I tried a number of the simpler suggestions this weekend which owners have made in this forum to make raising the main easier . Not much change. I lubricated the slides, checked that the sheet was loosened, pulled the reefing lines through (was doing this anyway, its a must), lubricated the blocks at the mast base, checked for crossed lines under the deck cover, and lifted the topping lift to level out the boom, and lastly, just before a thunder storm I started to investigate the dutchman system. I see that the dutchman lines are not aligned straight up to the line holder on the topping lift. I shifted one and reattached. I don't know what affect is since the storm came. Anyone have thoughts on the dutchman system??? or other hints to make raising the main easier??
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R. Palaia
Thinner halyard
You may want to try a thinner diameter main halyard. With the new kinds of 'high tech' lines today, there are thinner lines with the same strength of larger diameters. Try a thinner line of equal breaking strength to the current. The thinner diameter will travel through the blocks easier. You may also want to try easing the main sheet before raising the sail. Roc
You may want to try a thinner diameter main halyard. With the new kinds of 'high tech' lines today, there are thinner lines with the same strength of larger diameters. Try a thinner line of equal breaking strength to the current. The thinner diameter will travel through the blocks easier. You may also want to try easing the main sheet before raising the sail. Roc
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Stephen Ostrander
extra block
Another trick is to attach a block to the sail head plate and run your halyard through the block, then attach it to the masthead. This will give you extra purchase, but you might have to get a longer halyard, and you would have to go up the stick or wait until you bring the spar down.
Another trick is to attach a block to the sail head plate and run your halyard through the block, then attach it to the masthead. This will give you extra purchase, but you might have to get a longer halyard, and you would have to go up the stick or wait until you bring the spar down.
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Rich Stidger
Full Batten Main?
Don, Does your 336 have a full batten main? My 40.5 does and it is apparently well-known that these mainsails have much more friction at the batten slides than other battened sails. I found that the FasTrac cleaner system and lube worked well for a short period of time. Maybe 4-6 weeks. Then it needed to be applied again. The mainsail had to be removed from the mast in order to get the cleaning slug into the track above the mainsail. A real pain, but it does work for a while. I bit the bullet this year and installed the Strong Track System. It replaces the smaller round cross-section slugs in the aluminum mast with large polished stainless steel flat slugs that ride in a naturally slippery nylon-type engineering plastic track. This track installs into the existing mast track for the round slugs. The system works great - reduced friction going up and I can now get the sail down even with a wind load on it. The entire sail drops to the boom in about 2-3 seconds when released. Down side- Cost of $25 per foot of mast length. Another great help is an electric halyard winch, but I suspect that on a 33 your sail really isn't that heavy. The common comment that I saw from 40.5 owners is that the mainsail (50#) was a bear to get up. Those owners that said it wasn't a problem all had electric winches. I took the hint. Rich
Don, Does your 336 have a full batten main? My 40.5 does and it is apparently well-known that these mainsails have much more friction at the batten slides than other battened sails. I found that the FasTrac cleaner system and lube worked well for a short period of time. Maybe 4-6 weeks. Then it needed to be applied again. The mainsail had to be removed from the mast in order to get the cleaning slug into the track above the mainsail. A real pain, but it does work for a while. I bit the bullet this year and installed the Strong Track System. It replaces the smaller round cross-section slugs in the aluminum mast with large polished stainless steel flat slugs that ride in a naturally slippery nylon-type engineering plastic track. This track installs into the existing mast track for the round slugs. The system works great - reduced friction going up and I can now get the sail down even with a wind load on it. The entire sail drops to the boom in about 2-3 seconds when released. Down side- Cost of $25 per foot of mast length. Another great help is an electric halyard winch, but I suspect that on a 33 your sail really isn't that heavy. The common comment that I saw from 40.5 owners is that the mainsail (50#) was a bear to get up. Those owners that said it wasn't a problem all had electric winches. I took the hint. Rich
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Don Curt
$$ cost beats losing my sailing partner...
Since my wife absolutely is fed up with the difficulty of the chore in raising the main. I just can't do it my self either with the reefing lines to be tended and helm to watch. If I take all the suggestions I may then buy a longer thinner halyard and rig it through a block for the 2.1 purchase, and clean/lub the track. If that doesn't work...maybe the special track, but at that cost it may be time for an electric winch. Thanks for the ideas, any more???
Since my wife absolutely is fed up with the difficulty of the chore in raising the main. I just can't do it my self either with the reefing lines to be tended and helm to watch. If I take all the suggestions I may then buy a longer thinner halyard and rig it through a block for the 2.1 purchase, and clean/lub the track. If that doesn't work...maybe the special track, but at that cost it may be time for an electric winch. Thanks for the ideas, any more???
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Steve Horvath
Dutchman retro fit
We changed our Dutchman system on our 336. I install a jam cleat and flush mounted block on one side of the boom, close to the front cleat on the bottom of the boom (I choose the Port Side). I ran a single line, tied at the front cleat on the bottom of the boom, up to a block, back to the boom and then up to the other block and back thru the new block mounted on the boom and through the jam cleat. This allows us to to loosen the Dutchman when going off the air. When dropping the Main, we snug up the Dutchman and drop the sail. By the way, our Main is difficult to raise also. We're going to try graphite.
We changed our Dutchman system on our 336. I install a jam cleat and flush mounted block on one side of the boom, close to the front cleat on the bottom of the boom (I choose the Port Side). I ran a single line, tied at the front cleat on the bottom of the boom, up to a block, back to the boom and then up to the other block and back thru the new block mounted on the boom and through the jam cleat. This allows us to to loosen the Dutchman when going off the air. When dropping the Main, we snug up the Dutchman and drop the sail. By the way, our Main is difficult to raise also. We're going to try graphite.
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Pete Burger
Raising the main
Don, I have a 430, with an even bigger sail, and although I do have an electric winch, I expected the halyard to part every time I raised the main, and to get it down I had to go up forward and pull it down. Then I changed from a plastic masthead sheave that came with the boat, to a ball-bearding steel one made by Shaefer, and that along with next size smaller halyard, but made of Stay-set X ( the strong stuff). Now raising the main is a piece of cake, and do lower it, I have to put on gloves, as it drops like a rock. Good luck! Pete S/V KAILANI
Don, I have a 430, with an even bigger sail, and although I do have an electric winch, I expected the halyard to part every time I raised the main, and to get it down I had to go up forward and pull it down. Then I changed from a plastic masthead sheave that came with the boat, to a ball-bearding steel one made by Shaefer, and that along with next size smaller halyard, but made of Stay-set X ( the strong stuff). Now raising the main is a piece of cake, and do lower it, I have to put on gloves, as it drops like a rock. Good luck! Pete S/V KAILANI
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Les Andersen
More Ideas
Don, You tried all my easy ones, sorry one didn't work. Couple of other things to try. There are replacement sail slides that are "more slippery" than the standard ones. Your rigger can get them for you. They cost about $5.00 each but might be better than the ones you have. Might try replacing just the ones that are connected to the batten pockets and head plate. You can do the work yourself. All the slides should fit in the mast slot without much wiggle. If yours are too loose they might be prone to bind. If you want to see if the battens are causing the problem then just pull and try sailing for a weekend without them. Won't be as responsive but it will sail quite nicely. If the sail is easier to raise and lower at least you have narrowed down the problem. Also your wife might be happier. Ball bearing sheaves, especially at the mast top, could help but you should be able to determine if that it is where its sticking before going through the effort of changing. The Duchman lines would have to be really out of whack to cause the kind of problems you are talking about. You can see the binding if its there. Most of the rest of the remedies have been discussed and are expensive. Sorry I haven't been more help. Les s/v Mutual Fun
Don, You tried all my easy ones, sorry one didn't work. Couple of other things to try. There are replacement sail slides that are "more slippery" than the standard ones. Your rigger can get them for you. They cost about $5.00 each but might be better than the ones you have. Might try replacing just the ones that are connected to the batten pockets and head plate. You can do the work yourself. All the slides should fit in the mast slot without much wiggle. If yours are too loose they might be prone to bind. If you want to see if the battens are causing the problem then just pull and try sailing for a weekend without them. Won't be as responsive but it will sail quite nicely. If the sail is easier to raise and lower at least you have narrowed down the problem. Also your wife might be happier. Ball bearing sheaves, especially at the mast top, could help but you should be able to determine if that it is where its sticking before going through the effort of changing. The Duchman lines would have to be really out of whack to cause the kind of problems you are talking about. You can see the binding if its there. Most of the rest of the remedies have been discussed and are expensive. Sorry I haven't been more help. Les s/v Mutual Fun
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Tom Ressler
Strong Track
I tried everything when I got my boat 4 yrs. ago. The main is just plain hard to raise!! I finally installed Strong Track from Tides Marine and it DID cut the effort in half. I've had it now for about two yrs. and am not a bit sorry. I can raise the main about 90% without the winch and use the winch for the last couple of feet. It comes down instantly. The track is UHMW and is very slippery. With the brass and stainless slides, it beats breaking the plastic slugs about every other sail. I also put on a rigid vang which lifts the boom to the highest point that I could get with the topping lift. I release the tension on the block that controls the vang, release the main sheet and haul away. It is kind of important to get the sail moving up and keep it moving. This seems to take some of the work out of the lift. I use a steady hand-over-hand pull. One way to find out if you have any binding at all is to try to lift the sail by pulling on the halyard at the mast. I found the turning block for the main halyard to be binding because somebody at the factory must have tightened it to the deck with an impact gun. I unscrewed the coach roof cover and eased the tension on the turning blocks. Lo and behold, it made the process even easier. Lubing the turning blocks doesn't do any good if they are binding to start with. Also, check the sheaves at the aft end of the mast. They need periodic lubing with McLube or similar. They will bind the reefing lines even when they are totally slacked off. If you back off the reefing lines and the outhaul, you can move these sheaves toward the end of the boom and make sure they spin freely. Hope this helps.
I tried everything when I got my boat 4 yrs. ago. The main is just plain hard to raise!! I finally installed Strong Track from Tides Marine and it DID cut the effort in half. I've had it now for about two yrs. and am not a bit sorry. I can raise the main about 90% without the winch and use the winch for the last couple of feet. It comes down instantly. The track is UHMW and is very slippery. With the brass and stainless slides, it beats breaking the plastic slugs about every other sail. I also put on a rigid vang which lifts the boom to the highest point that I could get with the topping lift. I release the tension on the block that controls the vang, release the main sheet and haul away. It is kind of important to get the sail moving up and keep it moving. This seems to take some of the work out of the lift. I use a steady hand-over-hand pull. One way to find out if you have any binding at all is to try to lift the sail by pulling on the halyard at the mast. I found the turning block for the main halyard to be binding because somebody at the factory must have tightened it to the deck with an impact gun. I unscrewed the coach roof cover and eased the tension on the turning blocks. Lo and behold, it made the process even easier. Lubing the turning blocks doesn't do any good if they are binding to start with. Also, check the sheaves at the aft end of the mast. They need periodic lubing with McLube or similar. They will bind the reefing lines even when they are totally slacked off. If you back off the reefing lines and the outhaul, you can move these sheaves toward the end of the boom and make sure they spin freely. Hope this helps.
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Tom Ressler
Strong Track 2
Make that the sheaves at the aft end of the boom. I didn't proof-read what I wrote.
Make that the sheaves at the aft end of the boom. I didn't proof-read what I wrote.
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jolie
Liquid Dishwashing Liquid
I read elsewhere on this site to just squirt diswashing liquid on the cars. Now my Passage 42 sail goes 90% up without winch. And drops 80% down like a rock. It really works great, and probably cleans the tracks too.
I read elsewhere on this site to just squirt diswashing liquid on the cars. Now my Passage 42 sail goes 90% up without winch. And drops 80% down like a rock. It really works great, and probably cleans the tracks too.
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Milt
Pull from deck
We have a 29.5 with a Dutchman system and used to crank the main up. I used to think my arms would fall off before the sail was all the way up. A few years ago when we chartered a 336 from CYOA in St Thomas, they told us to wrap once around the winch and lead to the helmsperson. Pull the halyard from the deck before the block and let the helmsperson take up the slack. This works great. Also a little lube on the cars helps.
We have a 29.5 with a Dutchman system and used to crank the main up. I used to think my arms would fall off before the sail was all the way up. A few years ago when we chartered a 336 from CYOA in St Thomas, they told us to wrap once around the winch and lead to the helmsperson. Pull the halyard from the deck before the block and let the helmsperson take up the slack. This works great. Also a little lube on the cars helps.
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