Fitting Mainsail Downhaul

[jackho]

Hi folks ... Looking at fitting a downhaul on my mainsail and need advice on attaching the line to the head of the sail. Is it too simple to just drill a hole through the head and knot at the other side !!?? Any advice or suggestions welcome.
The fitting arrangement is a block at bottom of mast back to a jammer. (All my other lines go back to the cockpit)
Mast height approx. 12mtr.

 

[RupertW]

Hi folks ... Looking at fitting a downhaul on my mainsail and need advice on attaching the line to the head of the sail. Is it too simple to just drill a hole through the head and knot at the other side !!?? Any advice or suggestions welcome.
The fitting arrangement is a block at bottom of mast back to a jammer. (All my other lines go back to the cockpit)
Mast height approx. 12mtr.

I’m really interested in the answers to this. I tried it and with normal cheap plastic slugs it jammed. I settled instead for a line attached to the 3rd reef point which seems sufficiently far down to avoid jamming all the slugs together (and means I can move from 2nd to 3rd reef and back without leaving the cockpit.

Better slides needed if I really wanted to do it from the top - but then I suspect I wouldn’t need a downhaul as it would just fall nicely.

 

[Refueler]

Only boat I ever went on with a downhaul - it did same as RupertW found ... it just jammed and actually made the job harder. We still had to go to mast to pull sail down, but now with added job of looking after a load of rope downhaul.

 

[pandos]

Can of silicone spray probably more use...few squirts now and again and the sail should just drop... If it is sticking it might be friction on the halyard somewhere....

 

[jackho]

Can of silicone spray probably more use...few squirts now and again and the sail should just drop... If it is sticking it might be friction on the halyard somewhere....

Have been through all the options including PTFE but only falls to second reef. Too wobbly now to go on deck for the last section so time to be more proactive, Think the Dymena halyard is probably not as flexible over the sheaves.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

I've had fully battened mains on my last two boats and it does help with the fall of the mainsail.

Just wondering what your setup is.

 

[pandos]

Have been through all the options including PTFE but only falls to second reef. Too wobbly now to go on deck for the last section so time to be more proactive, Think the Dymena halyard is probably not as flexible over the sheaves.

Have you had a look at the track to see if there is a broken slider stuck in it or if the slides are all fixed properly to the luff...
So they remain parallel...

I have two line reefing led back to the cockpit so I can give the reeflines a tug if I get a hangup but I mostly rely on silicone spray...

 

[Bodach na mara]

Like Long Keeler, I have full length battens and when I release the halyard the sail comes down like a bag of cement into the cover. Only the last bit above the top batten needs pulled manually.

 

[Skylark]

Silicone spray on track and sliders and on halyard sheaves and blocks usually works wonders.

It’s also important to ensure that there is no tightness on the leach from reefing lines etc. Lifting boom with topping lift often solves the problem of luff reluctance to fall.

 

[Daydream believer]

Hi folks ... Looking at fitting a downhaul on my mainsail and need advice on attaching the line to the head of the sail. Is it too simple to just drill a hole through the head and knot at the other side !!?? Any advice or suggestions welcome.
The fitting arrangement is a block at bottom of mast back to a jammer. (All my other lines go back to the cockpit)
Mast height approx. 12mtr.

Is your sail luff fitting directly into the mast grouve or is it on sliders? I would guess that at 12M it is sliders
However, If it fits in the groove you can use a suitable sail lubricant from a spray can.
Sliders should not jam & you might look to halyard friction first.
Are you lowering the sail head to wind? Doing so & allowing the sail to shake a bit will help it shake free .

On my boat the top slider is larger than the rest & is a metal one. This tends to tip inside the mast & jam. When I bought my last sail the maker sent me 3 types to experiment with. It may be that you need one with a more rounded back to it, so that as it travels up & down the mast it does not rotate & jam itself in the mast. An earlier version I had, actually caused chips to form inside the groove & totally jammed the head slider so it had to be jigged up & down.

In any event, no need to drill holes. Pass rope through halyard shackle ( if you have one) or though the halyard knot if no shackle & fit a plastic ball. Then when you find it does not work you will not have damaged anything.

 

[Sandy]

Mast height approx. 12mtr.

As many above have said some silicone spray will do the job if you have normal sliders.

The only boat I've sailed with a downhaul is a 30 meter yacht where the sails are the size of a small country.

 

[PabloPicasso]

Is it a cunnigham to help set luff tension, or a means of pulling the head of the sail down?

Shouldn't need to actively pull the head of the sail down, gravity should be enough. Is the resistance in the halyard itself, try flaking the halyard in a figure of8 on the deck before tripping the jammer, check sheaves and turning blocks.

Are the sliders a good fit? If not they maybe the wrong size/type, or worn. Clean the slider groove before trying lubricants. Pull up a rag impregnated with cleaner fluid of your choice. Make sure you tie a line to it and the halyard so you can get it down again.

Or send someone up in a bosun's chair to inspect and clean the groove.

 

[Stemar]

+1 for the Silicone spray. I have a downhaul, admittedly on a much smaller boat, and use some 3mm line as a downhaul. It's tied to one of the holes in the headboard and goes through a couple of the rings that attach the sliders to the sail. It works well and means I can snug everything down without going out of the cockpit, something that, with increasing age and decreasing agility, I am increasingly reluctant to do in bumpy weather.

 

[Stooriefit]

Jackho,

I have a downhaul for my mainsail. It is attached to the head board using a bowline through the same cringe to which the main halyard attaches. It runs loose down the mast to the tack where it goes through a shackle and then a block and back to the cockpit where it runs through a jammer. When dropping the sail make sure you keep tension on the downhaul whilst easing the main halyard. I've used this system form many years without any problems. Once the sail is raised put some tension on the downhaul and using your jammer the line should stay put.

The main reason I have for using the downhaul is to control the main before it is raised. With the main halyard attached I found that the main would partially raise and the halyard would become loose and stuck on something! The downhaul has cured this and avoids the need to go on deck.

 

[bikedaft]

have just fitted same. same size of mast. fully battened, lazy jacks, and sailtrack track.

helpful when raising sail and batten end gets stuck under part of lazy jacks. and when dropping whole sail. it rattles down itself if heading straight upwind, but at other points of sail, can need a hand. realy helpful.

 

[thinwater]

Clean the mast track. It should just fall, and you should have to slow it.

 

[Laminar Flow]

It is possible to attach it to the headboard if this has two slides and the downhaul is attached near or below the bottom slide. The other option is to attach the downhaul to the bottom slide directly.

 

[William_H]

OP may see now that if he wants a a down haul line it will have to attach to the headboard in a way that will not try to cock the board sideways so cause a jamb. This can be a bit difficult to achieve. As said try to pull from a point low on the headboard or even further down the luff. At a slug attachment or if no slugs att he base of batten.
I would start with a down haul attached to the deepest top reef point. That should easily get it coming down. Perhaps then try another at or just below the head. ol'will

 

[lauriel]

It was taking me around 5 minutes at the mast to haul down my mainsail without a down haul. I replaced the 10mm doublebraid halyard with 8mm spectra. The sail now drops under its own weight in 5 seconds. Boat is 32ft and mast about 38 ft tall.
Suggest also check pulley at mast head is in good condition.

 

[jackho]

Thanks you all for your helpful comments. Temp fitting seems to be working well. Just forthe record I always lower the sail head to wind (between the lazy jacks) but sail would only fall to second reef. And just to correct , my air height is actually 16.6 mtr. so a lot of sail.