Foresail downhaul binding

[Barquito]

I have hank-on foresails. I have tried rigging a downhaul line, but, have had trouble with the hanks jamming. Seems when the sail is pulled from the tack (not using the downhaul), everything slides down. If the hanks are pulled from the head (using the downhaul) they get all jammed up. I have tried connecting the downhaul to the top, second and third hank, no luck. I have tried lacing the downhaul through all the hanks, and just a few, no luck. Any other ideas?

[Jeff_H]

When I have used a downhaul on a jib, I have used small rings or shackles attached at every other or every third hank. These act as fair leads. I typically tied the downhaul to the halyard with a stopper knot at the first ring. I have always had good results out of that. That said, as a word of warning, years ago, I gave that advice to someone on this board and he said that it did not help him at all.

Jeff

[Barquito]

Thanks Jeff. I might try that.

[Cruiser2B]

i have had that happen and i fixed it by applying a small bit of teflon lube to hanks/forestay, this helped a lot....also got stuck few times and could not figure out what was going on only to realize the halyard was caught on something(standing on) preventing the sail from dropping.

[jaschrumpf]

I have a downhaul on my jib, and I run the line outside all of the hanks and hook it to the second hank from the top. I have a small bowline at the end of the line, and put the hank right through its loop and clip it on. There's a small block at the foot of the forestay, and a couple more small blocks clipped to the toe rail at intervals to lead the line back to the cockpit.

I make sure the downhaul is taut all the way back to the cockpit and run it through a cam cleat to maintain the tension. Once I raise the jib, I re-tension the downhaul with the cleat again. That keeps the line parallel to the forestay and right next to it, and keeps the line from getting wrapped around anything while tacking.

When I'm ready to drop the jib, I have the downhaul in my right hand and the jib halyard in my left. As soon as I pop the halyard I start hauling down, and usually everything goes just fine.

I don't think it's possible to make a perfect system, but mine probably works a good 99% of the time. It's rare that it catches on anything and requires a trip forward.

[saildork]

In addition to the above advice, try keeping a little tension on the jib halyard while hauling on the downhaul. This should help to keep the line from binding.

[Barquito]

i have had that happen and i fixed it by applying a small bit of teflon lube to hanks/forestay, this helped a lot....

That's a good idea. How come I don't think of these things myself? Is that a spray lube, or some kind of goop?