Flag halyards and lowering mast. Messy?

[vizwhiz]

So i've wanted to keep a flag halyard on the backstay at least, mostly to have a way of sending up a...flag. Or a spare light. Or an anchor ball. Radar reflector. Or something. I have this feeling that i need it.
But it tangles around the backstay every time I lower the mast, and it's a real pain to untangle when trying to raise the mast again. Does anyone else have this issue? What do you do to keep things straight? Thanks!

[K9Kampers]

How far up the backstay does your flag halyard go?

[Spector]

I installed a small pulley about midway along the spreader and use a shroud cleat for club pendant and courtesy flag. Never had it hang up
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-mar ... 64_005_503

Flag on backstay is held with these. Easy to put on and take off

http://www.attwoodmarine.com/store/product/flag%20clips

[vizwhiz]

How far up the backstay does your flag halyard go?

Right now, all the way. I have a small block mounted on the chickenhead for it.

I installed a small pulley about midway along the spreader and use a shroud cleat for club pendant and courtesy flag. Never had it hang up

Flag on backstay is held with these. Easy to put on and take off

We don't seem to have trouble with one on the spreader and shroud. But the one on the backstay is a pain. Do you take yours off each time you raise and lower the mast? How far up the backstay does it go, and when do you attach it?

[Wind Chime]

Try this?

Stow your "backstay flag halyard" alongside your "main sail halyard" against the mast.

Before lowering your mast;
- untie the backstay halyard (don't let go of the line)
- remove the halyard out of the connector (attached to the bottom of the backstay).
- retie the line (now you have a continuous line that runs through the block on the chicken head at top of mast)
- let the halyard line fall free against the mast, and make fast the line on one of the mast horn cleats.
- now the halyard line stays tight alongside the mast, and out of the way when lowering mast.

Darry

[K9Kampers]

Stow your "backstay flag halyard" alongside your "main sail halyard" against the mast.

That's what I was thinking. Seems the best logical way. I attach flags to my backstay after rigging and remove them before de-rigging. If / when I add a spreader or backstay flag halyards, I'll secure them to the mast for de-rigging.

[vizwhiz]

I like it! Great idea. I think that will work. I'll give it a try...

[Sumner]

I added a topping lift block with one sheave soon after buying the boat.....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ing-3.html



Latter changed the block out for one with two sheaves (left bottom arrow). One is used for the topping lift and ....



.. the other is used to hoist the anchor sail......

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ing-3.html

You could do the same to pull something else up the backstay. When not in use just take it over to the mast so that it isn't wrapped around the backstay.

When I went to the Bahamas I added a small block to the starboard spreader and ran a line through it to hoist the quarantine flag and then the Bahama flag while there.

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links[/img]

[Starscream]

No need for flag halyards on my boat. Flag clips on the sidestays and backstays, and a bolt-on radar reflector. All mounted low down where they can be reached.

I had the radar reflector on the topping lift for a while, but it didn't work out too well. The first time I mounted it I randomly got the exact position that aligned it with the mast crutch when I took the mast down, and the second time I mounted it, it randomly aligned with a loop of cord on the trailing edge of my sail, and wrapped around it during the first tack. $%&$*! Seems to do just fine where it is now.

Canadian flag on the backstay. Quebec flag on the port sidestay. Starboard stay reserved for the USA courtesy flag.






Sumner: if you don't mind my asking, I was thinking about making my topping lift more easily adjustable. Right now it's attached to the top of the mast on a bolt with a bowline, and at the bottom my boom has a plastic dock-cleat. To make it adjustable I was thinking of adding the BWY outhaul kit:
http://shop.bwyachts.com/product-p/3109-100.htm
with a block attached at the end of the boom (instead of the cleat) and running the topping lift through it to the boom-mounted jam cleat. Do you think that would work? I can't quite visualize how your topping lift works with a block at the top of the mast.

[Tomfoolery]

I can't quite visualize how your topping lift works with a block at the top of the mast.

I can't speak for Sumner, but I too have a small block at the top of the mast, though it's a very small block mounted to the mast with an eye strap rather than to the chicken head, and the topping lift line runs down the mast to a small plastic cleat.

For a while I had another small block attached to the bottom of the topping lift line, with a short line from the boom up through the block and back down to the boom, where it was cleated. But now I just have it terminated in an eye strap at the boom, and cleated at the mast. To shorten it after the sail is down, I just lift the boom and take two turns around the boom end. Makes it nice and high for plenty of clearance underneath.

The adjustment at the mast is not really necessary in my case, as I only need to positions - loose enough for sailing, and shorter for head room. I also have a short piece of three-strand with snap hooks spliced onto both ends, which I use to tie the boom to one side, with the main sheet lower block moved to the lifeline rail on the other, and the boom is held centered so it doesn't flop back and forth constantly. Adjusting the topping lift at the mast allows me to center the mast (one of the two 'sheets' is fixed length, remember) when it's tied that way, and once it's right, I don't touch it for the rest of the season.

I also use an eye snap (or boat snap) to connect the topping lift to the boom so it's very quick to remove the boom (with the sail flaked and covered) for transport. Any little thing to speed up the process helps.







And yes, that mess at the top has been cleaned up.

[vizwhiz]

Tomfoolery, does your topping lift get in the way of the mainsail trailing edge?
I like the fixed length centering idea...may have to implement something like that too...

[Sumner]

....Sumner.... I can't quite visualize how your topping lift works with a block at the top of the mast.

Goes from end of boom up to the block, down the mast to a cleat....adjusts at mast. I have it set so I only adjust once after putting in now,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Tomfoolery]

Tomfoolery, does your topping lift get in the way of the mainsail trailing edge?
I like the fixed length centering idea...may have to implement something like that too...

No, no interference. It's slack when the main sail is supporting the boom.

If you click on the top pic and look close, you can see the TL is wrapped around the boom (twice), to hold it high up. But just before raising the main, I slacken the main sheet (the fixed length line is removed when prepping for a sail), raise the boom by hand, unwrap the TL, and let it sit low. I also take up most of the slack main sheet, as there's a lot of it, and it can get wrapped around instruments or engine control. I cut it loose once the main is most of the way up, so the main can go up all the way.

With good crew, that's not really necessary, as the helmsman can manage the slack main sheet system, but my some-time helmsman has enough trouble keeping it pointed into the wind (gets easily distracted by what I'm doing), so I still have to do things like I'm all by myself.

A skinny length of Dyneema would probably be better than the small yacht braid, as it's even lighter, and it's not like you have to pull it by hand - you can wrap a piece of thread around the boom or a cleat to shorten it when it's slack (lifting the boom with the other hand), no matter how thin it is.

Oh, and I've thought about using a boom kicker instead, but since I frequently find myself laying on top of the boom in rough water (more like falling onto the boom), I think I'm better off with a solid connection to the mast that won't flex much when that happens. Short main sheet and stiff topping lift keeps the boom within a short arc so I have something to hang on to.