Swallow Yachts Forum > Technical
Raising and lowering the main
Simon Knight:
Hi all, great thread and having just returned from the English Raid I'll add my ten pence worth.
I have a BR with a carbon mast and a wooden boom. I have been storing the sail using the drop and lash the gaff horizontal to the mizen mast. This works but means that the mizen has to be stowed as it fouls the end of the gaff and as mine is windsurfer pocket style its the only way to get a rope around the m.mast. I have been camping under a tent supported by the gaff and found that it was easier to remove the boom and put it on the floor as it is so heavy (I shall be looking for Claus's notes on using a plastic boom). I usually moved the main halyard to the aft/top position on the gaff to add extra support as crews from rafted boats crossing over mine using the gaff as a hand hold.
I find hoisting a problem and am now going to use an f word. FRICTION! My main halyard has no sheave and where it emerges from the mast it fouls on the double sheave block used for the jib forestay. This block routes the jib and spinnaker halyards but the force exerted by the jib halyard bears on the spinnaker halyard causing it to jam. I am looking at ways of improving my boats mast head and will report back if I stumble on a useful configuration.
I also think that there must be a better way of reefing the main as I did/do not fancy dropping everything into the boat to reduce sail area while bouncing about in a force five wind against tide. Again its the heavy boom which causes me most concern as it will drop when the halyard is lowered and possibly brain the person on the helm. A topping lift plus a light weight boom will help here - I hope!
Fortunately my mast does not have a track and slides but I did see the crew of Mini-the-Moocher using an oar to get the gaff all the way up so I tend to go along with the "all it takes is a grain of sand..." theory.
best wishes
Simon
Simon Knight:
I've solved the friction problem with a little metal bending and an extension :-)
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