Sticky Halyard, hard to raise Mainsail

[Saillife]

I have an '83 Hunter 34 with I'm guessing a kenyon mast (the boom is, mast has been painted no visible name).

I can raise the mainsail but it requires more effort than it should. It has been this way since I got the boat. Just moving the mainsail halyard on my boat is hard. I've checked the sheaves at the top & bottom of the mast and they are fine.

I'm left with the conclusion that the halyard is wrapped around something in the mast. When lowering the sail (again, takes more force than it should) I can hear a moan/grown coming from inside the mast. I've considered the idea that the halyard is fouled with another one and next time at the boat I'll see if I can feel anything in them when I move the mainsail. The sound makes me think it's something else. I'm left wondering is there a conduit in the mast for the wiring that the halyard could be wrapped around? Other ideas? I'm really not looking forward to pulling the mast but am running out of ideas.

Thanks.

 

[Blitz]

Pictures of your mast would help but if it's like my Kenyon mast the conduit for wiring is part of the extrusion on the aft side of the mast. The slot is covered with a panel and is not a factor.

Your halyards sound like they are twisted in mast. Did you change. Your halyards recently?

Please be aware however that often halyards do criss-cross in the mast.

Neal

 

[Allan12210]

Blitz is correct that the wires are on the back of the mast extrusion, not inside. To get to the wires you have to pull the mast, take off the boom and bracket then slide the sail track out the end. There are your wires under that. Now back to your problem. There is a tube welded inside the mast that goes from the back of the steaming light on the front of the mast to the back under the sail track. That is how the wire is routed (inside that tube). Your halyards could be twisted around each other and go from one side of the tube to the other. All of this could add tension to the system. Each halyard should drop directly from the upper sheave to the bottom staying on their respective side of the cross tube. You should be able to tell if the halyards are crossed by holding one with a bit of tension while pulling the other. If you feel the other halyard move, they are twisted. Hard to tell about the cross tube, but it shouldn't actually add much friction as its round.

How about your halyard diameter? I replaced mine a few years ago and ended up getting the wrong size. It was too big and would not run easily. Finally this year I replaced the halyards again with ones from the store on this site and what a difference. Now the main falls down completely when I release the stopper. I can raise it completely by hand without the winch.

Good luck.

Allan

 

[Mark48]

As a new to me 85 - 34 my genoa was very hard to raise after removing for some repairs. Came down like a piece of cake. Could be that the repairs may have put additional thickness onto the tape somewhere. However I had to raise with a winch and lots of effort. Main does not require winch except for tension. Just a thought that Saillife might want to check the slides for any binding on the main.

 

[Steve Dion]

Saillife:

We had the same problem on our '85 H'31. I replaced the original main halyard with 1/2" Sta-setX and about a year or so later the main was very difficult to raise. I then ordered a new halyard (7/16") and it worked fine.

I think some of this line can absorb water and it can cause the material to swell and cause excessively.