that is not the problem, I also do not believe that the Halyard is the issue since it's new.

I will take a look at the boom position (it is at the bottom of of the track).

 

[Dick Westwood]

what's happening aloft

Should your boom really be at the bottom of the track? Does it make any difference if you push the boom further up the track? (Even so, if the lower part of your luff is loose, that isn't your primary problem.)

Sounds to me like the problem's in one of two locations: at the lower end of your sail, or at the top, near where it stops.

First, I'd check everything at the lower end that could be stopping the sail from hoisting further. These would include, as Maine Sail noted, the sheet, vang and outhaul (release all these) and, as Ed Schenk noted, the cunningham (release this too). In my case, there's a single line reefing system I leave in place: I need to put a LOT of slack in that to hoist my main fully. Plus release whatever downhaul system there might be to hold the boom down.

If there's nothing at the lower end causing the problem, I think your problem's aloft, at the "jamming point". It's caused either by the halyard or by the slide/groove/track.
Particularly if you have a wire halyard at the top: sight up the mast to see if it's sticking on something up there. (This happened to a neighbor's boat just last week.) You might see better if you try swinging the halyard around to see if it's running clear. And, if the line's not running free, you may be able to tease it free with a telescopic boat hook.
Take a look at the top slide (or the upper end of the bolt rope) to see if there's signs of excessive wear. That could give you a clue regarding the track.

 

[bffatcat]

main sail wont go to the top of track

Sounds to me like there is something wrong up near the top of the track. Heres an easy way to check. Take a sail slide similar to what your using. Tie a messenger line to the slide. Tie your main halyard on to the slide Insert the slide into the track and hoist If it dosent go all the way to the top you will know there is some kind of an obstruction in the track near the top of the mast.

 

[Ross]

Re: main sail wont go to the top of track

New halyard, Could be an overly long splice that won't go through the top sheave.

Edit to add: Did it hoist to the top with the old halyard?

 

[Don12364]

Then again, as it is a new halyard, how about a knot in the halyard inside the mast which stops as it gets to the bottom. How it got in there is for you to figure.

 

[Steve Dion]

New Halyard! If the splice was not made correctly the line may be too "fat" to go through the sheave.

Why don't you hook a line the end of the line (without a sail) and see if you can get it all the way up. This will at least eliminate some of the potential problem with the halyard.

 

[MrBee]

I good pair of Binoculars will enable you to see a lot up there.
I was thinking what Steve just suggested, Tie aa line to the Main Halyard and hoist it without the sail, then you will know if the Sail is the problem or the Halyard is the problem.

Bee

 

[Ross]

I wonder when the op will return.

 

[Mougly]

The Halyard goes up to about 5" from th top which still leaves me with at least another 7" space.

I will try sending up a slider to see if the problem is in the mast.

Cheers

 

[Ross]

Did the sail hoist properly on the old halyard?

 

[Mougly]

Not sure, as this is a new boat for me and it came with the new halyard.

 

[Ron20324]

What diameter is the new halyard? I would think 5/16, no more than 3/8 on a 23. As mentioned above, if there is an eye splice it can be too big to go into the masthead sheeve. Or maybe the halyard is just tied onto the sail or a shackle?

 

[Mougly]

After some testing, I think the problem is with the sliders, some of them seem to be getting old and may be getting stuck up top, I was thinking of spraying some Teflon lubricant on them.

any thoughts on that?

 

[Banooma]

Spraying your sliders with teflon lubricant should help, and would be an easy next step towards diagnosing and solving this dilemma . I'd think after that, you might consider replacing them.

 

[Ross]

Simply leaving the top slide off the track will answer several questions at once. With the top slide off and the sail hoists properly then the problem is either the slide or the track. If the sail still doesn't hoist properly then it is the halyard. If you suspect the slide exchange it for one lower down on the sail. I doubt that it is the slide because it hoists 90 percent of the way I suspect the track had been bruised if the halyard is not at fault.