J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment how to make sail raising easier

Other than having, young 20 something men on board, how can I make it easier to get the sails up. Sailing with just two people it is a work out to get the sails up, especially in a blow. Does a greasless silicon spray work? do you have to respray frequently?

John

On Vee Jay, we went to a Tides Marine Track after spending years with mickey mouse slides that never really slide right. But this summer sailing on Rhapsody, who uses both slides or bolt rope mains, that boat seems to have no problem. I don't think you have to go to the Tides Track as it is expensive for what it is.

With Slides
1. the backstay must be loose with as little bend in the mast as possible.
2. any lubricant with any "body" seems to attract dirt and not only do you have to use a lot of lub, you have to periodically clean the track. AND THAT IS A PAIN.
3. if the sail is hard to raise it will be hard to drop once the slot gets gummed up.
4. look at how the racers raise the sail at the mast by sweating the halyard. done right you will only need a crank or two at the winch to top it out.
5. try any alternative you can before you think of lubbing the slot.

It is not a problem for two people to raise the sail with one at the mast and the other at the winch with the cleat locked in.

vic [acting summer mastman on Rhapsody at 67 and 155 lbs.]

I use a dry silicone lubricant on both my headsail foil and my main bolt rope slot which I find helps. I usually just apply lubricant to the bolt rope as it feeds in and let the sail run it up the foil/slot. I also apply the same lubricant to all sheaves and blocks as well. This is a habit which I picked up from folks I crewed with for 12 years. The previous boat has never had to clean either track after monthly lubrication cycles, so I figure there is not appreciable build-up.

With two folks aboard it is best to have one person bumping the halyard at the mast. This makes a big difference and tends to get the sails up relatively hassle free. Watch out for the bolt rope pinching as it feeds.

Echoing Vic's comments. I also can pass on some things I've learned from experience and other boats.

• Lazy Jacks - kind of a cruising thing that make the main sail folding (with slugs) easier. The disadvantage is unless you keep the boat pointed into the wind and watch carefully, it's easy to get battens caught in the lazy jacks. This means you end up wasting time incrementally raising and lowering the sail to get them unstuck.
• Batten Tension - Too tight and it twists the slugs on the way up, too loose and they aren't as effective.
• Slugs - I use the straight type that are sewn in for my everyday sail. I've also seen the ones with the pivot joints - these are more trouble than they are worth as the pivot joints dont align the slug well when raising and lowering the main.
• McLube - I spray it periodically on the bolt rope and tracks. It doesn't collect and gum up.
• Jib Furling - Many have done it, I haven't. It works and is convenient with the single sail usually sized somewhere around 130 to 150%, but is actually more difficult if you want to make a sail change

The other important thing is to add a cam cleat about a foot under the exit plate at the mast. This allows you to jump the sail without having someone to tail the halyard. You can get it up all the way up, cleat it and then go back and pull the slack out and then put a couple of pulls on the winch to tighten it up. This also lets you drop and flake the main without someone tailing from the cockpit.

Also replace the sheaves at the mast crane, this will make it much easier to raise.

Vic, have you experienced any problems with the Tides Marine Track when applying max backstay tension? I've been thinking along the same lines looking at Harken Battcar as I sail alone and the slugs are a pain at best. Thanks

re Tides ... for some reason over the last few years I have opted to keep a lot of back tension on ALL the time ... to keep the harking roller furling from sagging. {{{I don't even know if it sails better with or without sag ... will have to check this winter}}}

on Rhapsody I am surprised how little tension Bill uses and how straight that mast can be. My harken dates back to my first j30 #327 in 1983 and is probably heavier than it needs to be. So yes the slides seem to work with back tension and drop OK as well ... but with a straight mast it is really nice. but try the straight mast before you invest in Tides. With the Tides I don't think about the backstay tension.

but mast tension is just a pull away ... with slugs I had gotten down to always releasing the back stay before raising the sail and that alone really helps. Sort of part of that check list: vang OFF, backstay OFF, cunningham OFF, cleat ON, sailties OFF.

Vee Jay 2 will be in NPT in May, come on down and sail a bit with us.

v

I was more concerned about the track seperating from the mast due to bending, my problem with the slides is mainly at the gate, the backstay is used only when needed, thanks for the invite.

Vic,
For complete overkill, you can install a capstan at the bow and hoist the main with a long tail on the main halyard.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KQ0LScAkisU/ScWEe52HtZI/AAAAAAAAAE0/sJtbhtXYT84/s1600-h/Bow+Shot+2.JPG.

Rob

I have had the Tides track for the last two years of pretty frequent sailing and it still looks brand new.

But to the gate problem ... I originally started with TWO plates at the gate and it was a disaster ... so I took one off and just ran with one and very minimal problems. If you can photo the gate maybe someone on the forum has a similar plate set up and solved the engineering.

Rob ... Weight OFF the bow ... unless of course you are a treasure hunter. But then again as we look back at all the mistakes the orignal j30 engineering had ... maybe your way will work.