Raising the Main Solo

[Yojimbo]

I'm sailing a Catalina 27 tiller steered Club Boat where maintenance is always and issue and often behind schedule. Looking for recommendations on raising the mainsail when solo. Usually there are two of us, one on the helm, engine engaged, into the wind and tailing the halyard while I help the sail slugs up through the track as they get stuck.

Last weekend experimented with tying off the tiller with some 3/16" bungee to keep the boat in irons, engine engaged so I could hoist at the winch and go forward to free the stuck mainsail slugs. Didn't work as hoped for- the boat wouldn't hold and the bow would slide off heading so it was a no go.

Would a beefier bungee work better? I plan to try again with some 3/8" cord to see if will will hold head t wind to get the sail up.

Increased engine rpm?

I've looked at most of the tiller attachments and read mediocre reviews. Also making changes or attachments to the clubs boats is a tricky political maneuver.

Not looking for a self steering sheet to tiller set up right now just keeping the boat to wind to get the main raises.

Your experienced successful tactics appreciated.

TIA

[NevilleCat]

Frustrating. Might be able to find a place handy where you can pick up a buoy, or can tie the bow off streaming downwind from your pen or wharf etc briefly to hoist it?

[Jim Cate]

You could anchor briefly whilst hoisting... and that is likely the best alternative short of an autopilot.

Trying to get a light and shallow bow to stay up into the wind without active steering is difficult... so trying to bring the tail of the main halyard back to where you could reach it would help. If you can get the sail most of the way up, then going forward to get the rest with the helm tied off becomes feasible

Jim

[Nekton73]

Stuck slugs... without knowing why they are sticking, perhaps cleaning and lubricating the track and slugs will solve? If you have slugs and not slides an easy way to do this is to tie the halyard to a piece of rag, jam it into the groove, tie a downhaul line to the bottom, and hoist away. You can soak the rag in a cleaner, soapy water, just plain silicon spray. If you can acquire a spare slug you can insert it into the groove with just one layer of cloth trapped and secure the halyard and downhaul directly to the slug. This works quite well. Cleaning the slugs themselves if they are gummed up or dirty should also help a lot. Easiest just to remove them from the track. There will be a section with an opening for this purpose. You may have to remove a stopper or screw to enable them to slide down and out.
If you don't want to go to all that effort then just try giving the slugs, and as far up the track as you can reach, a good soak in plain silicone spray before you head out. This will wash away a fair bit of dirt and add lubrication.

Engine should be at idle, or if wind and surf are up then just enough to make steerage, any additional speed results in increased apparent wind and just makes your life harder.
Is your main sheet tight and centered? A common practise but not a best practise. If so ease it significantly, like many feet, and allow your main to weather cock. This will give you much more room from dead upwind while you raise before you have to make a steering correction. Ensure your vang is free to run as well.

Unsure if 'hoisting at the winch' means from the cockpit or at he mast, but regardless you should be able raise this small sail most or all of the way by hand without the assistance of the winch so don't take any wraps while you hoist. Wraps around the winch while hauling just adds friction unless you are actually using the winch to assist. If you are hauling through a clutch, leave the clutch open to reduce friction even more. When you reach your limit, or the top, just take a couple of turns around the winch and proceed from there to finish the hoist or add final tension.

Don't get focused on getting it up all the way in one go. If you get it half way and then the boat starts to drift, just stop hauling and steer back on course. Can you haul from a position that is within reach of the tiller? If usually hoisting at the mast perhaps a quick redirect with a snatch block so you can do it from the cockpit would be worth a try. You can lock off to a nearby cleat or winch if needed and then go forward to deal with things once sail is up.
The recommendation to anchor (or moor) is also a good one. Or perhaps you can hoist at the dock before you leave and scandalize the sail with the topping lift. I watched a harbour cruise skipper do this on a pretty large ketch and it's pretty effective.
Hopefully some of this is helpful or gives you ideas of how to make it work on your boat. I am single handed almost all the time so all of these are tools in the bag depending on wind, weather and where I'm departing from at the time.

[Yojimbo]

Neville and Jim Kate-

Such an interesting tactic, thanks- never occurred to me. It would be a solution to keep in mind but not a practical tactic here.

We leave the marina through a narrow entry immediately into 60' of water and often heavy traffic. The boats are generally set up for a 7:1 at 30' depth and deployment is not optimal. These boats are mostly set up for ASA training and Club member sailing practice. Still- thanks for helping me think outside the box of a novice. Going to tuck that idea away for later.

I need a practical means of keeping the boat to the wind, under engine, without falling off underway in order to raise the mainsail without assistance.

Still wondering if heavier bungee or more engine thrust is the solution?

Obviously wind will play a factor. Tried the light bungee in 12 knot winds with a single pre-set reef last w/end but she wouldn't stay to wind.

[Yojimbo]

Necton

Thanks for the ideas. The slugs are worn and unlikely to get replaced before other club boat issues are resolved, so the lubrication techniques will get tried for effectiveness- nice description of process btw. I'll give it a try.

The main hoists from a winch in the cockpit butecause of the old slugs it's a lot of back and forth from mast to winch to clear the jammed slugs.

Great point on engine rpm- will keep that in mind. Do you tie off/ center the tiller when solo and if so how or is releasing the mainsheet sufficient to keep her to wind? I had the mainsheet fully released but the wind- 14 knots- would catch the bow and put us off. Solution?

[Nekton73]

I have a wheel but do not lock it off as it does not help once the bow has drifted off the wind and the time it takes to undo the lock just delays my ability to correct steering.



So while you're in the cockpit you hopefully are within reach of the tiller. Does it reach far enough forward that you can put it in the small of your back while hoisting? You can have a surprising amount of control and freedom to move doing this. Just be careful not to jam yourself in the back as you get used to the position, or in choppy seas.


Easing the main sheet does nothing to help keep you into the wind. It allows the main to stay into the wind and let the boat move around it, like a weather vane. I'm not sure I would fully slack the main sheet until you get a sense of why and how it helps. Allow enough slack so that your boom end is over the edge of the cockpit to start. That should be enough for you to see the advantages without having so much slack that it is unmanageable. As you get to know the boat you may wish to let it out further. I let mine out so the boom end is over the lifelines, sometimes farther, but that's what works for me.


As for keeping a boat head to wind at 14kts without a sturdy autopilot... I haven't found or seen a method that works yet. Once the bow drifts off it will be pushed. Your best solution is to be able to correct steering quickly and easily. With the main sheet eased you will have more time before this becomes necessary.


I'd work on the stuck slug problem. The better they run the easier this gets. Would the club let you replace them? Not too hard to do and not an expensive repair. A bit of time spent at the dock would yield a vast improvement in enjoyment.


Another option, raise your jib first, heave to the boat (you'll fore reach a bit but that's fine), and then hoist your main with the sheet eased in relative comfort and low pressure. If you haven't practised heaving to yet this is as good a time as any to learn. Not enough time or energy to get into the details and you'll find plenty to read on the subject but very briefly, most boats will heave to in some fashion under any combination of sail. Some not well, some very well, but most should settle down well enough to give you a chance to sort out some problems in light to moderate winds. I'll check back in tomorrow evening on this and try to explain more if you have questions. Early on with my boat I practised heaving to with every sail combination and in as many different conditions as I could. Also sailing around with just main, just jib, and both. It made me a lot more comfortable with my options to get under way easily, stop for a break, and take the stress off doing things while solo.



Cheers.

[Don C L]

Not sure with the Catalina, but with my boat, before I ran the halyards back to the cockpit, I'd leave the tiller free, no engine, and the mainsheet very slack so that the boom was free to swing a bit. As I raised the main, if the boat fell off and the main was not luffing, I'd just wait until what I had up would eventually round the boat up. As soon as the main was luffing again I'd get back to hoisting. Of course you need a bit of room to do that. Do you find your boat will fall off and not round up at all? To me the idea of the tiller tied off and more thrust sounds like potentially a bigger problem, not a better solution.

First thing to do though is to spray the track with dry lubricant as high up as you can go.

[OldManMirage]

I've owned 2 different Catalina 27's, great boats both of them. But they are light on the helm, very responsive, which makes them difficult to "self-steer" for any length of time. Without an autopilot - tiller-pilot in your case - getting her to hold a heading without any helm input will be really hard to do.

Even if you can keep her straight while sitting at the tiller as soon as you get up and walk to the mast she will alter course.

I think making sure you can raise the sail is probably your best best.

[Jamme]

Can you share a map of the harbor? Any way to deploy the main while at the dock and then motorsail your way out?
Fair winds.

[Pete7]

Appreciate its a club boat, but investing in a Raymarine ST2000 would make all the difference not just for hoisting the sails solo but used to steer whilst you concentrate on looking out or making a cup of tea. We used one for a decade on our 31ft yacht and worked well up to F5. We tended to hand steer beyond that. There are water resistant covers with a window to see the buttons which help keep the rain off them. They are even strong enough to turn the rudder with a wheel fitted.

Pete

[SailingHarmonie]

Another option that works well for me, and doesn’t involve anything fancy or convoluted.

Raise jib first, which is usually pretty easy solo. Get the boat sailing as close hauled as it can. Typically that will take a bit of lee helm. If you can balance the boat with the wind significantly forward of the beam, you’ll find you can take your time raising the main. The bow does not need to be dead into the wind to raise the main.

[Snore]

Looked at a photo of the Catalina 27. Can you take a wrap on the cabin top winch and bring the halyard down to the primary? This would allow you to foot-steer while raising the main.

[jeanathon]

Nekton, Don, and Sailingharmonie have offered very good advice.

The only thing I can add is that while standing at the mast to free slugs you should be able to mostly hoist the main by hand. The main will stay up with very little tension on the halyard as you go back to the cockpit to finish hoisting with a winch.

[davil]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Appreciate its a club boat, but investing in a Raymarine ST2000 would make all the difference not just for hoisting the sails solo but used to steer whilst you concentrate on looking out or making a cup of tea. We used one for a decade on our 31ft yacht and worked well up to F5. We tended to hand steer beyond that. There are water resistant covers with a window to see the buttons which help keep the rain off them. They are even strong enough to turn the rudder with a wheel fitted.

Pete

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Pete
sorry, cannot read the text, intriguing, is any way to post it again?
from the pic, cannot tell how the autopilot is steering, using the auxiliary hookup or is controlling the wheel?

Thanks