Dousing sail

[Renae]

I have no real difficulty hoisting sail on my Suncat.  Getting it down is the trouble.  And yes, it has a downhaul...

So far I have tried the following:

1.  Replace the gaff gooseneck (it was bent).
2.  Ensure all lines are untwisted/untangled.
3.  Spray mast track lubricant generously throughout.
4.  Try slightly different gaff angles (starting with horizontal).

The former owner added a downhaul, but it doesn't seem to get the throat moving downward.  The boat is new to me, so I'm suspect there is some art to it that I haven't yet learned.  I've successfully gotten rigged on the water, and with much difficulty, doused, and repeated the same on the trailer numerous times, but it seems to take way more effort than it ought to.

Hints?

[bruce]

Something's wrong, IMHO. The luff can be slow to fall, and may need some gentle tugging, but the downhaul should easily take care of that. I try to keep the gaff above the throat so there is some downward force, but not jamming the gooseneck, but it's not that critical.

That it's still fighting you on the trailer, with no wind load, is telling. From your description of the downhaul, "it doesn't seem to get the throat moving downward", it sounds like it's the gooseneck and not the slugs. If the throat halyard is running freely, and the downhaul is pulling the gooseneck fairly, and not from the side, I'd look closely at the gooseneck again. Is there localized damage in the track where the throat sets?  When you can reach it, does it slide freely, or is it always tight? Any photos of the gooseneck, and old parts you replaced, could be helpful. The part that gets bent is typically the slide with the extended ring that Com-Pac modifies. That can cause problems raising the sail, but, as long as the throat halyard is free, shouldn't cause problems dousing.

Com-Pac lubricates the track with a heavy grease. Overkill for the slugs, presumably it's for the goosenecks. Some assume it's not the fractory's doing and blame it for sticky track issues.

[Renae]

I replaced the gooseneck yesterday, it is pristine and unbent, and it slides like a bullet through the mast track in both directions when not carrying the gaff.  Nevertheless, the sail does not want to come down unless I pull really hard on the luff.  The gaff downhaul may need to be re-designed next, but as is, offers no help whatsoever.

[bruce]

Still sounds like too much friction. With the gaff horizontal, or moderately above the gooseneck, the throat should want to come down, maybe with a little encouragement. You shouldn't have to pull hard on the luff. The downhaul is primarily useful because you can reach it readily from the cockpit, not to give you more purchase. Plenty of SC sailors don't have the downhaul and are perfectly happy. Is the throat halyard running freely? Is the end of the gaff jamming against the mast somehow?

[Jim in TC]

I am with Bruce on wondering just what is going on here. We do not have the downhaul on our Sun, and while there have been a couple occasions to wish for it, gravity has been equal to the task almost always and a little encouragement was missed those couple times the gaff did not come down more or less horizontally. And those times there was no real binding, simply a bit of extra effort to bring all down quickly. Something, somewhere in there, is hanging up...

[Renae]

The former owner just wrote me back and said he had similar trouble.  I agree that something is binding, but I am at a temporary loss as to what it is.  Next step may be to pressure wash the mast track and re-lube, but that will mean completely de-rigging and I am not eager if there is something else I am missing.

[Jim in TC]

There isn't something so simple as a halyard hanging up or a block tightening up somehow...

[bruce]

If the gooseneck slides freely by hand now, I wouldn't expect much improvement from cleaning and regreasing. I'd check the halyard blocks, as we've suggested.

Sorry it's being a pain! My guess is once you figure it out it will be straightforward to fix. There's not a lot of tight tolerances here.

[Maritimer67]

Check with the PO to see if he happened to change out the slugs. I found that one of my slugs was different than the others (different size) and was creating some extra friction in the track. I'm assuming the PO had a problem and replaced it with the wrong one, because as I inspected the other ones, two other ones started to break apart (the plastic part). Assuming from UV degradation. West Marine had the correct size, so I replaced them all.

[jdklaser]

Sounds like a yearly hand cleaning of the groove with denatured alcohol and a rag should go on my maintenance list.  McLube Sailcoat will give you the clean dry surface that does not attract junk.  Just don't use it on blocks as it works so well that it causes shear on plastic bearings.  (use One Drop instead.)

[bruce]

Keeping your grove clean sounds like a good idea, lol. A non-polar solvent like naphtha or mineral spirits would be most effective to remove old wax, grease, and oils.

Just to be clear, Com-Pac had applied a heavy grease to the mast track on my boat when I took delivery in 2010. Hasn't caused any problems for me.

[Joseph]

This is puzzling, as the dowhaul should be able to bring the gaff gooseneck down.

Is the downhaul rigged vertically along the side of the mast? (likely to a block at the mast step redirecting it to the cockpit?). The downhaul may not work properly if the pull on the gaff gooseneck is at an angle.

Attaching it to the eye of the halyard may cause the gooseneck piece to be pulled at an angle. If that is the case try attaching the tip of the downhaul to the base of the gaff-gooseneck piece.

Also, of course, dousing the sail ought to be done with the sail luffing and depowered and the boom centered, otherwise (I've tried it at the dock...) dousing the sail gets more challenging. 

I am also puzzled by the bending of the gaff-goosneck piece. I can think of only one way in which this could happen: if the mast tumbles aft while the gaff-gooseneck piece at the track was levelled with (and not below) the mast hinge. Do you know if this is what happened?

Best of lucks!.

J.


     

[Renae]

Epilogue:  I repositioned the gaff downhaul and replaced the shackle by which it attaches to the gooseneck slide.  The gaff comes down nicely now. 

[Zephyros]

Epilogue:  I repositioned the gaff downhaul and replaced the shackle by which it attaches to the gooseneck slide.  The gaff comes down nicely now.

Renae,

Could you please post some photos of your re-designed downhaul. This will help those of us who may want to add one and have a reference for one that works.

[bruce]

I look forward to seeing Renae's set up. One of the problems, of course, is where to attach the downhaul to the throat gooseneck so it pulls fair on the slide. I've used a version of an eyebolt, specifically a flat-shoulder rod end bolt that has a nice compact, machined head, to replace the clevis pin joining the gooseneck to the slide. Works great.
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