main halyard caught around echomax reflector

[UK-WOOZY]

luckily the boats coming out ASAP so i will sort then. the halyard was loose temporarily while i fetched my crew. came back to the rope caught between the mast and reflector. unable to free it. is there a way to stop this happening except keeping the halyard taught. like a wire guard to go around the reflector. thanks

 

[NPMR]

Take a light line from mast to stay on each side of the echomax and you'll stop the halyard from going through the 'hole'. Do more strings for even greater security.

I found that by tieing boat hook to paddles and other poles on the boat, together I could retrieve the rope from the deck without going up the mast. Then, sorted the problem permanently, as above. Lasted years and then sold boat with 'fix' still in place.

 

[sailorman]

I hoist my Blipper to the x trees as req when viz is limited
I have a permanent cylinder up the backstay to conform to regs
Why carry that weight & windage aloft all the time

 

[Poignard]

Mine does it when the halyard is slack and the wind coming from starboard. I just flick it back again. If it became a real nuisance I'd either do as NPMR suggest or run the fall of the halyard through a thimble spliced in the end of a short length of rope secured near the reflector.

 

[eddystone]

luckily the boats coming out ASAP so i will sort then. the halyard was loose temporarily while i fetched my crew. came back to the rope caught between the mast and reflector. unable to free it. is there a way to stop this happening except keeping the halyard taught. like a wire guard to go around the reflector. thanks

View attachment 74460

That happened to me last year on passage because I'd shackled the halyard to the head of the flaked main sail and it's hard to keep the halyard tight in those circumstances. After anchoring I only needed to go part of the way up the mast to lift it off with an extended boathook. Best to sort it before coming out I would have thought as I don't like the idea of going up the mast on the hard although riggers do it all the time.
Personally I wouldn't bother with trying to fabricate a guard as now I'm aware it can happen I am more careful and take the halyard off the sail and secure it somewhere where I can apply enough tension.

 

[bedouin]

I try not to leave the halyards running down outside the mast. Too difficult to stop them banging amongst other things. I usually attach the main halyard to the stack pack where the lazy jacks attach - or if long enough to the end of the boom. Spinnaker halyard to the base of the shrouds (forward lower) so they are all well away from the mast and I get a better night's sleep

 

[Poignard]

That happened to me last year on passage because I'd shackled the halyard to the head of the flaked main sail and it's hard to keep the halyard tight in those circumstances.

What I do is to pull a bight of the halyard down under the winch, then haul taut.

 

[cpedw]

My solution has been to attach a significant weight (e.g. spanner) and a light line (long enough to go from deck to spreaders 3 times) to the halyard shackle. Haul this up above the spreaders then, keeping the light line slack, lower the weight to the deck forward of the spreaders. That should allow you to manoeuvre the halyard away from the reflector. Using the light line to keep it away from the reflector, haul the weight back above the spreaders then lower back down behind the spreaders. The light line can be used to help pull it back.

It's a bit tedious but it has worked for me. That encourages me to avoid a recurrence.

Derek

 

[johnalison]

My solution has been to attach a significant weight (e.g. spanner) and a light line (long enough to go from deck to spreaders 3 times) to the halyard shackle. Haul this up above the spreaders then, keeping the light line slack, lower the weight to the deck forward of the spreaders. That should allow you to manoeuvre the halyard away from the reflector. Using the light line to keep it away from the reflector, haul the weight back above the spreaders then lower back down behind the spreaders. The light line can be used to help pull it back.

It's a bit tedious but it has worked for me. That encourages me to avoid a recurrence.

Derek

I have done this too, actually twice, once while under way. I used a rubber bucket as a weight, and, as you say, used an additional light line.

 

[MoodySabre]

I have lashed a boat hook to the spinnaker halyard (to which a downhaul line has been tied) and then pulling up the boathook to catch the errant main halyard. Only last winter when the mast was down somebody told me to tie a tight across the betweek the shrouds to prevent this. I didn't remember to do it and yes it happened again

 

[UK-WOOZY]

many thanks all for the sound advice so far. while underway i had tried throwing the halyard with the metal clip over the spreaders, took a number of goes and i almost managed it and freed it but before i could tighten the halyard it went around the reflector again. i gave up but tried again but this time my throw got it caught over the other spreader too and is all tied up around the spreaders now, so am not too fussed as ill untangle it when i bring the boat ashore soon. be good to prevent it happening next year. thanks.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

That happened to me last year on passage because I'd shackled the halyard to the head of the flaked main sail and it's hard to keep the halyard tight in those circumstances.

What I do is to pull a bight of the halyard down under the winch, then haul taut.

Or detach the halyard, lead it under the boom and clip on to the sail again.

 

[johnalison]

Or detach the halyard, lead it under the boom and clip on to the sail again.

Alright if you don't mind going on deck, but it's not so easy to set up a system which allows you to hoist the sail from the cockpit and still avoid a snag. It might be possible by making a temporary fastening of the bight of the halyard to the clew but I don't have enough length for this. I have occasionally set up a slip-knot on a light line led back to the cockpit but usually have to make do with keeping a little tension on the halyard and an eye on it, while the lazyjacks help a bit.

 

[Poignard]

Alright if you don't mind going on deck, but it's not so easy to set up a system which allows you to hoist the sail from the cockpit and still avoid a snag. It might be possible by making a temporary fastening of the bight of the halyard to the clew but I don't have enough length for this. I have occasionally set up a slip-knot on a light line led back to the cockpit but usually have to make do with keeping a little tension on the halyard and an eye on it, while the lazyjacks help a bit.

Just stop there! You're mis-quoting me. I said pass a bight of the halyard fall under the winch not under the boom. See Post #7

 

[Spyro]

A bit of tape around the reflector and mast, top and bottom

 

[dom]

Not difficult to whizz up the mast and sort, but a failsafe way of stopping it would be to relocate the radar in front of the spreader.

 

[pcatterall]

Just an aside but we now carry one of those cheap extendable window cleaning brush poles. Very useful for freeing lines and similar. Dropping loops over cleats etc.

 

[chewi]

not sure that the problem is recognised by some of the answers. I try to remember to keep the halyard tight enough to prevent it, but have occasionally returned to the boat to find the halyard diverts from the masthead, fwd around the reflector then back from the top triangle & down to the boom. The mainsail will hoist to the spreader then stop.
Wrapping it around the boom or a winch is no fix for the problem I recognise.

I throw a heaving line through the top triangle (from fwd or aft), make a big loop around the spreader, attach and pull the halyard end fwd with it, lead the halyard forward to free it, then use the loop to take it back aft again.

 

[Lucky Duck]

I have lashed a boat hook to the spinnaker halyard (to which a downhaul line has been tied) and then pulling up the boathook to catch the errant main halyard. Only last winter when the mast was down somebody told me to tie a tight across the betweek the shrouds to prevent this. I didn't remember to do it and yes it happened again

Very early on in my boat ownership days we tried this only for the knot holding the down haul line to come undone

The sound of the boat hook slamming against the mast enabled some inovative thinking to get it down

 

[ashtead]

Clearly best solution is to avoid the halyard going round the front of master when attached to lowered mainsail. We have a spring hook on front of boom intended to catch the third reefing line when in use however equally useful to catch the main halyard around so it goes from top of mainsail down to spring clip and then back up under usual tension. When going forward to unzip stack pack just release halyard from spring clip once stack pack zip pulled back and return to cockpit to hoist.
If however halyard does become hooked round front maybe motoring around in correct direction might blow the line free of mast or lowering to create a loop to grab with boathook etc standing on mast steps?