Mainsail Downhaul

[Marsupial]

Does anyone here have any experience of using a downhaul attached to the head of the mainsail to help it down?

why? well on my Jeanneau SO43 I have the slab main and although the reefing system works very easily the bolt rope is so stiff that the last 15ft or so of sail refuses to drop into the bag, even if I let go of the main halyard with the whole lot up; the runners are not jamming its the bolt rope. My knees arent what they used to be and prancing around the coachroof trying to retrieve the last bit sail in a swell is often a challenge. A downhaul from the head board led aft would perhaps do the job, but has anyone ever fitted such a thing? If so what do you do with it when sailing? Is it important to keep it away from the sail or is that not a problem.

 

[bbg]

You might also try investing in some McLube, and spray the bolt rope and the track liberally. The stuff is magic.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

I tried a downhaul but it kept turning the headboard over and making it worse. Then I sprayed big quantities of dry silicone spray and the thing dropped quicker than....Seriously, I was amazed at the difference; needs a couple of goes a season though and cleaning the bottom 4 feet of the track helps as well.

 

[Ludd]

Does anyone here have any experience of using a downhaul attached to the head of the mainsail to help it down?

why? well on my Jeanneau SO43 I have the slab main and although the reefing system works very easily the bolt rope is so stiff that the last 15ft or so of sail refuses to drop into the bag, even if I let go of the main halyard with the whole lot up; the runners are not jamming its the bolt rope. My knees arent what they used to be and prancing around the coachroof trying to retrieve the last bit sail in a swell is often a challenge. A downhaul from the head board led aft would perhaps do the job, but has anyone ever fitted such a thing? If so what do you do with it when sailing? Is it important to keep it away from the sail or is that not a problem.

No experience of that.
Would it be possible to run a very light line(say Spectra,6mm ) through the cars in some way,or if no space use very light cable ties to run it through to avoid it flogging and chafing?
You'd have to attach it UNDER the headboard,or it will turn it over and make it jam.

 

[Marsupial]

Thanks for that I do use sail easy and that has helped but the bolt rope is the culprit.

 

[macd]

Does anyone here have any experience of using a downhaul attached to the head of the mainsail to help it down?

It's not something I've seen recently but I've certainly read of something similar in an oldish book (can't remember title, but fairly authoritative). This described sail 'downhauls' attached to a loop high on the mainsail. The purpose was to enable reefing without turning into wind. The loop was not as high as the headboard, but approx halfway between there and the top spreader. This probably wouldn't help your problem with the last 15 feet, but perhaps a variation on the same theme might work for you?

Rattle and snagging might pose a problem. The same book recommended that the downhaul be held to the luff with breakable ties, which wouldn't exactly make for easy regular use. Maybe small loops of bungee cord might work?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Be easier, surely, to get a loft to put in a softer bolt rope.

 

[Playtime]

Try this thread http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215835.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

yes I ran such a rope on a previous boat. It wasnt a total success repeatedly getting tangled in the sail slides.

 

[alan]

My friend has one on his boat (Ben 343) and also had one on his last boat (Ben311) because he sails singlehanded regularly and being a "big" guy he does not like to go forward to the mast unless he has to.

We just ran a lightweight rope to the first slide below the headboard and tie it off there;we rivetted a guide about 50cm above the boom to keep the rope a bit tidy (you can't put it too high or else you cannot pull the sail right down); then a turning block at the foot of the mast and then the rope run back to a small dinghy 'stop' on the coachroof. He keeps the mast track well lubricated with silicon spray and generally the sail drops most of the way down on its own, he thn uses the downhaul to recover the last two metres or so. I think fixing the downhaul to a slide rather than the headboard is a better solution because if fitted to the headboard it tends to turn sideways and jam when you pull on the downhaul.

He has used this method for the last ten years and he has not had any jamming problems that I know of!! The cost of this was minimal, and you don't really need a 'stop' on the coachroof, just a guide would be fine.

Alan.

 

[Marsupial]

Many thanks Alan, I will give it a try.

 

[fishermantwo]

Does anyone here have any experience of using a downhaul attached to the head of the mainsail to help it down?

why? well on my Jeanneau SO43 I have the slab main and although the reefing system works very easily the bolt rope is so stiff that the last 15ft or so of sail refuses to drop into the bag, even if I let go of the main halyard with the whole lot up; the runners are not jamming its the bolt rope. My knees arent what they used to be and prancing around the coachroof trying to retrieve the last bit sail in a swell is often a challenge. A downhaul from the head board led aft would perhaps do the job, but has anyone ever fitted such a thing? If so what do you do with it when sailing? Is it important to keep it away from the sail or is that not a problem.

I'm presuming the slides are jamming though you don't mention them. I'm reading one of Moitessiors [spelling] books at the moment and he mentions the different type of slides available. The one he identifies as the one that's going to jam of course is the type I have! The best it seems are the ones with a large or longer section where the shackle attaches. As the sail is hauled up or down the weight shifts to the "forward" end of the slide and eases the chance of it jamming. Makes sense to me and I never thought about it before.

 

[Marsupial]

I'm presuming the slides are jamming though you don't mention them. I'm reading one of Moitessiors [spelling] books at the moment and he mentions the different type of slides available. The one he identifies as the one that's going to jam of course is the type I have! The best it seems are the ones with a large or longer section where the shackle attaches. As the sail is hauled up or down the weight shifts to the "forward" end of the slide and eases the chance of it jamming. Makes sense to me and I never thought about it before.

Thanks for the suggestion but its not the sail slides, I have experience of batten slides jamming and breaking and thats is a big problem, but its not the cause in this instance. If I go to the mast and "bend" the bolt rope midway between the "now bottom slides" the sail will fall then stop until I "bend" the bolt rope on the next pair, and so on until all the sail is in the bag. When the boat was new (2003) the main didnt come down at all when the halyard was released so we are making progress - 7 years on.

 

[Hardley]

I use downall on both jib and main, both led back to cockpit, both work a treat and no problems at all.
For the main, I attach the downall to the shackle which attaches to the headboard, led down to swivel block at foot of mast and then back to cleat on coackroof.
With sail hoisted just pull tight and cleat off, no rubbing on sail or clanging on mast.

 

[simonfraser]

yeh, had one on my prev boat, works a treat.
if you say it's only the last 15 feet that jams, perhaps using a shorter downhaul that gets the bulk of the sail out of the way may be sufficient.
just tie it off by the deck/bbom, not a prob.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

I am using a downhaul line on my present boat. I have attached a 5 mm pope just below the headboard and through a pulley leading to the cockpit; it works very well and i do not longer have the problem having to leave the cockpit to get the sail down or unstack.