Slipping Line Raising the Main

[rachelmackenzie]

We are getting the hang of sailing our 336 and are also figuring out the 'nuances' of the boat. Speaking of which.....When we raise the main we do so around a winch and must transfer the main halyard to a cleat so we can use the winch for the jib. The line goes through a spinlock clutch. Whenever we release the line from the winch and transfer it to the cleat--with the spinlock closed--the main halyard slips back a good 3", and thus the sail goes down a bit. Perhaps this is inherent in the system since we have to transfer the line and there's such a load on it?

 

[Roy10289]

I have linr clutches on my boat too. When closed,no matter what tension,there is no slippage when line is released from the winch. I had replaced my clutches 3 years ago for just such a problem as you describe. I was told by manufacturer that parts do wear and slipping will result.

 

[rachelmackenzie]

So it begins! The projects on a 'new' boat! We've got a good list going now after two months : )

 

[Steve Dion]

We had a similar problem on our Hunber Vision 36 with the older Garhauer clutches. I could have had them repair/upgraded to the new style but decide to purchase new ones. The cost for a quad clutch was about $160 at the time. I think the new ones are about $200 for a quad unit and you can probably discount about $50 for each segment that you remove.

The new clutches have dual springs. We now have no slippage at all.

 

[Roy10289]

I purchased the Garhauer clutches too. As stated above I have had them for going on the 4th year now and have had no problems with them. The company is friendly and easy to do business with.

 

[Don12364]

If the mechanism is clean and free then you may find the rope gripping parts are worn. These are available as spares - try Google.
The parts become worn when people hoist the sail with the cleat closed and worse, open the cleat with the rope under full tension.
The way to avoid this is to put the halyard back on the winch and wind a little until you see the rope move towards you. Then open the cleat fully and release the rope from the winch in the normal way.
My cleats are now 16 seasons old and show no sign of slipping - and I do use plenty of luff tension sometimes.

A fix until you repair your jammers would be to over tension the main halyard by the three inches of slippage. You probably have this amount of stretch in the halyard anyway so no damage will be done.

 

[Rick D]

Gripper Probably Worn

My old Garhauers are 17 years old and grip fine.

 

[Rxman47]

A little off subject. Have someone raise the main at the mast and the person in the cockpit pull the halyard thru the rope clutch, you save a Lot of work on that winch.

 

[Alan]

There must be some issue with your clutch. As Rick says, I too have had my Garhauer clutches for over 15 years and with lots of racing under the belt they still work great.

One question I had while reading your post. You say that after tensioning the halyard you transfer the line to a cleat. My question, 'why do you need the cleat?' The object of the clutch is to hold the line under load, the cleat is completely redundant and useless.