rolling boom main - pain in the arxe

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StevenJMorgan

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My Old boy has bought a crackin colvic sailor 26 which is fine in every way exept the mainsail system seems like a pain....

Its a roller boom and when the main is stowed it is wound round and round the boom. Touble is that when it is time to hoist one has to feed each and every plastic lug into a gap in the track. - This really takes two people, one to feed lugs and one to turn the handle at the forward side of the mast.

This is putting him off using the main. Is there a quick and easy / cheap way that this can be rectified. Raising and lowering the main on my 36 footer is a doddle (selden system)- what can I do to help him out and make it so that he enjoys this cracking little boat more?
 
Stop the slugs falling out with a machine screw. Then flake the sail on the boom. Bit old school, but it works. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Or drill into mast across track and insert split pin.

To stop losing pin - tie a bit of cord to pin and use self-tapper into mast attaching cord.

Quite common.

Donald
 
Not all slides in in this pic, but you can see the principal

Headboard.jpg
 
Another alternative is to get some substantial shockcord and tie it firmly and tightly around the mast. It needs to be tight enough to prevent the slides coming out unintentionally but not so tight that you cannot move it up and down when necessary. This approach has the advantage over pins etc that when you need to remove slides to reef it is much easier to pull the shockcord down to release them then push it back up again to stop others coming out than it is to fiddle with reinserting pins into small holes in a lumpy sea.
 
I suspect that your other correspondents are missing the point. If you prevent the slugs from leaving the mast gate then the sail can't roll around the boom, can it? I suggest that it's the slugs that are causing the problem. If you take them off then the bolt rope will slide up the mast track. It will only take the initial line-up to be done and everything else will be automatic.

Alternatively, convert to slab reefing. Use the search, there are many posts on this subject.
 
Bizarre thing is, when I went to try the boat out on Coniston with that rag and the current headsail, which as some on here have pointed out is not new, we went out in about 10-12mph breeze and it was close reaching at 5.5 knots on the guy's handheld GPS. Not bad for an 18ft boat with knackered sails.
I like to think that was my sailing skills, but I think it had more to do with the late Uffa Fox.

Old and New
sailcomparison.jpg
 
Get some cringles put in at suitable reef points (luff and leech), fit a ram's horn and some reefing lines (plus some way of blocking the track, as others have mentioned), dump the insane mainsheet roller assemble and shackle the mainsheet block to the end of the boom. Then throw the boom-turning key into the river to make sure you are never tempted to try and use it. Roller reefing mains from that era are a diabolical invention. My boat was fitted with exactly the same mechanism as you show, and I threw the lot away before she went back in the water after I bought her. Slab reefing, particularly on a boat that size, is simple, easy, safe, quick, reliable, etc...

Regards, Mudhook
 
I had the same system on my Achilles 9M (FOR SALE) . I removed the slides and used the bolt rope directly in the track. I fitted a roller type sail feeder beneath the track slot so the sail feeds in easily - one problem fixed.

A further development was to obtain a Sailspar headsail roller reefing mechanism (the bit at the bottom that the endless reefing line goes around) and replace the mast reefing handle with this.

Now I can reef to any sail size without leaving the cockpit, by heaving on the endless loop reefing line.

No bag of sail restricting vision when reefed. No sail ties, no swan necks, cringles etc. No slab reefing lines to slip or get snagged when shaking the reef out.

Another problem was the reefing claw getting jammed up with sail - I now have some shock cord to the mast (like mini lazy jacks) to take the weight of the claw, so it is much less inclined to jam.

Hope this helps.
 
You don't say where your 'old boy' is located (and if it's the UAE this advice probably won't be much use, in which case, apologies), but many 70s boats had such a system as standard. A look around any marina should show up a few which have been converted to slab reefing (and very few which haven't).
 
Vyv ... on the Button ....

The std Colvic Boom and Mast - was never intended for slugs ... as Vyv says remove the slugs and use bolt rope .... BUT I suspect that someone in past has been smart and either converted main or acquired a slug'd main for the boat. I suspect the latter as Colvic's are home completed .. so many end up with non-std bits etc.

Previous owner probably just flaked sail over boom and tied off .... same as my boat does - it too has this daft slug main that prevents boom reefing working properly. I have a plate and thumb-screw to remove and the slugs fall out of groove ... it's rubbish and the guy who installed it wants shooting.

I like Lakesailors split-pin ... but suggest a better way would be the "tractor-pin" style ... bit wider gauge - and with a cranked end that stops it coming out ... but put back in line and it pulls through ok ...

Here is my "abortion" to keep slugs in place ..... (look close by first slug ... the grey plate either side of mast groove >

SOLENT3.jpg


And before anyone says it .... yes I know the main halyard needs sweating up to remove that bit of slack in luff !!!
 
Re: Vyv ... on the Button ....

I wouldn't be so rude. There may be a perfectly good reason for you to set your sail like that. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re: rolling boom main - pain in the arxe ... I like it !!

Good for you Capt. Scarlet ... I'm with you ...

Roller booms actually if used with thought can be good.

A strong reason that many do away with them is the sail shape argument ... as you roll the boom droops due to the cut of the main. OK - agreed .... but simple to fix.

Have reef-lines fitted to the sail ... I have two sets .. giving me a 45% and 65% sail area reef ... so I could roll boom till sail reef point is at level I want ... then make off the reeflines along boom ... bring the boom up again ...

So the advantage is .... no lines all over the place and blocks / outhauls, cunninghams etc. - Sail is neatly rolled round boom doing its own job of looking after itself.

So you have to lose the kicking strap ... to roll ... IMHO not that bad a deal ...

Once my boat get's out here at house - I will sort out removing the slugs and putting the sail back to correct use !!
 
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