Difficulties getting it up (mainsail halyard led aft, high friction)

DangerousPirate

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 Feb 2020
Messages
963
Location
N. Ireland
Visit site
I am not sure what exactly the issue is. I have been looking earlier and tried to figure stuff out, my suspicion is that the barton deck organisers are just .. shoddy? There are angles everywhere but it looks like it should still work. I tried different positions for the blocks at the bottom of the mast and that did little. I think the main issue is between the clam cleat and the deck organiser.

Is there anything I have to do to reduce friction at the clam cleats? If the rope is too small, it won't bite, if it's too big, it wouldn't fit through at all, right? Or do oversized ropes still fit through and it's creating an issue with the halyard?

I swear, every time I sail this boat it's a HUGE effort to get the main up.

For reference: Directly at the mast I can pull on the halyard coming out of the mast and it's really easy to raise it and it falls down like a sack of potatoes - meaning with speed and kawumm. Good stuff. That's how I eliminated any internal issues or issues with the track. I can raise the main to the very top with hand over hand from a deck seating position.

In the cockpit, I can raise maybe half the sail under huge effort for the last bit of it, both hands and foot against something firm to assist me, and the rest I have to painfully winch up as I just can't do more. Once I raised it entirely without the winches, just cause, and it felt harder than a low rep set at the gym.

I am not sure where all I can look for faults, but maybe you know some tricks? And as I say, it's either the barton deck organiser, which spins if I try to spin it by hand but looks like it's seizing when under load. At manual inspection it doesn't squeek when I test it sitting next to it, or anything that would indicate friction. Hence why I think it's maybe just a terrible product that just came with the boat. But Barton usually just cost effective yet still quite good usually. I'd be surprised.

Or maybe the clam cleat: it comes in at a slight angle, so either that, or the halyard is oversized or something. Do you have to service the clam cleats to keep them smooth or something? Maybe my expectations are too high and if you lead lines aft, you'll always fight with friction? Is that maybe it? I don't know really. All my other boats had some issues like that, but I thought it was the mast track. This boat, a maxi 95 btw, has a tidesmarine mast track, which should eliminate any and all friction. I was very happy when I saw it when I bought it.

Edit: I tried uploading pictures but somehow it won't let me do that right now. Will add them later if possible. Might help.
 
Definitely check every sheeve the line passes around, we had one or two that were seized solid. Also take a good look at the line, a new line will run much smoother.
 
Definitely check every sheeve the line passes around, we had one or two that were seized solid. Also take a good look at the line, a new line will run much smoother.
Line is fairly new, and it seems to work well at the mast when I pull by hand over there. The deck organisers blocks spin when I try them by hand and light load (as much as I can do while still seeing if the thing spins or not), but I suspect it doesn't turn when under load? The block seem a little wobbly but that seems to be design.
 
Line is fairly new, and it seems to work well at the mast when I pull by hand over there. The deck organisers blocks spin when I try them by hand and light load (as much as I can do while still seeing if the thing spins or not), but I suspect it doesn't turn when under load? The block seem a little wobbly but that seems to be design.
I have seen cheap blocks where the hole in the sheave has become pear-shaped. You can spin them under no load but when loaded they the pin settlers into the off centre part of the hole and won't rotate. When, if, that is happening you are trying to drab the line around something that isn't rotating.

Worth checking, I'd say.
 
Last edited:
What was originally a straightforward job became harder as the clutches aged. I don’t know why this was because they look and feel OK otherwise. With a crew I got int the habit of hoisting with the clutch open and getting the crew the close the clutch when the sail was hoisted, with the winch only needed for tensioning.
 
I have seen cheap blocks where the hole in the sheave has become pear-shaped. You can spin them under no load but when loaded they the pin settlers into the off centre part of the hole and won't rotate. When, if, that is happening you are trying to drab the line around something that isn't rotating.

Worth checking, I'd say.
I have been doing some googling now. I was looking at new blocks and deck organisers to replace the old ones. I am racking up 500 quid or so here.

Harken 57mm carbon swivel ball bearing blocks (6 of those) plus two Harken 50mm Composite Organizers. Doesn't sound too bad honestly, I thought this would rack up into the thousands. As long as I can raise the halyard with ease and get good use of the frictionless mast track, I will be happy.

Just wanting to check if there are any other things I should look into first before I make any purchases.
 
I have been doing some googling now. I was looking at new blocks and deck organisers to replace the old ones. I am racking up 500 quid or so here.

Harken 57mm carbon swivel ball bearing blocks (6 of those) plus two Harken 50mm Composite Organizers. Doesn't sound too bad honestly, I thought this would rack up into the thousands. As long as I can raise the halyard with ease and get good use of the frictionless mast track, I will be happy.

Just wanting to check if there are any other things I should look into first before I make any purchases.
A Yorkshireman writes:

Do you need to replace them all, when it might be just one block that is causing the problem?
 
I changed out my deck organisers last winter because the old ones were simply worn out. Nothing wrong with them when they were made, just worn out. I can safely say the difference between new and old ones is huge. Everything involving a line to the mast got much easier.

If you have one good block spare you can test all your blocks individually anyway by one-by-one swaps. You can test the clutch? on its own (you said clam cleat though?). The deck organiser is a bigger job so definitely worth eliminating the other possibilities first.
 
Do you have mast sliders? Give 'em a quick spray with wd40 or similar

For me that was a quick fix
 
Last edited:
On my Southerly 46RS, all the lines from the mast are lead back to the cockpit. The lines are under deck, and are covered by GRP mouldings which are very difficult to remove, especially when the boat is fully rigged.
There are three, 4 sheave, double stacked Spinlock organisers on each side of the boat.
12 organisers in total, to bring all the halyards and reefing pennants back to the cockpit. Plus another four 2 sheave organisers to bring the German mainsheet and self tacking jib sheets back to the helm.
These are now 18 years old and like me getting a bit stiff.
The 4 sheave deck organisers are around £46 each, about £550 to replace, plus the additional 2 sheave organisers.
I've had all these organisers off the boat during winter re-fits and cleaned and lubricated them with PTFE spray. This frees up the sheaves but it doesn't last long.
The main sail is a fully battened, laminate construction and it's heavy (46 m^2 or 495 sq ft).
When the deck organisers are all running free, I can get the sail up to the hounds (7/8 rigged mast) and I have the use the winch for the last bit. By the end of the season it's a real struggle.
I think that replacing the spinlock organisers with organisers with ball race, bearings in the sheaves would make a big difference, to both the friction and the longevity. However, I have been unable to find any.
Any ideas where I might be able to buy deck organisers with ball races?
 
You have jam cleats - I use Lewmar clutches( better in my opinion than others) which allow the line to be easily pulled through but catch the rope when released.
 
I know you say you can raise it easy by hand but we got caught out by this even so. We hadn't raised it that many times by hand. Boom needs to be raised on topping lift.
 
Top