Furling Mainsail

[Talulah]

Regarding greesing..on my Seldon all greesing is done at deck level before sails go on for the season. There is no need to lub anything up top.

It is not important to slacken the kicker and mainsheet when rolling the sail away as the outhaul is already slackened and achieving the same effect. (Loose footed main.) It is important to make sure the kicker is released and the mainsheet is slightly slackend when hauling out. Otherwise the sail cannot lift the boom as the outhaul tightens and the leech gets too tight, folds over and creates a potential jam. As a precaution I always release the kicker whenever I see it on and the mainsail furled away. Otherwise people forget to release it.
The biggest cause of jams that I've experienced has been due to batten pockets. The top of the vertical batten pockets have extra padding containing a metal recepter for the vertical battens.
This extra thickness rubs against the slot in the mast as the sail is furled/unfurled. Over time the wear causes the pockets to fluff and expand. This extra thickness caused by pocket wear at the top has been the biggest agro ever. As a consequence I bought a main with no vertical battens and have not had a jam for years.
I also have a new main with vertical battens but have never used it. I just wouldn't bother with vertical battens now.

Back to the OP. I have greased the gears and serviced the furling winch on the back of the mast but have never greased any other part of the system.

 

[Ricd]

It is not important to slacken the kicker and mainsheet when rolling the sail away as the outhaul is already slackened and achieving the same effect. (Loose footed main.) It is important to make sure the kicker is released and the mainsheet is slightly slackend when hauling out. Otherwise the sail cannot lift the boom as the outhaul tightens and the leech gets too tight, folds over and creates a potential jam. As a precaution I always release the kicker whenever I see it on and the mainsail furled away. Otherwise people forget to release it.
The biggest cause of jams that I've experienced has been due to batten pockets. The top of the vertical batten pockets have extra padding containing a metal recepter for the vertical battens.
This extra thickness rubs against the slot in the mast as the sail is furled/unfurled. Over time the wear causes the pockets to fluff and expand. This extra thickness caused by pocket wear at the top has been the biggest agro ever. As a consequence I bought a main with no vertical battens and have not had a jam for years.
I also have a new main with vertical battens but have never used it. I just wouldn't bother with vertical battens now.

Back to the OP. I have greased the gears and serviced the furling winch on the back of the mast but have never greased any other part of the system.

You are quite right, not important to loose kicker and main when furling away but as you say slightly loose both when pulling out.

My previous main was a Maxi-Roach with full lenght vertical batons and my current has short vertical batons..again never had the a problem you described..