Pointing into the wind

[yukonbob]

Just be aware using a proper drogue to simply keep pointed into the wind is a little overkill and if not rigged with a proper release can be difficult to retrieve. For the purpose of raising your main singled handed, your anchor will do just fine as will a bucket and a small length of rope.

[Neo]

Just be aware using a proper drogue to simply keep pointed into the wind is a little overkill and if not rigged with a proper release can be difficult to retrieve. For the purpose of raising your main singled handed, your anchor will do just fine as will a bucket and a small length of rope.

Thanks .... I'm going to try the bucket tomorrow

[Wind Chime]

Just be aware using a proper drogue to simply keep pointed into the wind is a little overkill and if not rigged with a proper release can be difficult to retrieve. For the purpose of raising your main singled handed, your anchor will do just fine as will a bucket and a small length of rope.

I'll second what YukonBob says above.

Deploying and using a drouge (or similar) is realy intended for situations other than raising the mainsail.

Raising the main (even single handed) should be very easy and quick for many reasons, especially safety. It really should be up or down in a few seconds.

Having halyards led to the cockpit so you do not need to go on deck is a very good investment, (as well as a downhaul) and of course and auto pilot to keep the bow into the wind under power while hoisting is an added bonus, but can easily be done with a wheel lock or bungee cord if need be.

[Tomfoolery]

Raising the main (even single handed) should be very easy and quick for many reasons, especially safety. It really should be up or down in a few seconds.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Having halyards led to the cockpit so you do not need to go on deck is a very good investment, (as well as a downhaul) and of course and auto pilot to keep the bow into the wind under power while hoisting is an added bonus, but can easily be done with a wheel lock or bungee cord if need be.

as well as this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^, but I would add that I take it out of gear before climbing out of the cockpit, like to clear a jamb, as I don't want to fall overboard with the OB pushing the boat out of reach and beyond. I don't have an autopilot, so if I need to go forward, I just get a bit of steam on, knock it into neutral, go forward to clear what needs clearing, and I'm back in the cockpit before it falls off by much. But usually, with halyard aft, I don't need to go forward at all. Halyard aft is a very worthwhile investment, IMO.

Oh, and I use the halyard rope clutch for my MRS line, so I can stop anywhere in the process and not have to cleat it off. Though sometimes I pass the tail around a stern mooring cleat anyway, just-because.

[Curwen]

Wind Chime wrote:
Having halyards led to the cockpit so you do not need to go on deck is a very good investment, (as well as a downhaul) and of course and auto pilot to keep the bow into the wind under power while hoisting is an added bonus, but can easily be done with a wheel lock or bungee cord if need be.

The front edge of my main slides into the track on my main. So raising and lowering is not a quick event. When raising the main, I need to feed the sail into the track and when lowering the main, the sail comes out of the track and flails everywhere. I've read about placing a bungee at the top of the track will keep it from sliding out, but it also restricts the ability to lower the main since all that welting is in the mast track preventing lowering the main.

I have a tiller tamer and that kinda works sailing solo, but I don't have trust in it yet. For now, i point into the wind the best I can, free the main's sheet, raise as fast as I can, loose the bungie on the jib or ginny, race back to the cockpit, tighten jib/genny sheets and then control the main sheet.

Thoughts/suggestions/solutions?

[sailboatmike]

Spend the %10 and your problem will be solved http://www.sailrite.com/Sail-Track-Stop-Round

Keeps the slugs in the sail track when you bring the sail down, and they will always be in when you want to raise it,

[March]

A piece of string tied snugly just above the place where the groove gets wider as to allow the slugs to come out is what I use: cheap (2 cents), fast ( in place in 5 seconds, for everybody knows how to tie a piece of string with no fancy marine knots) and effective (it stays in place even when the slugs come against it--you need only the last slug to stay in place and the rest align themselves above like beads on a string)
Bungee chords? You don't need no stinking bungee chords for that. Use them to wrap up the main sail against the boom. Same for the bolt in the grove. Too high-tech. All high tech devices have an annoying characteristic--they tend to break down

[Curwen]

keeps the slugs in the sail track when you bring the sail down, and they will always be in when you want to raise it,

My sail doesn't have slugs. My sail has a welt, like on on a cushion, that slides in the channel. Can slugs be added to a sail like that? I contemplating new sails over the winter so that might be part of the conversation.

[sailboatmike]

keeps the slugs in the sail track when you bring the sail down, and they will always be in when you want to raise it,

My sail doesn't have slugs. My sail has a welt, like on on a cushion, that slides in the channel. Can slugs be added to a sail like that? I contemplating new sails over the winter so that might be part of the conversation.

Thats called a "Bolt Rope" on a boat (I know things on boats have stupid names), and yes they can be replaced with slugs, many people do to make raising and dropping the sail easier with much less friction

[Neo]

Oh, and I use the halyard rope clutch for my MRS line, so I can stop anywhere in the process and not have to cleat it off.

You don't have a winch on your MRS pole with a two way clutch?

[Tomfoolery]

Oh, and I use the halyard rope clutch for my MRS line, so I can stop anywhere in the process and not have to cleat it off.

You don't have a winch on your MRS pole with a two way clutch?

The system used a four-part block and fall system essentially identical to the main sheet system, though I upped mine to five parts with ball bearing blocks that I had laying around.

My FIL has his hand on the rope clutch in the last shot, and is probably closing it in preparation for raising the main. Normally, the main halyard turns starboard at the base of the mast, and toward the stern near the starboard rail, then goes through the rope clutch. In fact, if you look close you can see the halyard coming from the base of the mast to the cheek block on the deck next to the lineline stanchion. But the rope clutch is a handy place for the MRS line. I also take a turn around the winch drum when lowering the last half, to reduce the tailing force on the line that has to be hand-supplied. Add another turn, and it takes two fingers to hold or lower the mast via friction on the drum.

[Neo]

Holly molly! ... Complex but I like the way it holds up the Furler.
Thanks for the pics.

[Tomfoolery]

Holly molly! ... Complex but I like the way it holds up the Furler.
Thanks for the pics.

Not really complex, as it all stays together when not in use. I just coil the line and strap it to the MRS for storage. All the bits stay together. The spinnaker halyard ties to the bow pulpit when done raising the mast.

People with style systems do something similar by strapping the furler to the static line from the MRS to the deck, so the furler drum slides down that line as the mast goes up. Something to try if you don't already do that.

[Neo]

People with style systems do something similar by strapping the furler to the static line from the MRS to the deck, so the furler drum slides down that line as the mast goes up. Something to try if you don't already do that.

Hmmm ... I guess that could work well resting the Furler on the winch box. I've been thinking about something that pulls the Furler drum towards the Bow while raising/lowering and the technique above might work well with that..... Thanks


This thread has been well and truly hijacked as none of this winching points us into the wind

All the best.
Neo

[Tomfoolery]

People with style systems do something similar by strapping the furler to the static line from the MRS to the deck, so the furler drum slides down that line as the mast goes up. Something to try if you don't already do that.

Hmmm ... I guess that could work well resting the Furler on the winch box. I've been thinking about something that pulls the Furler drum towards the Bow while raising/lowering and the technique above might work well with that..... Thanks

I only know of it because others here with the MRS do it that way and have discussed it in the past. Just a short bungie around it and the static line, which is how I support mine, but in my case it's bungied to the halyard since the pole and halyard move together toward the bow. But sliding down the fixed (in your case) pendant should be quite easy to do, and keep the furler moving forward as the mast comes up without extra attention on your part.