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mainsail downhaul?

11K views 13 replies 12 participants last post by  arknoah 
#1 ·
So I had my first day sailing my own boat yesterday.. First day sailing solo period. Went pretty well overall except for getting the main down in a hurry, ie...anchoring and coming in to the home canal in a pretty good breeze.
I have slugs lubricated with dish soap, and all my lines run back to the cockpit.. It's just the last 4 or 5 feet of sail need a helping hand. I was wondering if pulling on the halyard with a downhaul is a standard idea, or do I just deal with grabbing handfuls of flapping sail while keeping the boat into the wind and screaming colorful adjectives at myself for doing everything solo.
 
#2 ·
Point the boat into the wind, stand to one side of the mast and lower the halyard. As the main comes down, use your hands to direct the luff folds to alternate sides of the boom, pulling on the luff towards the end of the drop. In addition to getting the sail down quickly, you then have the luff nicely flaked so the sail cover fits properly.
 
#5 ·
If you are going to solo sail a lot, I'll second getting a tiller pilot as a super NICE addition (get the cheapest one you can find).

As a secondary, a pair of bungee cords that auto-center the tiller works as well. It's NOT perfect, but will help to at least get you going generally the direction you want. Head to wind, let the tiller auto-center, and release the halyard, but go to the mast base to pull it all the way down... run a quick bungee (without hook ends, the ball and loop type are best)... to just hold the sail around the center until you get in....

With a tiller pilot, and I also have a boltrope main (meaning no slugs, and I have to pull the whole boltrope OUT of the mast)... I usually fire up the iron genny, point the boat into the wind, and drop the main.... then I point the boat towards the marina, lock the tiller pilot, and start to roll the mainsail. It's good to crank up the outboard to full throttle (to charge the battery), and roll the main, then put the mainsail cover on. But by the time I am at dock, I am nearly buttoned up.
 
#6 ·
I have a stack pack on my main, and it makes it hard to pull that last few feet down. I tie the tail end of the main halyard to the head board to make a down haul. As the sail goes up it takes the halyard with it, then when I drop the sail I pull it down with the other end of the halyard. Works well. When the sail is up I don't have to coil the bulk of the halyard at the mast, only a couple of feet to cleat off.
 
#7 ·
A down haul line connected to the headboard works pretty well on my O'day 25.
All lines have been lead aft and I can stand in the companionway to put the aft two sail ties on to control the main but a strong wind would still catch the forward part of the main and pull it up a ways.
I ran a 1/8" line from the main headboard down to an extra turning block at the mast base and back to the cockpit. I ran it through a fairlead mounted on the mast just below where the lowest point of the headboard which helps position the line.
This holds the headboard down until I get back into the slip and properly flake and tie the sail.
This idea also works well if you have a hank on jib.
 
#8 ·
I have the exact situation you describe: my main does not come down without me standing at the mast and pulling it down hand-over-hand. I use this gadget here, a Tiller Clutch, and I think I'd find single-handing very difficult without it. It's not an autopilot but it does hold the tiller in one position for you. Because of shifting winds and a little slop in the system, it's about as good as asking a moderately skilled landlubber to hold your tiller while you go forward to lower the main, prepare the anchor, etc. I love it and can highly recommend it.
 
#9 ·
On my Catalina 28, I head into the wind while under sail (no motor), and make sure I have the slack out of the topping lift so the boom won't fall. Always double check it.

With the boat into the wind I release the main halyard and let the sail drop. On my boat, the halyard runs to the cockpit, so I do this while standing at the companionway. I just let the main drop wherever it wants.

As soon as it falls as far as it can on it's own, I immediately go forward to the mast and tug it down the rest of the way. DONE.

All that's left at this point is to go to the aft end of the boom and begin flaking the sail. I have four, 4ft lengths of line that I use for sail ties. I have them draped on my neck so I can devote two hands to the flaking and easily grab the next securing line when I need it.

The only other technique I employ is to use the topping lift to lower the boom a couple feet so I can get to it easier while I flake the sail.

If your halyard doesn't go to the cockpit, that's no big deal. Everything I've described above still applies, except you'll release the halyard at the mast.

Probably the key thing is to do it smoothly and QUICKLY. On a windy day, you can expect your boat to turn its beam to the wind, and that can cause the main to flop around, which can be unnerving. Don't let it bother you. Get yourself to the aft end of the boom and get to work.

I'm right handed, and when I flake the sail I find it's easier for me if I do my best to quickly throw the sail over to the starboard side of the boom. Makes the flaking process more orderly for me.

Remember, flaking depends mainly on being at the far aft end of the boom and pulling the sail toward you. Hard. Pull it toward you with one hand and fold a section of it over with the other. Hold the first fold in place as best you can, while you pull back to create the next fold. after 3 or 4 folds, secure it with a line...makes a lot of sense to have the securing lines VERY handy.

The part that requires the most practice is holding the sail in place while you get it secured with the line. While keeping it in place, I quickly grab a 4ft. line from around my neck and drape it over the sail and boom. The trick is to not let the folds you've put in fall while you grab the two ends of the draped line and wrap them around. Once you have them wrapped around, you can pull taut on the two ends and that part of the sail is SECURE, and as good as done. Doesn't matter at all how much the remaining part of the sail flops around, because this part is SECURE. Now, all you have to do is tie it off with a loose square knot or a bow (yeah, I use a bow for this...why not?). Repeat three times and you'll have a fully secured sail.

Once fully furled, adjust your topping lift and tighten down the mainsheet to keep the boom from flopping around. I like to further secure the boom by using an old piece of line to secure the end of the boom to the backstay.

Each of the steps requires practice. And confidence. Secure in the knowledge that you're doing it right will give you the confidence. Practice will allow you to complete each step quickly with the goal in mind. You'll soon be oblivious to the lowered, flapping and unruly sail once you've confidently mastered flaking.
 
#10 ·
Yeah I suppose practice makes perfect and adding a downhaul might just be one more line I don't need cluttering up an already small cockpit. On a side night, I saw a video on YouTube, someone I believe in Denmark had run a line under the boom with what appeared to be ball-ended bungees tied off in three or four places ready to go. I will investigate that the next time I go to the boat.
 
#14 ·
This is pretty much what I do. I tie the tiller to one side so that the back-winding of the genoa keeps things under basic control. I lower the main as far as it will go, tying off the aft end with bungees, then head to the mast to pull the last bit down and tie off the headboard. Once that happens, I can just furl the jenny and head back to the marina.

The control of heaving to actually helps keep things pretty calm so I can move quickly but don't have to rush, and perhaps make a critical mistake.
 
#12 ·
If your boat has a tiller rather than a wheel, run a line or length of shock cord from the boom to the tiller and then power into the wind. I use a length of shock cord with loops on the ends between a clew reefing cleat and a cleat mounted on the underside of my tiller on my little catboat. If the boat falls of onto a starboard tack, it pulls the tiller to port turning you back into the wind-vice versa on port tack. Shock cord vs. line has enough stretc so you can override this effect by hand if need be, line doesn't. I had to play around with shock cord length and diameter a bit to get this to work. Sort of an autopilot to point you directly into the wind.

Andre
 
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