# difficulty raising mainsail



## piav (Sep 24, 2008)

my mainsail runs up a track on plastic sliders. the all-rope halyard runs inside the mast, exiting near the winch. sail has always been very difficult to raise but either it's getting worse or i'm getting woosier.

i am able to manually (sans winch) pull sail up 2/3 of the way. after that it becomes increasingly difficult and just about impossible to get it beyond 6 inches from top of track. it doesn't feel like a single hard-to-get-by point but more of a gradual build-up of resistance, kinda spongy. it feels like the rope is rubbing against or wrapped around something and this sensation increases as sail is raised. rope is quite worn (lots of 1/4" sections of fibre sticking up) for much of its length. 

i then raised the mainsail using my topping lift (which runs inside the mast right next to my main halyard and exits a couple of feet above the main halyard exit). same problem.

in both cases, sail drops without any problem. 

when main halyard is unclipped from the mainsail, the halyard runs up and down effortlessly.

finally i hoisted the mainsail using the spinnaker(?) halyard. i was able to pull the sail all the up way manually with no effort. (when i say all the way, i mean as far as the awkardly led line would allow for, see pic)

is this normal?

p.s 
as the spinnaker (?) halyard is attached to the top jib roller furler thingus, when lead aft it has to run over the top-most portion of the shroud (see pic). Is this ok to do occasionally, ie for hoisting someone aloft or diagnosing halyard problems? i have lots of external lines running up the mast on the forward side but only the internal halyard and topping lines on the aft side. this problem has led me to think i should rig up an external backup for the main. 

suggestions?

and thanks for reading all this!


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## tommays (Sep 9, 2008)

Even on my simple J24 the sheave bearings had worn out and had made raising the main a PITA ,one small 5 dollar bearing made all the difference in the world

The other issue is friction in the sail track and things like Mclube sailcoat sprayed on the slugs should help out a lot


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

I find that the difficulty of raising the main is directly related to lubing the track and slides. I McLube the track each spring before the mast is raised. For a month or so I can raise the main almost full hoist by hand. By mid season, I need to use the winch after halfway or so. Lubing the slugs helps some, but the winch is still necessary. It is not so inconvenient to be worth a trip up the mast, but a means to lube the track with the mast up would be nice to figure-out.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

Silly question.. do you release or loosen your main sheet and boom vang? It's always easier (imho) to raise the last few feet of a main when you do so.


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## Lostmt (Jun 4, 2006)

Some time if the back stay is to tight and there is a slight backwards curve to the mast the main will be hard to raise.


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

I'd check the main halyard sheave. The fact that you were able to hoist the sail easily with the spinnaker halyard tells me the track is fine. In fact I'd be worried that the sheave might not be rotating at all. ls there a difference in feel operating the main halyard with no load compared to operating any of the other halyards with no load? If for no other reason than to check, I'd go aloft and visually inspect the sheaves.


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## southshoreS24 (Aug 31, 2009)

make sure that the topping lift (if you have one) is tight enough. if the end of the boom is too low then the sail can not come up all the way. you may have accidentally changed the boom angle when you were trying other halyards, and that allowed the sail to be easily raised with the other one.


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

southshoreS24 said:


> make sure that the topping lift (if you have one) is tight enough. if the end of the boom is too low then the sail can not come up all the way. you may have accidentally changed the boom angle when you were trying other halyards, and that allowed the sail to be easily raised with the other one.


Risky advice...the topping lift should only be tensioned as essential to raise the boom above the cockpit. When the main is raised full-hoist, the main should be and must be lifting the boom...a tight topping lift avoids no source of hoisting difficulty but can be a problem in itself, if the main is not carrying the boom...as a tight topping lift sets up the classic condition for breaking the boom (done that ).


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## irwin325cc (Feb 11, 2009)

Next time as you raise the main spry mclube or dry silicone spray on and above each sail slug. That did it for mine when I first bought her. I hear that there is special slug that has carpet or something on it that you can remove your sail and then slide it up and pull it back down with another rope that cleans the track but have not seen it and just lubing it everyonce in awhile works for me. Can raise it all the way buy hand.


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## mike dryver (May 13, 2006)

as far as going up the mast on your spin halyard over the upper shroud that is a very bad idea, you could bent something or worse. the person going up the mast will have to fight the pressure of the halyard trying to move out to the end of your spreader. if you are not having probs. with raising your main on the spin halyard then you probably have issues with your sheaves/bearings


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## irwin325cc (Feb 11, 2009)

"if you are not having probs. with raising your main on the spin halyard then you probably have issues with your sheaves/bearings"

I believe the O.P. said they were having the same problem with the topping lift. I don't think they said anything about the spin halyard. That just sounds to me like a dirty track or sail slugs. Could still be Sheave/bearing problems but think something cheap like lube would be a great first diagnosis to start the process of elimination.


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## GaryHLucas (Mar 24, 2008)

Lots of good ideas here, and I'd like to suggest another. If the lubing the track helps then I would suggest there is an alignment problem with how the halyard attaches to the top of the sail. I have seen this on many boats, including the one I own now.

On my boat the halyard exits the sheave about 1/2" from the mast. But the hole in the head board when you pull it out against the slugs is about 2" from the mast. So as the sail approaches the top the halyard starts pulling the headboard against the slugs. They get pushed sideways and jam inside the track. This why you only have trouble at the top, and the lube helps.

I welded a stainless ring to a strap and bolted it to the headboard such that the ring is close to the mast above the headboard. My halyard attaches to the ring, and the jamming problem went away, without the lube. This was not the factory sail. Later when I examined the old factory sail the hole for the halyard was close to the mast.

Gary H. Lucas


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

I don't think it is the head board, since the spinnaker halyard would make that problem even worse, as it pulls from further forward and has a much worse lead to the mainsail. Given that the spinnaker halyard works well... the main halyard mast-head sheave sounds like the culprit.

If you check the sheaves, and they're okay...the other thing it could be is that the main halyard and topping lift lines may be twisted around each other inside the mast. _ The sheaves or the lines being twisted around each other would explain the difficulty in raising the main as well as the chafe on the lines. _


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## fordo (Jul 3, 2006)

With an all rope halyard that is fraying, and hard to raise, it must be the sheaves are frozen or stiff, or the halyard in the mast is wrapped around another line. Sticky slides and track wouldn't fray the halyard, that would result from chafe at the sheaves or in the mast. Having your halyards run outside the mast shortens their life(from UV exposure) and increases windage(a little), but it prevents in-mast tangles.


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## davewild (Mar 31, 2009)

Good advice from all. Things like exit block at top of mast and halyards twisted inside mast are all possible. 

Another is do you raise the main heading directly into the breeze? It is a basic problem but if your sail is setting even a bit that will make it difficult to hoist and the problem will increase as the main goes further up.

One question though. you said in O.P. that topping lift exit block is a couple of feet above the halyard exit block. Is this correct? Just seems odd.


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## piav (Sep 24, 2008)

i'm inclined to agree that the likely cause is either the sheaves (which seem are just a couple of pulley-type wheels) or tangled lines. The former, i figure, can be remedied by begging my local shipyard hero to go aloft with an assortment of parts in his pocket and not letting him come down til he's replaced everything up there.

As for the latter...is there an easy fix?!

also


sailingfool said:


> Risky advice...the topping lift should only be tensioned as essential to raise the boom above the cockpit. When the main is raised full-hoist, the main should be and must be lifting the boom...a tight topping lift avoids no source of hoisting difficulty but can be a problem in itself, if the main is not carrying the boom...as a tight topping lift sets up the classic condition for breaking the boom (done that ).


does this mean my practice of raising the boom with the topping lift and immobilizing it with preventers to keep it out of the way when working on the boat is a recipe for disaster?


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## davewild (Mar 31, 2009)

Raising the boom a bit should not be a problem. I think the earlier post you quoted was referring to doing this with the mainsail up. Check the goose-neck fitting joining the boom to the mast and make sure it's range of movement will be able to cope. Doing this with the main hoisted and set( as set as you will be able to get it) will put forces on you rig that it may not have been designed for.


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## firehoser75 (Nov 21, 2006)

*Track Lube Device*

I came across this ingenious idea on one of the sail talk communities (I just can't remember which one to give credit where it is deserved). I haven't tried it yet, but I think it should work great. My main sail goes up easier just lubing the slugs as suggested earlier, but using this device next spring, I hope to achieve excellent results. To activate the spray, they have taped copper tubes to each side of the can, and run the metal wire through these. You pull the device up the mast using the main halyard, and spray while lowering using a small line attached to the "spray activation wire". 
However, I agree with Sailingdog, in this case the problem is related to the sheave or twisted lines inside the mast.
Good luck,
Tom
PS. I can't seem to post the photo even though it meets the requirements (600x244; 37kb; and is a jpg photo) so I will describe it as best I can. It uses 2 sail slugs bolted to a small piece of aluminum plate (one at the top of the plate, the other at the bottom). A can of McLube is then duct taped to the plate, and 2 small copper tubes are taped to the sides of the spray can. A solid wire "loop" is passed over the spray head (nozzle), down through the copper tubes, terminating below the spray can. The main halyard is attached to the top of the plate, and a "downhaul" is attached to the bottom of the wire loop. Hopefully this description helps.


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## svthefilthywhore (Mar 29, 2008)

the lubericator design is found in a recent issue of latitudes and attitudes magazine.

the sheaves need to be removed for inspection and any warn parts replaced, while you are up there you can clean and lubricate the track. 

if this does not help contact your local rigger for an eyes on diagnosis. 

as another poster mentioned the topping lift and yet another poster mentioned heading into the wind. the propper way to raise a mainsail is to tention the topping lift to keep any tension off of the leach of the mainsail, turn into the wind and pull on the halyard like crazy until the sail is properly tensioned, after tensioned the topping lift should be slacked or removed to allow the weight of the boom to pull tight on the leach, only then should the boat be allowed to fall off the wind and fill the sail.

with proper lubrication and proper technique your main should just about jump up the mast and set its self.


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## gershel (Feb 4, 2001)

I had a similar problem for years, until I realizied the halyard was slightly thicker than specified. I think the previous owner used a metric size line a bit larger. I switched to the proper size and eliminated all my problems. Might be worth a try.
Marc


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## Cande (Aug 10, 2015)

We've been having difficulty raising our J37 mainsail, seems like many of the slugs "stick" and one person has to feed them, and give them each a little shove, and it's a tough raise, a two-person job. Thanks fôr this advice.


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## jblumhorst (Apr 14, 2002)

Hi Candi,

From the sound of what you describe (the slugs stick), you should try cleaning the mast track and slides, followed by spraying with a high tech lube. That should be part of your periodic maintenance. You clean the mast track at the beginning of every season, at a minimum.

A little simple green or laundry detergent on a scrubby on a home made "mast cleaner" will do the job of cleaning the mast track. Follow with a thorough rinsing before lubing. Some folks recommend using denatured alcohol, but that requires going up in a bosun's chair because the alcohol evaporates so quickly.

The best lube I know of is Sailkote by McLube. It's superior to WD40 and any teflon based product I know.

How to clean a mast track without going up in a bosun's chair? Here's a link right to a thread here on Sailnet about a home-made gadget for cleaning the mast track

And here are a couple of pictures of a similar gadget made by Neil Ericson, who owns an Islander 36:

A scrubber made with two spare slides, a soft scrubbie, and some wire ties










And the clever gizmo for spraying the lube:


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## Cande (Aug 10, 2015)

Judy,
Thank you, thank you!! We haven't been able to get together your nifty mast cleaner/protector gizmo yet, but yesterday did a pretty thorough spray of all the slugs and the entry column as high up as I could reach on the mast . REALLY smoothed out hoisting the sail! SO much better. Still feels really heavy. but we're getting there.
Thanks again, I truly appreciate your detailed assistance, combined with others' tips who chimed in.
Cande


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