Mainsail downhaul

[David Morton]

Hey, Guys and Gals,

All last sailing season on my CD31 I struggled with dousing my mainsail due to its refusal to fall down the track by itself. At first I thought the problem was binding in the track itself, but after a reasonable investigation, realized that a major contributor to the friction is the hardware and line associated with leading the halyard back to the cockpit. I am unwilling to give up the safety and convenience of raising the main from the cockpit, even though I am forced to go to the mast to complete the dousing of the sail. I will probably go ahead and install a TidesMarine track eventually, even though I do not believe it will completely solve the problem. I'm thinking of rigging a downhaul, accessible from the cockpit, to resolve the issue. Wondering if anyone has done this? How did you route the downhaul and what hardware did you use? Block and fairlead placement on deck to minimize friction?

David

[tjr818]

I have not used a downhaul, but I am quite sure that the StrongTrack will solve your problem. We experienced the same difficulty before the StrongTrack.

[David Morton]

Tim, the reason I don't believe the Strong track is the answer is that I have stood at the mast and manually creating slack in the halyard by pulling line from the cockpit allows the sail to fall freely, without binding in the existing track. So it seems to me that simply adding the Strong track without dealing with the line friction from the cockpit will not solve the problem.

David

[Frenchy]

David, the slides on the Tides Marine are heavier than the conventional slides you now have, so
that should help pull the main down. Also, if you don't have ball bearing sheaves on the
blocks leading back, you might want to upgrade to reduce friction there.
Perhaps you could also lubricate or replace the halyard sheave at the top of the mast- just a
random thought.
The Tides Marine track on my previous boat was a nice addition vis-a-vis reducing friction
to almost nil. The only negatives were an increased stack height because of the larger slides,
and a little extra weight (and expense). Good luck - Jean

[Astronomertoo]

Hey, Guys and Gals,

All last sailing season on my CD31 I struggled with dousing my mainsail due to its refusal to fall down the track by itself. At first I thought the problem was binding in the track itself, but after a reasonable investigation, realized that a major contributor to the friction is the hardware and line associated with leading the halyard back to the cockpit. I am unwilling to give up the safety and convenience of raising the main from the cockpit, even though I am forced to go to the mast to complete the dousing of the sail. I will probably go ahead and install a TidesMarine track eventually, even though I do not believe it will completely solve the problem. I'm thinking of rigging a downhaul, accessible from the cockpit, to resolve the issue. Wondering if anyone has done this? How did you route the downhaul and what hardware did you use? Block and fairlead placement on deck to minimize friction?

David

I have installed downhaul lines for the main and jib on 3 of my previous boats that did not have roller furling but had the halyards run back to the aft top of the cabin. I will be adding it to my current CD25, as it makes getting the main down quick and simple when single handed, and I highly recommend it.
BobC

[Ron M.]

I've had a downhaul on my mainsail for some time. It's a great benefit when you need to douse that sail quickly. After a few trips you get in the habit to ensure the dousing line and halyard run clear when raising or lowering the sail. A cost effective improvement. If you don't like it release the knot or shackle from the head, coil up the line and stow it........can't have to much line !

[bottomscraper]

We have a Tides Marine Strong Track and it works well. There are a few other things that can cause problems. I'm not sure about the CD31 but the CD36 manual specifies 1/2" halyards. 1/2" is a very tight squeeze for the sheaves at the top of the mast (at least on our boat). Modern 7/16" is plenty strong and runs much easier. We also do not have a splice on any of our halyards. The thick "shank" of a splice can jam in the sheaves in the masthead. We use a "buntline hitch" and no shackle.

Nothing helps when you have a lobster trap float jammed in your rudder, 6 knots of current and a 15kt wind, but that's another story...

[John Stone]

We have a strong track. Wonderful addition. When we built the new taller mast we installed sheaves for 10mm/3/8" halyards which is what we use. Also, I originally spliced the double braid to secure the shackles but I cut them off and now also use a buntline hitch to secure the shackles.

A mainsail downhaul is a very seaman like traditional solution. I would have no hesitation to use one but we have not needed to so far. It does add another halyard on the mast (when sailing) and another line to coil but that's a small price to pay to be able to get the main down if it's necessary.

[David Morton]

Thank you all for your feedback. I think I will proceed with installation of the Strongtrack, while the mast is down, and see what happens. It should be no hassle to install the downhaul after the mast is stepped if the new track does not resolve the problem. Will report back on my anticipated success in the Spring!

My only hesitation is worry that the sail will stack too high on the boom with the Strongtrack and my brand new sail cover won't fit anymore! Wondering how close I can bring the bottom of the strong track to the boom and still have room to bend on the sails. Any suggestions?

David

[John Stone]

My original cover still fit even with the strong track. So I would not address it till you try it out. You might be fine.

[tjr818]

The same thing happened to us, but I was able to sew in a small panel along the top seam of the cover to "tailor" it to fit. For Slainte it was a piece about 18" long and it was oval, sort of football shaped, and it really didn't take long to do. Did you make your cover,or buy it? If it is an off the shelf purchase, any tailor should be able to adjust it for you.
Measure the height of the current stack of slides. Count how many slides you have. Then go to the Tidesmarine website, there they list all of the different slides that you will need and you can add them up to see how that compares. There are different length slides for the batten pockets, reef points, and the headboard. How are your current slides attached? That also makes a difference. If they are held on with webbing it is a simple swap out. If the are held on with clips you are going to need some webbing to sew on the new slides, or have a sail loft do that for you. I don't think you can get your present clips to work.