Novice having trouble hoisting main at sea single handed.

Spirit of Glenans said:
When you are hove-to, the main is fully sheeted out, i.e. flapping,not drawing wind, so if it is actually only being hoisted at that point, it amounts to the same thing, although it is very difficult to go about (in some boats) under jib alone. In this case it would be easier to heave -to by backing the jib manually, then quickly pushing the tiller across so that it is pointing at the boom.
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Not quite. It does draw, to bring the bow upwind, countering the efforts of the foresail to take the bow offwind. It may be totally depowered as the boat reaches it 'most upwind' point, but then begins to draw as the bow falls away. Part of the art of heaving to is to get the sheeting right so that the boat stays more or less on one heading, rather than describing a series of shallow scallops
 
All helpful replies.
Another technique I use which I daw a boay do and copied is to head the boat into the wind , power off and wait till the boat is virtually staitionary then hoist the main before the bow starts to bear away.
I have done this.

My concern with motoring forward, which of course I still do , is how far you can travel whilst concentrating on the sail and not looking around.
Had some moments in crowded situations.
 
All helpful replies.
Another technique I use which I daw a boay do and copied is to head the boat into the wind , power off and wait till the boat is virtually staitionary then hoist the main before the bow starts to bear away.
I have done this.

My concern with motoring forward, which of course I still do , is how far you can travel whilst concentrating on the sail and not looking around.
Had some moments in crowded situations.
 
Tam Lin said:
Like many others I use the tillerpilot, point into the wind, go to the mast and hoist the mainsail, back to the cockpit, sort out the main sheet, pull out the genoa, turn off the engine, bliss!
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+1

This thread is quite an eye-opener..... People running back and forth between mast and cockpit, going hove- to, all sorts.

I don't sail single handed, we are usually two up. But either way the trick to raising the main is speed. I hoist the main from the mast while the missus just pulls it through the clutch in the cockpit, meanwhile the autopilot motors into the wind. This was done yesterday in about 15 knots with the whole thing done in three or four seconds. Sail away. If the missus wasn't there a cam cleat at the mast would allow me to go back to the cockpit and trim the halyard, so it would be easy to set up for single handed. Might then take about ten seconds to hoist the sail.

The reason it is so fast is because we have no friction in the reef lines or mast slot. The sail goes up so fast we never get a batten trapped in the lazyjacks. If people are struggling with that, or otherwise taking a long time to hoist the main and so having to re-trim the boat etc, then I think the biggest improvement would be to tackle any friction that makes hoisting slow in the first place.

Cheers
 
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What a useful thread so far, and we've not gotten around to rigging a downhaul for either the first, or second reef yet, led back of course!
Now Paul, that's a serious drift, ah yes, but in asking forgiveness, the OP's original query has been well answered by now!
 
TQA said:
I would say you need an autopilot. I could not manage without one on my 44 ft cutter when single handed.

I always hoist the main first. Dead into wind and min revs that maintains steerage.
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+1

On a 44 footer I'd agree re. autopilot... OP doesn't mention size of his boat, but on mine (20 foot) I can hoist main from cockpit, I just loop the halyard under the cleat on the mast I use to tie it off to and lead it back; which means I can put tiller between my legs to maintain steerage direction - I only need to step forward to the mast to tie it off and adjust kicker/downhaul...

I'd agree with the idea to leave the headsail until after, that's what I do....
 
TQA said:
I would say you need an autopilot. I could not manage without one on my 44 ft cutter when single handed.

I always hoist the main first. Dead into wind and min revs that maintains steerage.
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+1. In fact, I'd say that raising the Main first is essential; as you've found, hoisting the genoa first makes the head fall off, and even with a tiller-pilot, the genoa may exert too much pressure to be counteracted by the rudder.
 
A general response to those who recommend hoisting the main close-hauled, especially those who regard not doing so as somehow unseamanlike. On my Moody 31, and I have no doubt many other popular yachts, it is quite impossible to hoist the main if there is any pressure on the sail; the added friction caused by the sail pulling on the slides makes it almost impossible. Further, it is very likely that the top batten will catch in the lower shrouds, again making raising the sail impossible. I would only try this in very light airs; in anything of a wind, it simply wouldn't work.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
A general response to those who recommend hoisting the main close-hauled, especially those who regard not doing so as somehow unseamanlike. On my Moody 31, and I have no doubt many other popular yachts, it is quite impossible to hoist the main if there is any pressure on the sail; the added friction caused by the sail pulling on the slides makes it almost impossible. Further, it is very likely that the top batten will catch in the lower shrouds, again making raising the sail impossible. I would only try this in very light airs; in anything of a wind, it simply wouldn't work.
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On reflection I think this is quite a good response (to my earlier implication that not hoisting the genoa first is unseamanlike). It clearly depends on the boat and mainsail system: I have a main which if wet and when added to battens is heavier than I am, so I can't simply yank it up fast (or I'm too weedy!). But I have a boat with huge rudder and which is very directionally stable so can sail for ever at 55 degrees from the wind with only foresails up. I also have harken cars so the friction on sliders is not an issue: I can reef on a dead-run in a gale.
 
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AntarcticPilot said:
+1. In fact, I'd say that raising the Main first is essential; as you've found, hoisting the genoa first makes the head fall off, and even with a tiller-pilot, the genoa may exert too much pressure to be counteracted by the rudder.
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Some boats will sail not far off close hauled with the genoa set, without using silly amounts of rudder.
Some boats, that may be near enough to head to wind for the main to go up with no issues.
I wouldn't expect it to work on every boat though!
 
fredrussell said:
Thanks for all comments - a wealth of info to be considered. I'll try the hoisting while close hauled next time I'm out. I do have lazy jacks and wonder if the battens will catch on them more using that technique. My main halyard is led back to cockpit - hadn't considered steering with tiller between my knees whilst hoisting, will definitely try that also.

I'll report back after I've tried everything suggested - much appreciate it folks.
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This is the method I have used for a long time. I have a tiller tamer type set up, which helps a lot single handed. The suggestions of lubricating the groove and the slugs make a huge difference to how easy it is. For reefing I have to go to the mast for hooking in the tack ring, but heaving-to makes this no problem. I have a roller reefing headsail, and all the other lines are led back to the cockpit. I have lazy-jacks - letting the mainsheet run while hoisting, plus a bit of timing, and it is not too difficult to avoid hooking up the battens.

Depending on the circumstances I might hoist the main first, or set the headsail first. As long as I am close enough to the wind the main goes up quite easily.

For reefing, practise when the weather is light is useful. This is especially the case for working out how your boat heaves-to. Different boats will need different combinations of helm, main and headsail settings, and will result in their own combination of heading and speed - so you can work out how much sea room you need.

Have fun!
 
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no one has mentioned topping the boom up well. with lazyjacks they tend to fall forward, and the main is scandalised and not powered up -as dinghy cat sailors will know a fully battened main with luff tension head to wind....
 
On the subject of lazy jacks the boat that I now sail on has these fitted and a fully battened main sail plus stack pack. We do suffer from the batten ends getting caught in the lazy jacks which can add to the (human) tension. I did think about replacing the current l-j's with elasticated cord so that they could be held back towards the mast with a bungey but would be interested to hear others thoughts on the problem.
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A quick update following a visit to the bateau today. I have noticed that our lazy jacks are fitted to the mast and end up at waist height with a tubular type jambing cleat on either side. So by releasing the cord from the cleats the whole lazy jack assembly can be pulled back to the mast and hooked round a convenient horn cleat thereby removing the cause of the batten ends being caught up. When ready to drop the main the l-j's are just pulled back into their "collecting" position. Result! :encouragement:
 
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