Mainsail doesn't come down easily

[Daydream believer]

I assume that you are putting the boat head to wind before trying to drop the main

 

[Paulfireblade]

Another thing to look for it to make sure the halyard hasn't been crossed over the top of the topping lift, easily done.

A crew member did this on my boat and I must confess it took a little while to realise what had happened. Worth a check

 

[wonkywinch]

A crew member did this on my boat and I must confess it took a little while to realise what had happened. Worth a check

Quite common on boats where people stow the halyard at the end of the boom.

 

[dunedin]

I have intermediate roller cars as well as roller cars on the battens and my main comes down faster than a fast thing.

Sounds like you have a fully battened mainsail - where the weight of the long battens tends to help the sail come down smoothly.

I may have missed it, but not sure if OP has fully battened or part batten sail.

 

[Norman_E]

If the halyard doesn't drop on it's own, you may need to lubricate the sheave at the top of the mast also. Another thing to look for it to make sure the halyard hasn't been crossed over the top of the topping lift, easily done.

To check whether that is the problem try to drop the sail with the topping lift tight, and then with it slack. If the sail drops further with it slack then you need to sort that problem before trying other more expensive solutions like adding a track and cars. Any of the ropes inside the mast could make it hard to drop the sail if they are wrapped around the halyard. The effort needed to haul up the mainsail is another clue. If the topping lift is not the problem, then try lifting and dropping the main with genoa and spinnaker halyards slackened. One thing I found on my 45 foot boat was that the original 14mm halyard had a lot of friction through the clutch and through all the other hardware. Changing it to 12mm Marlowbraid made quite a difference.

 

[wonkywinch]

We need some feedback from the OP, but to be fair, he/she is new here, they are in Sweden and it is still winter on the northern hemisphere.

 

[Daydream believer]

We need some feedback from the OP, but to be fair, he/she is new here, they are in Sweden and it is still winter on the northern hemisphere.

Still holed up in a log cabin with the last of the polar bear that they shot at the end of the last summer. But I hear that the winter is dragging on a bit & the pet elk is looking worried
(& that is just the Hamble )