Ok, everyone, I'm stuck and so is my main.

I have a Mystere 6.0 newly refurbed...new paint, new powder coating on spars...the works.

Before the works, I was having trouble hoisting and lowering the main. I thought it was because the sail was old and puckered around the bolt rope, so I had the bolt rope relaxed.

Result: some but no real help.

I have since gotten a new main from Goodall (its great and so were the folks at Goodall) and while the mast was down, I sanded the track with extra fine abrasive sponge and lubed it with McLube (used it on sail, too).

ITS STILL HARD TO HOIST!!!!! ( I use 5/16" halyard)

WHY????

Thanx

John

I have a M6.0 and my sail is a pain to raise too. Two things, Make sure the blocks are working properly. My lower block froze making it difficult to raise. The other is the luff of the sail has or should have a curve in it .Lay it out and look down the luff and you will see what I'm talking about. Its hard to raise because your pulling a curved shape into a straight shape. I use a easy right or wrap the halyard around a rigging tool and use that as a handle to help pull the the sail up.

Look at your two shivs (sp?). One at the top of the mast and one at the bottom that your main halyard goes through. Spin the shivs with your finger and visually inspect them for burn through. Make sure you are using a good no-stretch main halyard that is not too large of a diameter.



Good Luck

Mike Hill

I think you are using to big of halyard(5/16 is large for a cat)and the large halyard and bolt rope on the sail are causing too much friction in the mast. I would try 3/16 or smaller and get a good quality line.

DavidL

Here's a few idears I've formulated, mostly from dealing with my old sails, which became legendary on my beach,



To isolate your point of resistance, try shoving an inch or two of sail up the track, then pull on the halyard. If the resistance changes, clearly you've got feed issues. (Don't overdo the shoving, or you'll jam up right there and cover up any hypothetical feed problem.)



Does the sail hang up when you pull it down the pole? if not, suspect the headboard, because it rides differently when hauled by the halyard or pulled by the sail. It should come down somewhat easier in any case, with gravity on your side 'n all, but if if practically falls down the pole by comparison to hauling it up, that may tell you something



Is your headboard eye alligned with the masthead block? Pulling significantly off center, inwards or outwards, will tilt the headboard, increasing resistance.



Recently, Hobie shipped some brand new sails with new boats which had a problem. The bolt ropes had been cut in such a way as to mushroom ever so slightly right at the top end - one sailor we know used a hot screwdriver to "shave" his down, reporting good results.



Coating a bolt rope with McLube is more responsive to technique than apparant. It says right here on the can to coat lightly, let dry 15 mins, then repeat. Since the product claims to be a coating which congeals in 15 minutes, I infer the first coat mostly soaks in, the second mostly lays on. Most sailors I've seen spray it on once *as they feed in the sail* . Also, I spray each coat in three passes, so as to get the luff-to-boltrope transition on each side, and the middle of the bolt rope. I figure I can't coat all sides of a round bolt rope spraying from only one or two directions.



Overtightened battens will pucker the boltrope, causing resistance. Examine the bolt rope for marks indicating it's contacting undulyon any surface, near the battens. Check with the experts for your sail's ideal batten tension. Many newer sails need much less than the old Hobie 14-16 used to need. When you've got halyard hauling up, and gravity/general orneriness resisting you at the bottom, you're stretching the sail vertically. In many sails, this slightly tightens up the battens. That's why a little downhaul increases your draft, to a certain point, after which more downhaul is supposed to flatten. If your Battens are too tight, one symptom of this can be that you never can't seem to flatten by increasing downhaul. LIke I said, check with your sailmaker for the behavior they expect from properly tightened battens. while you're at it, unless they supplied the battens, ask them the initial bending loads, and max draft location. Picking up a 5 dollar fishing scale is worth it. I had to re-cut and re-taper some of mine. Got great improvement in performance.



Hope this helps!

Have you tried putting some parafin on the bolt rope?

I built a halyard "grabber" from a 12" x 3" piece of plywood with a small cleat bolted to the center. You can then pull with both hands and use your weight to raise the main.



David Ho

TheMightyHobie18 1067

Thanks, folks, for the ideas or in Ed's case, idears.

FYI, I previously replaced both blocks at top and bottom of the mast to make it easier. I plan to try a smaller halyard and to follow the instructions on McLube (who reads those anyway?), and to loosen the battens slightly.

When dropping the main, it comes down more easily than hoisting, but it does drag. I'm hoping a smaller halyard help.

Again, thanx.

John

Hi John



A couple more thoughts from downunder



The fact that it comes down more easily than up probably does eliminate the boltrope size as an issue.



Agree with the luff curve Vs prebend issue - very common in the Tornado and Paper Tiger boats I sail a lot. With the Paper Tiger we can pull some prebend on because the boat has a set of adjustable lowers (works great when sailing too!). Not so easy with the 'T'.



Check the sheaves and make sure the mast always faces the sail when you're raising. Also check for extra reinforcing (i.e. thickness) around the boltrope at the head (and the tack) - although I wouldn't expect that to be a problem with a Goodall.



We had a problem a while back when a batten end popped through the plastic batten socket screwed onto the luff - the batten end was just thin enough to enter the track but you couldn't see it. That meant a mysterious and very heavy halyard load but easy to pinpoint!



Finally as you mentioned, I have seen a lot of people regularly spray silicon up their boltrope. This does help a lot but you do end up with a very ugly black-stained boltrope - a last resort only!



cheers