Topic: adventures with my main halyard

It all started when I decided that I don't like having to go back and forth from main halyard in the cockpit to reefing lines at the gooseneck when reefing the main.  To make a long story short, I decided that I wanted to do it all from either the cockit or the mast.  I decided for various reasons to try it at the mast, so moving the halyard to the mast it was.  However, I didn't want to mount a winch on the mast and add a cleat etc. then decide I didn't like it.   How to experiment with having the halyard at the mast without going whole hog?  I put a simple purchase inside the mast.  That gives me enough mechanical advantage to hoist the main without a winch.  Here's what I did:

The halyard comes off the head of the main and up to its usual sheave at the top of the mast, over the top and into the mast.  I cut the (old and suitably sacrificial) halyard a few inches into the mast and put a block on it.  So now there's a block in the mast dangling about 4" down from the head.   Then I took a length of rope and fixed it to the foot casting inside the mast.   The line then goes up the mast, through the dangling block and back down the mast to it's usual exit point at the foot, then up to a cleat on the side of the mast.  I'm not sure if this is 2:1 or 3:1.   I'm thinking 3:1 because the block moves and the head of the sail moves.   The only disadvantage so far is that I end up with quite a spool of line (60 ft) once the sail is up and it takes a little tangle avoidance.  So far, so good - doesn't clatter when sailing or at anchor, no foul-ups yet, runs smoothly.

The other option I'm working on is to modify my gooseneck reefing hooks in order to keep the reefing ring in the hook without having to re-tension the halyard.  That would allow me to put the halyard back in the cockpit and still cut out some of the backing and forthing that happens when reefing.  The prototype is some little spring bales made of stainless wire and welded onto the gooseneck hook fitting that will act as retainers when the reefing ring is in them.

While I love to sail, I also really enjoy this tinkering and head scratching.

Re: adventures with my main halyard

Sounds like a good idea to gain extra purchase for hoisting the main.

For what it's worth, that's a 2:1 purchase;  The line on which you are pulling travels half of the distance as the load you are raising and therefore you have twice as much line.  i.e. The sail goes up 30 feet, while you haul in 60 feet.

Re: adventures with my main halyard

Completely not related to this topic:  How did your winter lay-up go Jordan?  Any damage?  Up here just about everyone, including me, complained of more mold and mildew in our boats than ever before.  We're guessing it's because the winter was so mild and damp, not the usual long run of cold, dry weather.  If this is the new normal I don't think I'll cover the boat in the winter anymore in an attempt to encourage ventilation.  Either that, or cover it but leave the companion way wide open for the same intended purpose (some do that here with no ill consequenses).  Darned climate change - mold in my boat and foreign beetles threatening my trees!  I want my winter back!

Re: adventures with my main halyard

Deb, did you have your boats ventilated at all?

One winter I forgot to open some ports, and my Contessa mildewed right up. It had never done that before, and ever since, having had some ventilations (sometimes active, with some solar ports circulating air) neither myself or my father have had mold issues, despite our insanely warm winter this year.

Re: adventures with my main halyard

Hi Deb,
I was very nervous with my winter lay-up because it was my first time winterizing / de-winterizing the boat and the yard where I kept her insisted that we leave our masts up (which is also new to me).  I didn't come up with a good tarping method (due to the mast being up and boom off) so she was uncovered and sealed all winter.  I worried all winter...

Much ado about nothing.
-  Thanks to you, I was able to remove the plug in the bilge and she was dry in the spring.
-  I winterized my engine without antifreeze (following the engine manual instructions) which was risky.  But she started up first turn. I have a new trust in that engine.
Thankfully no damage other than some dirt, bird poo and peeling Cetol.  We got away without mildew, but we had slight mold - far less than when we first bought the boat; I think moving some air through the boat is an excellent idea.

I did lose a battery.  I stored them warm & dry in my spare room and charged them both every little while.  But one would not keep/hold a charge.  Time for a new one.

I did rip out my gauges and send them in for repair... gah.  They were so old that replacement parts weren't available and not compatible with the new system.  I've now spent a bit of money to buy new depth transducer, new electronics and all that... I only managed to save the windex.  I'll find out how well they work as soon as I get them mounted.  Looks like I'll be living without depth info again this year.

Re: adventures with my main halyard

Going even farther off track from the original posting now....

Adrian:  Yep.  I made winter hatch boards for the companionway the year I bought the boat and installed aluminum soffit vents.  I've never had a mold problem before, so I haven't given venting much more thougth than that.  Obviously I'd better start now!  Leaving the ports open is not a bad idea - hadn't thought of that.  Virago came with a lovely custom made cover that settles down over the stanchions and fits the boat like a glove all the way to the waterline.  Great in these parts where the boats are exposed to strong gales off Georgian Bay in the winters because it doesn't flap at all, so no disintgration.  However, if the concern now is better venting, fitting like a glove may be a drawback, thus maybe leaving the cover off.  Or I could look at adding some vents in the tarp.  I did not use the tarp for the first two years I had Virago and the soffit vents seemed to keep any appreciable amount of snow out, so maybe I'll try that again.

Jordan:  Good for you that the boat faired well.  You seemed to go at it with acute conscienciousness last year and that payed off.  Following the above train of thought, most boats at my marina don't use covers because they just blow off anyway, or half blow off and beat the snot out of the boat they're on and its neighbours.  If I didn't have a good tarp I wouldn't either, and I did not tarp my previous boats, so don't feel that it's a "must do " thing.   As for electronics, I don't have anything on Virago beyond the VHF and a leadline for sounding around me in anchorages, which is kinda funny given what I do for a living.  Taking the "Great Leap Backwards".

Re: adventures with my main halyard

Following up on the original post...The internal purchase experiment worked well in that it never fouled and gave me plenty of mechanical help to hoist the sail even with a load on it (not dead into wind).  It is a viable option for putting the halyard to the mast without a winch.  The only problem I had with the function of the set-up was that there were annoying snags at the foot of the mast when kinks in the line would meet the turning block.  I have decided to put the halyard back to the cockpit, however, for two reasons.  One is that I don't like the feeling of having to stand on the cabin roof in heavy weather, which I had to do to hoist the sail with the halyard coming out the foot of the mast.  I'm assuming it would be equally uncomfortable with a winch up there, though one could kneel or sit maybe if it were nasty out.  I also didn't like having to get past the flopping boom to get back to the cockpit to tighten the sheet once the sail was up.  I took my first bonk on the head from the boom in decades - the first since getting out of dinghy sailing.  So, for singlehanding with no one on the tiller or in the cockpit to help things along, I'll stick with halyard in cockpit and streamline my reefing technique.  I'm looking at putting retainer clips on the reefing horns to keep the reef rings on the sail in place while reefing is in progress - that may reduce the backing and forthing some.

Re: adventures with my main halyard

Well, our boat has external halyards and the main is 1:1 with no winch. I hoist to the mark then pull the boom down with a 3:1 purchase tackle at the gooseneck and also with the kicker.

I usually keep the spinny pole on its D ring on the mast track with the other end locked onto a shackle on the deck plate the forestay is on as it keeps jibsheets from catching on the forehatch and also provide an extremely valuable handhold if one has to go up the bow, but this also means it is the right height for me to straddle and brace against while basically hugging the front of the mast to hoist, drop or reef.  If it's too rough to stand hugging the mast, I'll sit or lie at the mast foot.

The reefing lines are on jammers under the boom near the gooseneck so I can tension the foot on the horns so it doesn't drop off.  That should work for you as well. If the reefing lines are led aft and you use horns, it immediately requires two coordinated crew to reef - not good.

If you put coloured whippings on your main halyard to mark each reef with a few inches slack, you can simply slack off the main, take up the topping lift, drop to the mark, go forward, and put the reef in without having to touch the halyard again till your are back in the cockpit to tension it at the end.

9 (edited by Virago Deb 2012-11-10 12:43:06)

Re: adventures with my main halyard

Hi Ian,

Your last bit is the technique I used with the halyard in the c-pit.  It just honked me off when I'd go back the c-pit to re-tension the halyard only to find the reefing ring had fallen off the horn.  Virago has the reefing locks at the gooseneck like yours and I'll leave them there.  I think what I'll do next season is the following:  1) have retaining clips welded onto the reefing hooks to keep the rings in place until halyard tensioned, and/or  2) Tighten the foot before returning to the c-pit to re-tension halyard (as you do).  I was always under the impression that one ought to tighten the luff before the foot when reefing (and I still think it's better) which meant a trip to the c-pit to tighten the luff, then back to the mast to tighten the foot.  I contacted a couple of sail makers, including the one that built my main, and they said it doesn't really matter which order you do it in, so that might remove one trip between the c-pit and the mast.  Being an anti-clutter advocate, I don't want to run the reefing lines back to the c-pit.  Another thing that helps is if I heave-to to reef if it's wavy - cuts out some of the drama.  Your method of tensioning the luff by lowering the boom is not possible on Virago as the gooseneck is fixed in position - all tensioning is done with the halyard or cunningham.  Another variable on Virago is that I still use the reefing outhauls as outhauls, I haven't put cheek blocks on the boom to make fixed clew positions for reefing.  The result is that I usually end up back at the mast to adjust the outhaul tension once the reef is in anyway - I believe in trimming my reefed main.