Mainsail handling/canvas

[sebastien18]

Newbie question.

Short version: Can you flake a sail that only has a bolt rope and has not been converted to the plastic guides that go in the mast? Or does it make more sense to get it converted so it's easier to flake?

More detailed version:Our recently purchased 26D does not have a canvas cover for the mainsail, so we store it below deck when we're not using it. Every time we go out we have to haul the mainsail from below deck and thread the bolt rope through the mast and the boom etc...etc. Nor does the boom have a topping lift so the it's pretty much and resting on the pop top until we get the mainsail up.
I'm looking to make our sailing more convenient, and while we'll have to wait to purchase a roller furling, I can get a canvas cover for the sail so we can store it on the boom and not bring it up from below deck each time. But can you even flake a sail with the bolt rope, or is that just silly? It seems like the bolt rope would come out anyway and the only advantage your gaining is that you would still be able to leave it threaded through the boom for the next outing.

What are your recommendations?

[BOAT]

Hello,

I hope the people here can help you.

I too had the sail with only the bolt rope - I liked the bolt rope because the sail performed better that way, but I did eventually go to a sail with sail slugs.

I did not flake the sail with the bolt rope (not in the traditional way) The way i handle a sail with a bolt rope is to remove the FOOT from the boom FIRST. (Yeah, I know - strange) but that's what I do:

1: Remove the foot from the boom
2. lower the main enough to remove the battens
3. raise the main back up
4. fold the main in half from top to bottom
5. fold it again in half top to bottom
6. fold it again
7. roll or fold the main from the bottom as you lower it
8. stick it in the sailbag

I am pretty fast at it, but it is more hassle than just flaking the main onto the boom and removing the boom sail and all. Maybe others have a better idea.

[BOAT]

Hey Guys! Sebastian has only posted 6 times on this site, he's a new guy, how boat a little help here?

[K9Kampers]

My main has a bolt rope on the luff and foot, but it has the sail slugs for the mast and boom tracks. It would not possible to flake your main with the luff still in the mast track. OTOH, sail slugs allow flaking without removing them from the mast. I only flake my sail while at anchor and remove anf roll/fold it for travel.

[Sumner]

Slugs are not that expensive so I'd recommend going to them. You won't regret it.



I have a page on installing them and there isn't much to it .....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ing-7.html



Same for a topping lift, not that expensive and very handy....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ing-3.html

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[vizwhiz]

EDIT: Sumner beat me to the post...

My sail has sail slugs! I can't offer any help that way.

Alternatively, adding a topping lift is VERY easy, and should be added to make handling the boom easier and safer. While it doesn't actually hurt anything to not have a topping lift, it does make life easier, especially when anchored and pulling the boom up and out of the way.

I think using a lube on the bolt rope and track, pulling it down, and flaking it on the boom is the only real answer. I wouldn't take it off the boom if you're going to store the whole thing below. I don't, and i know many others on here don't, even with the slugs. Boom, main, and everything comes off together, gets wrapped up in the mainsail cover, and goes below. If you'll be storing for winter, or something like that, then you would probably want to remove it from the boom. But while out sailing, stopping for the night, we just bring it down and flake it on the boom, raise it above head height, and move it to one side.

[kurz]

Sumner you wrote you installe 1/2 inch sail slugs.
In my sail there are 9mm slugs. Sometimes they brake. Maybe bigger ones would hold longer.
Does anyone use 1/2 inch slugs in a mast?

Thanks - kurz

[BOAT]

Sumner you wrote you installe 1/2 inch sail slugs.
In my sail there are 9mm slugs. Sometimes they brake. Maybe bigger ones would hold longer.
Does anyone use 1/2 inch slugs in a mast?

Thanks - kurz

I do, but they were installed on a bolt sail that I had already by Doyle Sail Loft - hand sewn and webbed. I don't know how to install them.

If not for the battens you could flake a bolted OR a slug sail right to the mast if it were footless. Footless is probably better anyways - especially in a big blow - when the wind is really strong you can loosen the out-haul on a footless main and really take a lot of the heel out of the boat - (it slows you down a lot though) but blowing a lot of the wind out the bottom of the main helps put the boat back upright.

To flake a main against the mast you need to have the foot loose and the battens out. You just take the clew hole on the end of the sail and put it in the reef hook. Then grab the sail in the middle (it will fold down the middle if you pull down on it) and bring that crease to the mast - grab in the middle again and repeat as needed. For my old main I only folded it twice and then rolled it at my feet as it slid out of the mast. then i folded that whole thing in half to get it into the bag. It's really pretty fast to do if you practice, and doing it into the wind helps with the folding.

[Tomfoolery]

My main sail had 5/16" [8mm] or 3/8" [9.5mm] slugs when I got the boat, which I replaced with 1/2" [12mm] slugs. I don't know which, but if you're curious, I could find out as I used them to hold a string of lights on my retractable awning, which has a small groove in the extrusion much like a mast or boom, and the slugs fit perfectly.

The 1/2" [12mm] slugs work much better. The top slug hangs up every time I raise the main, but it's the only one I haven't changed yet, as it's sewn in with a canvas web strap instead of the plastic U-clamps with screws that all the others use. Why I couldn't say, but I have to cut the stitching to replace it and restitch the web strap. The small slug at the top really hangs up badly, and I really should put some priority on replacing that last one.

My mast is the same, I believe, as the older boats like the 26 Classic.

Here's a shot of my mast section, and the M mast section (from the Manufacturer's Corner on MacGregor web site), with a 1/2" [12mm] circle superimposed onto the M mast (and mine, though my mast is an accurate drawing, not an image). The M mast section was scaled to full sized, so it and the X mast section, as well as the slug section, are the same scale. I showed the slug as a tube, just so you can see the arrows and leaders going to and through the center of the radius and to the inside of the slot; a solid (filled) circle blocked them, making it unclear what the leaders were pointing to.



The larger slug might be a little tight in there. Or maybe not. Depends on how the mast was actually made, and how accurate the pdf file image I got off the Mac site is. There is room for it, but scaling things off a drawing is a bad way to fly. Best I could guess would be buy a box of five slugs and give it a go.

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/bainbrid ... ecordNum=2

[sebastien18]

Wow! Thank you for the replies. I've been a member of many forums (mostly automotive and 4x4 forums) and this one is by far the most responsive and helpful. I'll look into sail slugs. I was thinking that I would need to have slides professionally installed, so that is a great alternative. Thanks for the tips!

-Sebastien

[Sumner]

If the top slug hangs up put a second one near it. That will help. See my Link above,

Sumner

[BOAT]

If the top slug hangs up put a second one near it. That will help. See my Link above,

Sumner

Yeah! What he said!

When the Doyle Sail Loft put the slugs on mine they put more than one slug on the headboard. That keeps the top of the sail from hanging up.

[My Mistress]

The top slug hangs up every time I raise the main, but it's the only one I haven't changed yet, as it's sewn in with a canvas web strap instead of the plastic U-clamps with screws that all the others use.

I thought I was the only one with that problem. Of course, I've only put my mainsail up once. It's simpler sailing on the narrow local lake under jib alone.

[My Mistress]

Short version: Can you flake a sail that only has a bolt rope and has not been converted to the plastic guides that go in the mast? Or does it make more sense to get it converted so it's easier to flake?

But can you even flake a sail with the bolt rope, or is that just silly? It seems like the bolt rope would come out anyway and the only advantage your gaining is that you would still be able to leave it threaded through the boom for the next outing.

What are your recommendations?

I used to sail my Prindle Catamaran only using a bolt rope, no slugs. I ran a 2ft piece of 3/8 line through the reefing points and put a half hitch on either side to secure it. I would pull these lines to lower the sail and tie them off around the boom. The bottom of the bolt rope simply slides out of the same slot you fed it in at.
For transport or storage, I simply looped a length of line around the sail and boom in a spiral fashion to secure it. It worked, and the sail always rode on top of the trampoline while being toed.
I don't see why it can't be done with a Mac sail. Guaranteed, storing the sail and boom in the sail cover below decks has a lot going for it.