In s.com "Wilbur Hubbard" writes:


"Edgar" wrote in message
...

"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message
anews.com...

"mmc" wrote in message
g.com...

"Nigel Molesworth" wrote in message
...
I carefully measured every side and the new mainsail looks beautiful. I
put new sliders on too. Trouble is, it hangs about 12" from the top of
the mast. My old one doesn't.

Even tho I have a bosuns chair I haven't gone up to investigate.

Any thoughts before I'm forced to go up there?

--
Molesworth

If you haul it to the top and then set the downhaul, does it look ok?
More deck clearance.


Can you read? He said it lacks a foot from going all the way to the top.
It hangs on something. I'm thinking it's an external track with a screw
head (backed out) that's not allowing the new sliders to pass.

Wilbur Hubbard
He says that the old one does go to the top so he must have different
slides on the new one.
I presume they are plastic so a look at the difference between the old
slides and the new and than a bit of work with a file on just the top
couple of slides should fix it.


Good suggestion. That might save him that trip up the mast. But, if it's a
screw or screws backed out it might be a good idea to go up the mast and
check all the fasteners lest the track come adrift.

Wilbur Hubbard


I would rather go up the mast and check it myself, instead of relying on
gueswork done perhaps thousends of miles away. What is so terrible in
going up the mast? There can be various problems, so it would be a wise
thing to check it out properly.

- Lauri Tarkkonen

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
"Peter Bennett" wrote in message
news.com...
On Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:25:42 -0800, "Capt. JG"
wrote:


Or, are you saying that everything looks fine from bottom to top, but
it's
short by 12"? If so, then the main is the wrong size or the boom has
changed
heights. Is the gooseneck fixed?

Or the sailmaker allowed room for the sail to stretch with use. I
would expect that the old sail would have stretched somewhat, so the
new one would be a little smaller.

Is there a black band on mast near the head of the mast? If you race,
the sail must not go beyond that band, or you will be violating your
rating. (If you don't race, this is irrelevant.)


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca


Good point Peter... not that familiar with sail stretch for new sails, but
I'm wondering if 12" is more than what would be built in..

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

A foot for stretch certainly isn't all that unusual, but it doesn't sound
like it's the problem. I believe you suggested earlier that it could be a
slide problem, and I would agree. When I had new sails made for Essie, the
new external slides had sharp edges and would easily go cattywompus, digging
into the sides of the track and bringing it all to a halt. We went through
and changed the bend on all of them, slightly outwards, and eased the edges
of the slides so they weren't so sharp, and up she went like grass through a
goose.

Someone else suggested a screw partially backed out. I've also had that
problem, and it's equally valid.

"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
et...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
"Peter Bennett" wrote in message
news.com...
On Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:25:42 -0800, "Capt. JG"
wrote:


Or, are you saying that everything looks fine from bottom to top, but
it's
short by 12"? If so, then the main is the wrong size or the boom has
changed
heights. Is the gooseneck fixed?

Or the sailmaker allowed room for the sail to stretch with use. I
would expect that the old sail would have stretched somewhat, so the
new one would be a little smaller.

Is there a black band on mast near the head of the mast? If you race,
the sail must not go beyond that band, or you will be violating your
rating. (If you don't race, this is irrelevant.)


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca


Good point Peter... not that familiar with sail stretch for new sails,
but I'm wondering if 12" is more than what would be built in..

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

A foot for stretch certainly isn't all that unusual, but it doesn't sound
like it's the problem. I believe you suggested earlier that it could be a
slide problem, and I would agree. When I had new sails made for Essie, the
new external slides had sharp edges and would easily go cattywompus,
digging into the sides of the track and bringing it all to a halt. We went
through and changed the bend on all of them, slightly outwards, and eased
the edges of the slides so they weren't so sharp, and up she went like
grass through a goose.

Someone else suggested a screw partially backed out. I've also had that
problem, and it's equally valid.


I've had sliders get stuck even though everything looked fine... just backed
off a bit , then tried again, and it went fine.

Try sailcote also...

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
I've had sliders get stuck even though everything looked fine... just
backed off a bit , then tried again, and it went fine.

Try sailcote also...

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

I've done that too, but I figure if a slide sticks going up, it could also
stick coming down -- and that could be very bad news indeed.

"Lauri Tarkkonen" wrote in message
...
In s.com "Wilbur
Hubbard" writes:


"Edgar" wrote in message
...

"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message
anews.com...

"mmc" wrote in message
g.com...

"Nigel Molesworth" wrote in message
...
I carefully measured every side and the new mainsail looks beautiful.
I
put new sliders on too. Trouble is, it hangs about 12" from the top
of
the mast. My old one doesn't.

Even tho I have a bosuns chair I haven't gone up to investigate.

Any thoughts before I'm forced to go up there?

--
Molesworth

If you haul it to the top and then set the downhaul, does it look ok?
More deck clearance.


Can you read? He said it lacks a foot from going all the way to the
top.
It hangs on something. I'm thinking it's an external track with a screw
head (backed out) that's not allowing the new sliders to pass.

Wilbur Hubbard
He says that the old one does go to the top so he must have different
slides on the new one.
I presume they are plastic so a look at the difference between the old
slides and the new and than a bit of work with a file on just the top
couple of slides should fix it.


Good suggestion. That might save him that trip up the mast. But, if it's a
screw or screws backed out it might be a good idea to go up the mast and
check all the fasteners lest the track come adrift.

Wilbur Hubbard


I would rather go up the mast and check it myself, instead of relying on
gueswork done perhaps thousends of miles away. What is so terrible in
going up the mast? There can be various problems, so it would be a wise
thing to check it out properly.

- Lauri Tarkkonen


Some folks make a federal case out of going up the mast. They must have two
or three people helping them, winching them up, belaying them, etc. All the
attendant shouting and commotion. So stupid. Real sailors install mast
steps, preferably of the folding aluminum design (about 30 dollars each)
http://www.greenboatstuff.com/abipoalfomas.html

These make it so easy and safe to go up the mast that routine maintenance is
never ignored. Problems with broken halyards of stuck sheaves are no hassle.
Adding a masthead fly, light or antenna are almost fun. Go figure!

Wilbur Hubbard

"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
I've had sliders get stuck even though everything looked fine... just
backed off a bit , then tried again, and it went fine.

Try sailcote also...

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

I've done that too, but I figure if a slide sticks going up, it could also
stick coming down -- and that could be very bad news indeed.


I've never had that problem...a quick tug on the sail, and down it comes.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
I've had sliders get stuck even though everything looked fine... just
backed off a bit , then tried again, and it went fine.

Try sailcote also...

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

I've done that too, but I figure if a slide sticks going up, it could
also stick coming down -- and that could be very bad news indeed.


I've never had that problem...a quick tug on the sail, and down it comes.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Agree about the sailcote, btw -- I swear by it, and spray it on pretty much
anything that's supposed to move. Getting back to the stuck sails, though, I
sailed on an Irwin 42 once that had been having "sticking slide" problems.
Slides would stick going up, we'd ease the halyard a bit, tug on the luff,
haul away again, ease the halyard again, tug the luff again, eventually it'd
hoist all the way. Skipper wasn't worried about it, said it happened all the
time. Coming back into port we got ready to drop the main, and it wouldn't
budge. Couldn't go higher, wouldn't drop no matter what we did. Came into
the slip with the main up and several people on the finger ready to catch
lines and pull her in.

In the end it turned out that the top headboard slug was really, really
bunged up and wasn't going anywhere. Had to disconnect it to get the sail to
drop. Don't know what the final fix was, but it could have been much worse
if we had been trying to reef in rising wind. I'm assuming that there was
some galling of the internal track near the top of the hoist that caused the
slug to get mangled.

On Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:27:05 -0800, "Capt. JG"
wrote:

"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
I've had sliders get stuck even though everything looked fine... just
backed off a bit , then tried again, and it went fine.

Try sailcote also...

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

I've done that too, but I figure if a slide sticks going up, it could also
stick coming down -- and that could be very bad news indeed.


I've never had that problem...a quick tug on the sail, and down it comes.

I had a case of it not coming down due to a damaged track insert. The
slug slid past the cracked section going up and then jammed against it
on the way down. It wasn't a fun situation.

That's when I installed the Tides system.

In article lutions,
"Capt. JG" wrote:

"Nigel Molesworth" wrote in message
...
I carefully measured every side and the new mainsail looks beautiful. I
put new sliders on too. Trouble is, it hangs about 12" from the top of
the mast. My old one doesn't.

Even tho I have a bosuns chair I haven't gone up to investigate.

Any thoughts before I'm forced to go up there?

--
Molesworth


Are you're saying that the main doesn't go all the way to the top... that's
there some left over at the boom when you raise the sail "all the way" and
it's getting hung up on the way to the top? If so, then clearly something is
interferring with the sliders.

Yes. And the old sail goes right to the top. The new one is slack at the
foot - so much so that it's useless!

There has to be something that affects the new one that doesn't occur
with the old one.

I haul myself up with the mailsail haul - so I can't have both!

I'll drop the jib and use that haul to have a look with the sail up as
far as it will go and see what the prob is - when it gets a bit warmer!

--
Molesworth

"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
et...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
I've had sliders get stuck even though everything looked fine... just
backed off a bit , then tried again, and it went fine.

Try sailcote also...

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

I've done that too, but I figure if a slide sticks going up, it could
also stick coming down -- and that could be very bad news indeed.


I've never had that problem...a quick tug on the sail, and down it comes.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Agree about the sailcote, btw -- I swear by it, and spray it on pretty
much anything that's supposed to move. Getting back to the stuck sails,
though, I sailed on an Irwin 42 once that had been having "sticking slide"
problems. Slides would stick going up, we'd ease the halyard a bit, tug on
the luff, haul away again, ease the halyard again, tug the luff again,
eventually it'd hoist all the way. Skipper wasn't worried about it, said
it happened all the time. Coming back into port we got ready to drop the
main, and it wouldn't budge. Couldn't go higher, wouldn't drop no matter
what we did. Came into the slip with the main up and several people on the
finger ready to catch lines and pull her in.

In the end it turned out that the top headboard slug was really, really
bunged up and wasn't going anywhere. Had to disconnect it to get the sail
to drop. Don't know what the final fix was, but it could have been much
worse if we had been trying to reef in rising wind. I'm assuming that
there was some galling of the internal track near the top of the hoist
that caused the slug to get mangled.



I can imagine. When I finally, finally get around to hauling, I'm going to
have them do some minor work at the masthead (including running some spare
wire), so this'll be a good opportunity to make sure all is in order.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com