Mainsail Overlaps Backstay

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D

Ducati

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Nov 19, 2008
380
Boatless Boatless Annapolis
Other 36.7 owners tell me that the mainsail (just at the top batten) gets caught on the backstay.

Sunday the winds were light and the damn sail kept getting stuck. We tried slacking off the backstay and tacking hard (fast). Eventually we had to lower the halyard a foot just to tack and I am told that with stronger winds this shouldn't be an issue.

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R

Rick Sylvester

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Jul 1, 2004
567
Hunter 40 St. Petersburg
The J40 I crew on has this problem

all the time in light air.

Typically we can just push the boom further out on the new leeward side to pop the battens through. It's no biggie.

A far more annoying problem is in extremely light air the top battens won't invert on the new tack. For that we have to get a couple guys on the cabin top, push the boom far to leeward and then YANK the boom hard to windward.
 
W

Willjacocks

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Apr 4, 2010
19
Ranger 28 Tall Rig Maurepaus
Maybe extend the head of the mast back with a fitting or a plate to extend the top of the backstay by a few inches can take care of that? Just make sure it is not a slap on job, secure and strong. Seems easy enough to have one made and attached. Get rid of all that problem.
 
Joe

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
8,323
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
You wouldn't have that problem if you had a rigid vang. Then you could disconnect the topping lift altogether when sailing.
 
DougM

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
I am assuming that you are truly catching the batten on the backstay, and not the topping lift. If its catching on the topping lift, disconnect it from the boom and get it out of the way.

If its because of the roach on the sail, try to trim the battens off so that they don't stick out of the pockets.

The person who recommended the Hunter because it has no backstay probably has a valid point. However, I think he's probably sailing a little bit more slowly than the 36.7 most of the time...
 
Alan

Alan

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Jun 2, 2004
4,174
Hunter 35.5 LI, NY
No backstay is certainly one alternative. However, not having a backstay presents its own set of problems. None of this will help the original poster.
The alternatives are:
1) Reduce the roach on the main
2) Add a crane the the masthead (note: a flicker is out of the question because the 36.7 has inline spreaders)
3) Add a small roller to the backstay

Each of these has their pros and cons. The easiest and least expensive is the roller.
 
Rich Stidger

Rich Stidger

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Feb 10, 2004
4,235
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Same problem on my 1997 h40.5

My large roach main would hit the back-stay at the head of the sail.

I took the sail to my sail-maker and told him to straighten the leach of the sail to avoid the back-stay.

Problem gone. I don't race so I have not noticed any performance decrease, and the reduction in sail area is minimal anyway.

See the pix below for the problem before the sail modification.
 

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