Some time ago I was on a well designed and well tricked-out offshore voyaging boat. When it came time to hoist the main I was asked to take the helm while two strong and experienced guys set the mainsail.
And that’s when the surprise came: it took about three times as long and more effort to get the main up and drawing as it takes me alone (Phyllis or the autopilot steering) on Morgan’s Cloud, even though our mainsail is about double the size and weight and I’m a creaky sixty-some.
Not only that, the boat in question is fitted with a 2:1 main halyard, and one of those “lazybag” permanently installed sailcovers that incorporate lazyjacks; gear that, at least in theory, make sail handling easier.
So why is hoisting the main easier and quicker on Morgan’s Cloud? Do we have:
- In-mast roller furling?
- In-boom roller furling?
- Electric winches?
No, no, and nope.
What we have working for us is simplicity…with a bit of elegance thrown in.
Here’s a video of the geezer in action:
Ninety-five seconds, from start to sailing. Let’s look at the details that make this work:
Hi John,
indeed a very good approach, making it simpler whenever possible.
I leave the halyard fastened to the sail, as you do, and to keep the sail from rising and the halyard from banging around I just pull a bight of the halyard down and aft a bit and tie the forward sailtie around it (and the sail of course). That way I don’t need an additional rope and the halyard is away from the mast. Simple and effective.
Hi Hans,
That’s a good idea, but I think I will stick with my rope halyard retainer as I think a sailtie could chafe through over time. Also, I don’t like placing a sharp turn in a high tech halyard, and finally, with my system we can put the sail cover on without detaching the halyard.
Hello John!
Thank you for the article.
Can you please explain / share more details on:
– what kind of halyard you are using? Dyneema? What diameter?
– I can see a white cover on the splice – is this to prevent chafing ?
– How is your topping lift attached? Do you use 2:1 for it?
I also have a dedicated winch on the mast for the main halyard (not self-tailing) on my 39ft sloop, and a direct halyard to mainsail attachment, but it takes me some hard times pulling and winching the last 20%…
So I was thinking how to improve this – maybe with 2:1…
– do you have a self-tailing winch?
Hi Taras,
The halyard is 1/2″ New England rope T-900, lower creep than pure Dynema.
The cover is to stop chafe at the exit when off the wind and the head board is off centre, it is spectra.
We don’t have a topping lift. The damned things are the invention of the devil. Instead we have a rigid vang.
Yes, all winches are self tailing. The self tailing winch is the most important sailboat invention of the last 50 years, in my opinion.
If you have a problem hoisting on a 39′ boat, you have a friction or gear problem (undersized winch?) and need to look for and fix that. Don’t make things worse by adding a 2:1 halyard. Not making that kind of additive mistake is the whole point of the chapter above. Bottom line, find the real problem, don’t add complication.
Hi John,
After 2 years of cruising with a topping lift, putting up with it wrapping around the backstay, the sail battens, or flopping around in light winds in a left over swell, and then creating banshee harmonics when tightened at anchor in any decent breeze, we decided to try without it some months ago and use our muscular Forespar vang. So far we haven’t missed it.
For now, we have left the topping lift at the mast as a spare main halyard and dedicated MOB retrieval line – but really we can use the main or spinnaker halyard just as well. We have to move it away from the mast each night at anchor, and it is one more heavy rope frapping on the mast and chafing underway. Can anyone think of a reason why we shouldn’t (in the interests of simplicity) remove the topping lift, leaving a mousing line (in the mast) to haul a spare halyard through in the event of breakage?
Have you left your topper in place John?
Thanks,
Rob
Hi Rob,
No, no topping lift, but like you we are set up to rig one, or a spare halyard, should the vang fail us.
Hi John, I think the cars play a very big part of your system as on my own as they make raising so much easier.
Hi Finbarr,
Yes, any cruising boat should have some kind of track system. That said, even more important to why we could hoist so quickly and effectively is being able to swing our full weight on the halyard.
Hi Taras
I support all John says, and would like to add some.
A 2:1 halyard will theoretically give you half the struggle at twice the time. That alone is not too desirable. In reality it also gives you much more friction and a serious risk of trouble with rope twist.
I’ve used a lot of this type halyards on racing multihulls, to reduce mast compression on extremely light rigs. They can work, but are mostly just a pain in the ***. I’ve developed an “allergy” to 2:1 halyards. Masthead locking systems also have problems, but I prefer that if compression is a problem.
Hi Stein,
Exactly!
I still own the halyard used by the NYYC to hoist a crew member up to the masthead of their 12 meter and beat on the halyard lock with a hammer when it froze during competition in Australia. Enough said!
Hi Richard,
Yea, we used to use halyard locks on E22s, I still have scars.
Good video, John. We just installed a heavier main, but we also installed a slippery track system. So far, so good. Our at mast arrangement is very similar, except I do still use a rope clutch. Maybe I shouldn’t bother.
Hi Marc,
Yup, lose the clutch, they are a very bad idea on a main halyard.
Well, everything’s at the mast and I can certainly give it a try, although my wife cast a baleful eye on the proposition! Regarding topping lifts, why the hate? I have a Wichard tether shackle on the end of mine that, if chafe is an issue, can be moved forward. I use the boom as a crane for getting light stuff like tenders aboard, and the topping lift (which is 1/2 inch Dyneema core) comes in handy for that.
Also wandering why the topping lift is a bad idea?
I don’t have a rigid vang, and don’t see why I need one (better spend money on a winch).
Marc, do you have 2:1 on the topping lift or a direct line?
Hi Marc and Taras,
The problems with topping lifts start to manifest once you get offshore in swell. (Inshore they are not a problem.) Pretty much no matter what you do they tend to bang around and chafe the leech of the sail as well as needing constant adjustment when reefing.
A partial solution is to run a piece of shock cord up the backstay, through a small bullet block, and on to the topping lift. This at least keeps it away from the sail.
And yes, I would fix any mainsail hoisting issues before worrying with a rigid vang.
I have direct lines that goes through mast-mounted clutches at about eye height for all halyards, including the topping lift. It’s easy for me to run the mainsail halyard without going thorough a clutch as a test, because, as John indicates, my halyards exit the mast fairly high. I much prefer the low-friction, “centralized” aspect of handling all halyards at the mast. I have fairly substantial winches there as well, mounted on the mast tabernacle. It can be seen here: https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IIN3WMXc-xw/Vzd2VbhoeqI/AAAAAAAADb4/VcjxpadRHHw2PqwXSybNzwiKoGbLysaRwCLcB/s1600/WP_20160513_002.jpg
Hi Mark,
If the clutch is at eye height it should definitely go. No way you can properly bring your weight to bear when you can grab the halyard above your head.
Hi Marc,
Why the worry about removing the clutch? If you have a dedicated winch for the mainsail at the mast it’s not doing anything useful.
As to using the boom as a crane, why not just use the main halyard, as we do?
In my case the boom can overhang to the side of the boat so lifting up a “Thing” can be done vertically up, then move the boom back to the boat and lover the “Thing”. In my case the end of the boom is almost on top of companionway, so I can vertically lower down anything into the boat.
I cannot see how this can be achieved only with a halyard from the top of the mast.
Hi Taras,
Well first off, having the halyard a bit off vertical is really not a problem unless the loads are very high. We regularly swing things weighing several hundred pounds onto a wharf using just a halyard, as well as lifting our dinghy aboard with just a spinnaker halyard.
And if you do need to use the boom, simply attache the main halyard to it—stronger and a better winch than the topping lift.
No real worries, John…it’s just how the boat was rigged! We could use the main halyard as described, I suppose, and use the topping lift as a hoist for an SS wire antenna. The angle’s too tight between the mast base and the leading edge of the pilot house for a solid vang, I suspect. We’re still experimenting.
The track slides (what do ye call them? attaches mainsl to the track, every few feet) in your vid are far apart. The fewer of them the better, right?
And for hank-on clips for the genoa, same thing – the fewer the better?
Hi Nick,
Interesting question. I guess it’s a trade off between strength and clutter, so I would not say simply the fewer the better, particularly on a jib. On the mainsail, if one has too many cars the “stack” when the sail is down gets really high.
It’s also important to position the cars carefully so all of the reef tack cringles can be pulled down to the gooseneck without a car being removed from the track, or disconnected from the sail. A good sailmaker should be able to sort these two issues, but it’s amazing how often they screw it up.
Nice article with a few good points.
You pointing out one of the areas where we need an improvement on-board Maud. At times, we find it hard to hoist in strong wind and equally drop or set a reef. In our case, there are too much fraction on the sliding cars. We got EPEX sails with total weight of 30 kilos excluding reefing lines for slab reefing. We got a different process, but I agree that low fraction is king.
– High halyard exist point gives the person on the mast a good change to use their body weight when hoisting.
– Easy the reefing lines. Drag out the reefing lines at the end of the boom reduces the power required to hoist the main.
– A clutch is a must. The halyard goes back to the cockpit and through a Spinlock Powercluch. XX0812 using a 12 mm Dyneema line. Sailing two handed, we work in synch when hoisting. I am at the helm, holding the boat to the wind and taking in the slack on the halyard during hoist with a closed clutch. With a high-power clutch, there is hardly any drag on the clutch. My wife can use her body weight when hosting. This require that the halyard is taken in after every pull. This would be impossible without a clutch. I have never timed us, I estimates that a normal hoist should take less than 60 seconds. When the main is almost up, she moves to the cockpit for the final adjustment.
– Self-tailing winch, Harken Performa 46. With eight winches on-board you can say that this winch on the coach-roof is dedicated, at times it is used for other jobs. I am aware of the benefit of locking the halyard of on the mast and removed to strain from the mast, mast foot and coach roof.
Normally, we get a very good and fast hoist. We got Antal Mast Head board and sliding cars. The cars are the problem. I was recommended sliding cars by my sailmaker and not a main track with ball bearing cars. The cars are 1-inch-wide; at times they will not slide! Especially when dropping or when reefing in high wind. At times, we really need to drag the main down. We got our sailmaker to fit handles at the reefing rings. A few times I have had my full weight or 90 kilo pulling down without being able to drag it down.
Low fraction is the key. A main sail track with ball bearing cars is the solution. I have tried everything to improve the sliding cars. I replaced them to wider cars. I grease them with sliding silicon. That allow them to work better for a few weeks.
Saving up to retrofit Antal Main Sail track. My Rigger wanted 2K just for the installation job…..
Hi Terje,
Yes, I think you are right, used that way on a boat with the halyards lead aft to the cockpit, I can see the benefits of a clutch. For a boat like ours with the halyard at the mast, a clutch is simply clutter that ads friction and prevents us reaching high enough to get a really good haul on the line.