Any ideas on how to improve the ease of hoisting and the dousing of the full battened mainsail on my h34 would be appreciated. I've already thoroughly cleaned the sail track and lubricated the sheeves. One other suspect area is the halyard which were on the boat when I purchased her... I'm wondering if it is the correct diameter. The other possibility is that the weight of the battens cock the lugs in the track and creat excessive frition. I'm aware of specialsail guides that have swivels on them, ther are very expensive though. Thanks for your thoughts and comments. Scott
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What type of lube?
Scott: What type of lube are you using? Have you tried McLube? This has been discussed in detail over that last couple of years. I ended up putting Dutchman cars on my full batten main and I am not sure that they are really better. I think that cleaning the track with a scotch brite pad and some good cleaner and then a good lubing with something like McLube is going to be your best bet. I also replaced the halyards last year but not sure. If you change your halyard go with sta-set (not sta-set x). I think that the softer line is helpful. Lookup in the archives and see what has been discussed on this subject too.
Scott: What type of lube are you using? Have you tried McLube? This has been discussed in detail over that last couple of years. I ended up putting Dutchman cars on my full batten main and I am not sure that they are really better. I think that cleaning the track with a scotch brite pad and some good cleaner and then a good lubing with something like McLube is going to be your best bet. I also replaced the halyards last year but not sure. If you change your halyard go with sta-set (not sta-set x). I think that the softer line is helpful. Lookup in the archives and see what has been discussed on this subject too.
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Wil Rogers
everything open and running?
Scott, Here are my .02 cents We had the same problem on our 460. First sheeve: The higher the first sheeve goes the sail track the more its angle increases towards the mast. The sheeves act like an emergency brake the closer they come to the top. Open ALL reefs and sheets, esp. the boomvang If you raise your mainsail, open ALL your reef lines, sheets … Some of those sheets don’t run very easy thru the boom. Once you haul the mainsail, the boom also raises. Make sure that you open the boomvang sheets as well, so the sail can be deployed in full shape. Winch: Cleat the sheet several times (5/6) onto the winch. Even for a 34 the main is pretty heavy. Put the nose of your boat directly into the wind. Let the mail luff for a minute or two. Then haul it up. Based on the shape of the mail of Hunter (kinda’ funky) it took me a while to find all tricks to haul it in once. The failure I did (and I have seen it now often) we didn’t credit the shape the mail has (=open ALL reefs and boomvang) Hope it helps a bit “more right rudder” Wil
Scott, Here are my .02 cents We had the same problem on our 460. First sheeve: The higher the first sheeve goes the sail track the more its angle increases towards the mast. The sheeves act like an emergency brake the closer they come to the top. Open ALL reefs and sheets, esp. the boomvang If you raise your mainsail, open ALL your reef lines, sheets … Some of those sheets don’t run very easy thru the boom. Once you haul the mainsail, the boom also raises. Make sure that you open the boomvang sheets as well, so the sail can be deployed in full shape. Winch: Cleat the sheet several times (5/6) onto the winch. Even for a 34 the main is pretty heavy. Put the nose of your boat directly into the wind. Let the mail luff for a minute or two. Then haul it up. Based on the shape of the mail of Hunter (kinda’ funky) it took me a while to find all tricks to haul it in once. The failure I did (and I have seen it now often) we didn’t credit the shape the mail has (=open ALL reefs and boomvang) Hope it helps a bit “more right rudder” Wil
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Robert Polk
Lube recommendation
My experience has been that all of the wet and dry lubes pick up dust and dirt and turn into a mess that gets on the sails and may even increse friction. My UK sailmaker says that the only thing I should use is is a liquid soap or detergent on the slides that will lubricate and self clean. I have not tried this but will this season. Planning on a Tides Marine Strong Track for next year.
My experience has been that all of the wet and dry lubes pick up dust and dirt and turn into a mess that gets on the sails and may even increse friction. My UK sailmaker says that the only thing I should use is is a liquid soap or detergent on the slides that will lubricate and self clean. I have not tried this but will this season. Planning on a Tides Marine Strong Track for next year.
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Tim Schaaf
Jamming
If the slides jam on the way down, it is probably the weight of the battens on their slides, which torques them a bit in the track. If you don't use something like the Dutchman system or lazy-jacks, just pull on the leach end of the battens. It straightens them enough for the sail to come rushing down. You will have to tug on them in turn. Pulling down on the luff will do you little good...the weight of the sail and battens is already trying to bring the sail down. Just relieve the pressure on the slides.
If the slides jam on the way down, it is probably the weight of the battens on their slides, which torques them a bit in the track. If you don't use something like the Dutchman system or lazy-jacks, just pull on the leach end of the battens. It straightens them enough for the sail to come rushing down. You will have to tug on them in turn. Pulling down on the luff will do you little good...the weight of the sail and battens is already trying to bring the sail down. Just relieve the pressure on the slides.
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Tac Boston
Sail hoisting solution
We recommend the Tides track system. We sell tons of them and they are not really expensive. The track fits right in your exsisting mast groove. It is easy to install and work very easily. Cheers, TacBoston tac_boston@doylesails.com
We recommend the Tides track system. We sell tons of them and they are not really expensive. The track fits right in your exsisting mast groove. It is easy to install and work very easily. Cheers, TacBoston tac_boston@doylesails.com
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Rich Wallace
Something Else to Check
Scott, Check and see if the halyard runs free when it is not connected to the sail. I had a situation where the halyards inside the mast were wrapped around the wiring for the mast lights and the mast head instruments. I had to take the mast down and using a flashlight, look into the mast from the bottom and move the halyards around the wiring until it was all untangled. It qualifies as one of the more frustrating tasks I have had to complete. You have to do this task at night. Othewise the daylight blinds you and you cannot see up into the mast.
Scott, Check and see if the halyard runs free when it is not connected to the sail. I had a situation where the halyards inside the mast were wrapped around the wiring for the mast lights and the mast head instruments. I had to take the mast down and using a flashlight, look into the mast from the bottom and move the halyards around the wiring until it was all untangled. It qualifies as one of the more frustrating tasks I have had to complete. You have to do this task at night. Othewise the daylight blinds you and you cannot see up into the mast.
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Peter
A couple of ideas
Have you tried cutting a candel to fit in your mast track and fitting it in between the first car and the second car. This will allow it to lubricate the mast track every time the cars go up and down. I suspect that the track is not your problem though. You most likely have a problem with the halyard wraped around something in the mast or maybe one of the turning blocks on the mast is freezing up under pressure. What you can do to isolate the problem is to take the main halyard off of the sail and put your weight on the halyard and have someone take you up and down the mast. If it binds then it is not your track. If you find out that you halyard is wraped let me know and I can give you some suggestions on how to rerun your halyard without taking the mast down (takes about 1/2 a day to get it right). If the halyard is binding under your weight you should first check the turning blocks on the top and bottom of the mast. I have seen the hole in the middle get out of round and cause it to bind up. They usually can be replaced without taking the mast down but it is not a job for the light at heart. If these suggestions don't work I would look to see if the battons are causeing the cars lock on the track. If you find this is the problem you should probably consider getting one of thoes add on tracks that slide into the existing track. I have seen a few racing boats that have these. They work pretty well and I understand they are pretty easy to install. Gook luck.
Have you tried cutting a candel to fit in your mast track and fitting it in between the first car and the second car. This will allow it to lubricate the mast track every time the cars go up and down. I suspect that the track is not your problem though. You most likely have a problem with the halyard wraped around something in the mast or maybe one of the turning blocks on the mast is freezing up under pressure. What you can do to isolate the problem is to take the main halyard off of the sail and put your weight on the halyard and have someone take you up and down the mast. If it binds then it is not your track. If you find out that you halyard is wraped let me know and I can give you some suggestions on how to rerun your halyard without taking the mast down (takes about 1/2 a day to get it right). If the halyard is binding under your weight you should first check the turning blocks on the top and bottom of the mast. I have seen the hole in the middle get out of round and cause it to bind up. They usually can be replaced without taking the mast down but it is not a job for the light at heart. If these suggestions don't work I would look to see if the battons are causeing the cars lock on the track. If you find this is the problem you should probably consider getting one of thoes add on tracks that slide into the existing track. I have seen a few racing boats that have these. They work pretty well and I understand they are pretty easy to install. Gook luck.
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Scott
ease the mainsheet
We had the same problem, until a fellow sailor asked if we were letting out the main and the vang loose. From then on the main halyard went right up with no trouble. The boom needs to come up to allow som slack and change the angle of the boom to the mast. Scott
We had the same problem, until a fellow sailor asked if we were letting out the main and the vang loose. From then on the main halyard went right up with no trouble. The boom needs to come up to allow som slack and change the angle of the boom to the mast. Scott
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