Genoa only sailing

[NiceAft]

When you say

As far as my sluggs hanging up, it is the plastic mastgate they get hung on.

Is it during the normal raising and lowering of the main, or when being reefed or unreefed That is not clear to me.

[leefrankpierce]

Normal up or down, whenever the slugs need to go through the gate.
I suppose it is possible my slugs are too small, I guessed when I put them in and have no idea what size they are.

As far as when reefed, I am not sure, I now have a habbit of going to the mast to tend to the situation.

One thing is for sure, the mastgate is in a good location if you are using the bolt-rope but really bad once you change to sluggs.

[Herschel]

Normal up or down, whenever the slugs need to go through the gate.
I suppose it is possible my slugs are too small, I guessed when I put them in and have no idea what size they are.

As far as when reefed, I am not sure, I now have a habbit of going to the mast to tend to the situation.

One thing is for sure, the mastgate is in a good location if you are using the bolt-rope but really bad once you change to sluggs.

I have not had that problem. Perhaps it is the size of slugs. I'll take a pic of mine next to a ruler the next time I go up to the boat. Probably next week. Mine were chosen by Doyle Sails when I bought my new main a few years ago. Should be a good size to go by.

[leefrankpierce]

What mastgate do you use?

[Herschel]

What mastgate do you use?

Not sure if this question is for me, but I will just report that I do not have a mastgate on my mast. I just use the standard openning for the sail slugs that was manufactured in the mast.

[leefrankpierce]

What mastgate do you use?

Not sure if this question is for me, but I will just report that I do not have a mastgate on my mast. I just use the standard openning for the sail slugs that was manufactured in the mast.

Yes, was asking you, I was presuming you left the sail attached to the mast.
I leave my boat rigged and want to be able to get the sails up and down from the cockpit, I have a plastic mastgate that almost works, but was considering if I could live without a mainsail at all.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/9PTF8 ... =107982582

Almost works, might work better if I had installed it correctly the 1st time. (some damage to it) OR I have too small slugs.

[NiceAft]

I’m confused.

I leave my boat rigged when I go on trips of several days. I have slugs, but no mast gate, and instead use a screw on slug stop. When docked for extended periods, the main is lowered to the slug stop. I do not remove the “stop”. Dropping the sail below the opening on the mast is not needed and I place the main sail cover around it and the boom. All lines are led aft.

I used to have a problem with slugs having resistance when almost at the top of the mast. I relieved that problem by pulling on the topping lift, and raising the boom significantly. This removed pressure on the slugs, and the problem was eliminated. When fully raised, I release the topping lift, and the boom hangs free.

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

We’ve caught a couple episodes of “Motorsailing for Old Dudes” on YouTube, not that interested in the personal exploits, but did notice that his boat only has a Genoa furler sail that seems to reasonably work for most all of his sailing needs.

He’s got a fairly large heavy boat with a broad beam so it’s something to get moving and maneuvered but the Genoa seems to easily handle the task. I suppose that as others have mentioned here that it isn’t much different for a Mac26.

We’re not all that dexterous anymore (side effects of a more adventurous youth?) and clamoring up on deck to hoist a mainsail doesn’t have much appeal (as there’s a better than even odds of my going for an unintentional swim ). With that in mind we’ve been primarily using Over Easy as a motor cruiser which has been working out very nicely for us so far but we haven’t given up on wanting to get more into the sailing portion.

We had been looking at various approaches to making a furling mainsail. Either a boom furler or a behind the mast furler system. Though not perfect for optimal sailing either would solve the getting up on the cabin deck issue.

Now I sorta feel a bit like a dummy for not seeing that just using the furling Genoa and ditching the mainsail altogether would have solved the problem!🫣 Live & Learn

We had gotten it fixated that there was only one approach (needing to use a mainsail) that we didn’t see the obvious alternative there all along.

This really simplifies things for us on several levels. Eliminates all the concerns of the mainsail … the need for the boom, the associated rigging/control lines, carrying/storing the mainsail …

Some sailing is better than not sailing!
While logistics prohibits us from getting the mast back onto our boat until the next haul out it has opened up this aspect for us!

Thank you all for bringing up this excellent topic and opening up our eyes! It has been very timely and appreciated!

Best Regards
Over Easy

[leefrankpierce]

I’m confused.

I leave my boat rigged when I go on trips of several days. I have slugs, but no mast gate, and instead use a screw on slug stop. When docked for extended periods, the main is lowered to the slug stop. I do not remove the “stop”. Dropping the sail below the opening on the mast is not needed and I place the main sail cover around it and the boom. All lines are led aft.

I used to have a problem with slugs having resistance when almost at the top of the mast. I relieved that problem by pulling on the topping lift, and raising the boom significantly. This removed pressure on the slugs, and the problem was eliminated. When fully raised, I release the topping lift, and the boom hangs free.

I used to use a stop, but the amount of sail held above the slot was excessive. It is possible my size of slug + the spacing/number of slugs I put on might have not worked out so well.

How far apart is each slug ?

[NiceAft]

How far apart is each slug ?

That I can’t answer (now). I won’t be doing anything with NiceAft until early June when we do 10 days on the Chesapeake.

[Herschel]

I’m confused.

I leave my boat rigged when I go on trips of several days. I have slugs, but no mast gate, and instead use a screw on slug stop. When docked for extended periods, the main is lowered to the slug stop. I do not remove the “stop”. Dropping the sail below the opening on the mast is not needed and I place the main sail cover around it and the boom. All lines are led aft.

I used to have a problem with slugs having resistance when almost at the top of the mast. I relieved that problem by pulling on the topping lift, and raising the boom significantly. This removed pressure on the slugs, and the problem was eliminated. When fully raised, I release the topping lift, and the boom hangs free.

I used to use a stop, but the amount of sail held above the slot was excessive. It is possible my size of slug + the spacing/number of slugs I put on might have not worked out so well.

How far apart is each slug ?

I, also, normally keep my mainsail rigged/covered as described above. It just happened to be stowed away when my picture was taken. Somewhere in this or another thread, I began to experiment with Genoa only sailing to foil the local bat population who had decided to enjoy nesting/voiding inside my covered mainsail. I will rerig the mainsail after bat nesting season in Florida which ends August 15. I will measure my slugs when I go up to the marina this Friday (4/28/23).

[NiceAft]

Bat nesting season, oh my; the perils of Florida living, will they never cease.

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

Maybe someone can explain this to me…

I’ve heard that the bat season over in the Florida Panhandle is from about March until May and that this year has been more of a problem than usual. I’ve also heard that some years the season has started as early as January!

I’m wondering if this is a recent thing or if it’s due to the unseasonably warmer weather that Florida has been having since the late 1990s?

Is it a seasonal migration thing or something?

Best Regards,
Over Easy

With all apologies to Over Easy ; To prevent the Genoa only sailing topic from going on a tangent, I moved this post to a new topic on Bat Nesting Season In Florida. viewtopic.php?t=29526

Ray

[leefrankpierce]

I’m confused.

I leave my boat rigged when I go on trips of several days. I have slugs, but no mast gate, and instead use a screw on slug stop. When docked for extended periods, the main is lowered to the slug stop. I do not remove the “stop”. Dropping the sail below the opening on the mast is not needed and I place the main sail cover around it and the boom. All lines are led aft.

I used to have a problem with slugs having resistance when almost at the top of the mast. I relieved that problem by pulling on the topping lift, and raising the boom significantly. This removed pressure on the slugs, and the problem was eliminated. When fully raised, I release the topping lift, and the boom hangs free.

I used to use a stop, but the amount of sail held above the slot was excessive. It is possible my size of slug + the spacing/number of slugs I put on might have not worked out so well.

How far apart is each slug ?

I, also, normally keep my mainsail rigged/covered as described above. It just happened to be stowed away when my picture was taken. Somewhere in this or another thread, I began to experiment with Genoa only sailing to foil the local bat population who had decided to enjoy nesting/voiding inside my covered mainsail. I will rerig the mainsail after bat nesting season in Florida which ends August 15. I will measure my slugs when I go up to the marina this Friday (4/28/23).

Pict of my mast showing slug spacing (reefed) Guessing they are too close as I found a 2ft recommendation somewhere. Still unsure of the size but I think 1/2 is the smallest you can buy.
Opinions on spacing ?

[Be Free]

My slugs are 26" apart. Don't know if that's good or bad but it has worked for me for the last 13 years.