We 've been sailing for a few days now (in light air) and have been playing with the sail trim. We did a good one. Left the topping lift attached and wondered why our sail wouldn't fill (don't laugh too hard). Now we are looking at the proper method for reefing the mainsial and have encountered some peculiar features on the mast. There is a small knurled screw fitting directly above the point where the sail cars enter the mast track. It appears it was placed there to prevent the cars from coming out when the halyard is lowered, and the sail brought down (and left on the boom). This is fine for stowing, but the reefing cringle won't reach the hook on the gooseneck. Do we need this stop screw?
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no, but its hand
I hate when my sail falls out of the mast, but that's just me.
Is the fitting on your boat a slide in the sail track, or is it fixed to the mast? On my Catalina raising the boom a bit and hoisting the sail a bit more allowed everything to line up right; this mast has a fitting that is fixed in the mast. On my Daysailer, you can either have convenience when you stow the sail, or when you reef, but not both because the keeper moves in the track. A solution is to drill a small hole through the trailing edge of the mast so that a pin placed though it will go through the sail track and trap the sail slugs. Drill it at an angle so that the pin stays in there. Attach the pin with a light chain to a screw so you won't lose it. If you fuss with it before you do it, you ought to be able to make it very easy to pull out the reef and then replace for furling ease. Justin - O'day Owners' Web
I hate when my sail falls out of the mast, but that's just me.
Is the fitting on your boat a slide in the sail track, or is it fixed to the mast? On my Catalina raising the boom a bit and hoisting the sail a bit more allowed everything to line up right; this mast has a fitting that is fixed in the mast. On my Daysailer, you can either have convenience when you stow the sail, or when you reef, but not both because the keeper moves in the track. A solution is to drill a small hole through the trailing edge of the mast so that a pin placed though it will go through the sail track and trap the sail slugs. Drill it at an angle so that the pin stays in there. Attach the pin with a light chain to a screw so you won't lose it. If you fuss with it before you do it, you ought to be able to make it very easy to pull out the reef and then replace for furling ease. Justin - O'day Owners' WebThanks Justin
Thanks for the real quick response! Glad you mentioned the Lasers regarding the vang. learnes to sail in an Optimus Pram and know what you mean. (took on quite a bit of water). On the reefing; the stop is a slide piece, fitted into the track, with a knurled nut to tighten or remove it. Certainly not without a tool like pliers though. The sail is a little too tall to raise the boom and hoist the sail further. It all fits fine, when properly hoisted, but now I know I'll have to remove the stop, and let two slide cars out in order to reef the sail. Little by little we'll get 'er right. Thanks again.
Thanks for the real quick response! Glad you mentioned the Lasers regarding the vang. learnes to sail in an Optimus Pram and know what you mean. (took on quite a bit of water). On the reefing; the stop is a slide piece, fitted into the track, with a knurled nut to tighten or remove it. Certainly not without a tool like pliers though. The sail is a little too tall to raise the boom and hoist the sail further. It all fits fine, when properly hoisted, but now I know I'll have to remove the stop, and let two slide cars out in order to reef the sail. Little by little we'll get 'er right. Thanks again.
An option
An option to ease with reefing is to have your sail altered a little bit by a local loft. They may be able to attach nylon webbing to the sail some distance from the luff, and the slugs to the strapping. Then when you reefed, the straps would allow the sail slugs to remain above the keeper, but the sail itself to be lowers a bit. Tough to explain, does it make sense? Justin - O'day Owners' Web
An option to ease with reefing is to have your sail altered a little bit by a local loft. They may be able to attach nylon webbing to the sail some distance from the luff, and the slugs to the strapping. Then when you reefed, the straps would allow the sail slugs to remain above the keeper, but the sail itself to be lowers a bit. Tough to explain, does it make sense? Justin - O'day Owners' Web
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