Sail removal on a Westerly Centaur

[kevsbox]

Hey all

Next weekend I want to remove the mail sail then refit with a nice new stackpack but not sure where to start.
This is the aft end of the boon, do I undo this and the slide the sail out that way. If so how does this undo?


Or do I remove the boon at the mast? Again how does this undo.


Thoughts please folks

 

[dunedin]

Remove slides from mast - there should be a small gap, perhaps closed off with something, to let the slides come out.
Then mainsail should slide forward out of the front of the boom. No need to remove boom.

How is stackpack sailcover attached to the boom? Often a thin strip of ribbon like material that goes round the sail bolt rope.
If sail had been loose footed could probably fit stackpack without removing sail.

Good luck.

 

[ashtead]

It looks like you have a boom made by Proctor and I guess a mast likewise. Being in silver as opposed to gold this might not be original on your centaur. As to removal of mainsail as said you should find some form of gate on mast with maybe a twist knut to open the gate and allow plastic slides to be detached from mast. Normally you hoist main in light breeze like Saturday and slide the sliders out towards. Clearly also need to undo the shackle on clue end and the one shown and slide out main from track on top of boom.

As for stack pack I would speak to the sailmaker you use as to how to affix- normally it will have a way of attaching to boom-ours has track on boom each side with a plastic /fibreglass batten each side. I doubt a proctor boom is designed for a stack pack though originally unlike today’s Selden booms.

Maybe asking on the Westerly owners association website will elicit some class specific informed views on how stackpacks are attached to this boom type particularly if you have roller boom reefing with a handle on front of mast to knock out the unwary crew.

 

[Boathook]

If you are fitting a stackpack I assume that you are converting to slab reefing as I can't see any reefing lines at present.
As per Ashtead for removing the main but I would add that the main slides of the boom towards the mast.

 

[Daydream believer]

View attachment 190230

Just a point that is totally irrelevant to your question. I may be wrong, but the boom end fitting where the mainsheet attaches looks very worn in the bottom loop. This may be due to the shackle from the mainsheet constantly rubbing. I would suggest disconnecting the mainsheet & the topping lift ( which looks on its last legs) Then rotating the fitting. The mainsheet will then be fastened to virgin metal rather than a thinning piece of aluminium. The topping lift will not wear it in the same way, as can be seen from the picture, so you may get a few more years from that fitting.

 

[Daydream believer]

deleted

 

[Stemar]

Remove slides from mast - there should be a small gap, perhaps closed off with something, to let the slides come out.
Then mainsail should slide forward out of the front of the boom. No need to remove boom.

How is stackpack sailcover attached to the boom? Often a thin strip of ribbon like material that goes round the sail bolt rope.
If sail had been loose footed could probably fit stackpack without removing sail.

Good luck.

On my Snapdragon the slot in the boom was too tight for the stackpack and the sail, so I fitted a boltrope to the stackpack, and left the main loose footed, with a trap round the boom to hold the clew, and small block & tackle to tension it. If anything, it improved light wind performance because it made the foot tension easily adjustable.

 

[johnalison]

I can think of no particular reason why the sail could not be taken off aftwards but this might be the first time in history that anyone has done it this way. Basically, the bulk of the sail is forward and it is just that much easier to manage to control the bulk of material, so choose a day without too much wind. Sometimes it helps to have a second pair of hands, though I can do my larger sail on my own. Either leave the shackles on the boom or take them off but don’t forget where you put them.

 

[Stemar]

On most of the booms I've seen, the slot is open at the forward end, and closed at the aft, which would preclude taking the sail off that way. It's also easier to do everything at the mast end, because it stays put, while the aft end will be wobbly at best.

Absolutely, choose a day with little wind. Looking out of my window, today looks perfect.

 

[DinghyMan]

And swap those stainless fittings for soft shackles as the Proctor boom end fitting is aluminium and the loops wear away

 

[oldbloke]

All good advice above. I would go further with the boom e d fitting and throw it away. It's old and tired and will let you down. Bolt or rivet a couple of deck eyes top and bottom, or get an eye which will slide into the track.

 

[DinghyMan]

All good advice above. I would go further with the boom e d fitting and throw it away. It's old and tired and will let you down. Bolt or rivet a couple of deck eyes top and bottom, or get an eye which will slide into the track.

Or just replace it with the stainless version which is a direct replacement and comes with new bushes as well

 

[ashtead]

It might be that once you have considered with whoever is making the pack that they can advise on how to attach to boom

 

[PeteCooper]

The OP seems to be based in Portsmouth - surely there is somebody on this forum who can pop along and give him a hand?

 

[Stemar]

The OP seems to be based in Portsmouth - surely there is somebody on this forum who can pop along and give him a hand?

Good point. If the OP would like a hand, I'd be happy to help. Just send a PM.

 

[Daydream believer]

If the boom is a through mast roller reefing system may I ask how that works with a stack pack & lazy jacks?

 

[dansaskip]

If the boom is a through mast roller reefing system may I ask how that works with a stack pack & lazy jacks?

That is what I was thinking too - from the pictures it looks like it is a roller reefing boom.

 

[Rappey]

If the boom is a through mast roller reefing system may I ask how that works with a stack pack & lazy jacks?

You don't use the boom roller system, instead you use a slab reefing system. Far quicker up and down.

 

[justanothersailboat]

It seems not that rare for those old Centaur booms to have been converted from roller to slab at this point in their lives, I've seen that loads of times. It would usually have a small indentation on the presumably-lower side (opposite the larger groove for a boltrope) that you could probably rivet some fixings for a stack pack into.

 

[Daydream believer]

You don't use the boom roller system, instead you use a slab reefing system. Far quicker up and down.

Of course. I wonder if the OP has thought that through
But in all fairness one might query the OP's experience at setting that up if he cannot even get the mainsail off the boom.
The boom is not a good shape to fit the gear etc for slab reefing. Normally one would do that before fitting the stack pack. I hope that he has had the slots cut in the sail cover for the reef lines in the correct place