sail track problem

[Bill Greenberg]

I noticed difficulty in hoisting my mainsail while headed into 18 knot winds. It hoisted with difficulty and then would not go up the last foot or so. When we tried to to douse it it would not come down. We turned so that the wind put pressure on the sail and ,voila, down it came with no difficulty. I checked the sail slugs, looked at any lines which might have prevented the sail from being fully hoisted but saw no problems. This is the first time in 4 years I've seen this problem. Anybody out there ever experience something like this? Bill Greenberg

 

[Bayard Gross]

Mainsheet loose before hoist?

You mat have inadvertantly had your topping lift lower the boom too far coupled with a tight main sheet. That is, the boom may have been at a downward angle to the mast which would have caused the problems you mentioned but I do not think to the extent that they did.Before your next hoist, make sure the topping lift is well holding up the boom and put some slack into the mainsheet. This may make things fly around a bit, but it should help.

 

[Chris Burti]

slot gate

I discovered someone had replaced the factory slot gate with a door striker plate. It had become misaligned and the last couple of slugs were hanging up. Same symptoms as you have and not very obvious. I removed the gate and the problem resolved. I just picked up a new gate and will install it this weekend. I have read posts about the factory gate being misaligned and causing the same problem. Sometimes it just needs adjusting, sometimes you might have to bend it a little to match the slot geometry. *o

 

[Joe]

When's the last time you lubricated the track?

... squirt a little teflon type lubricant on the slugs next time you hoist the mainsail.