Newcomer bearing questions

[Terry B]

Greetings all.  I'm new to the board, new to the sport, and just getting to know my 2008 Eclipse.  I'm delighted to find this wonderful source of information and assistance and I promise to spread my innumerable questions out over time so as not to make a pest of myself.  But I have a few that seem urgent to me and would be grateful for some guidance.

1) Proper use of the topping lift. The boat I learned on didn't have one and the com-pac manual doesn't tell me much about this line. From reading, I gather it's main function is to hold up the boom when lowering the mainsail.  But is that the only time you use it?  Is it necessary ( or advisable) to use it to lift the boom above the boom crutch before hoisting the main? 

2) Absence of winches.  Part of what leads me to ask about topping lift is that  when I hoist the main to what seems like as high as it will go, the boom barely clears the crutch in the stern arch -- and in fact grazes it when tacking. Can't be right.  So maybe I need to lift the main a bit higher -- but at my advanced age, don't seem to have the muscle to do it.  Same issue with trimming jib sheets in a good wind. Does any one else out there think a couple of small winches would be a good idea?  Hard to figure where they might go where they would not be an obstacle. Or is there some simple technique others use to lift the main all the way?
3) (last one - promise!) I have my boat in a slip, but I bought it with the intent to trailer it a fair amount.  What have you all found is the best way to transport the roller-furler when trailering.   Dealer that sold me the boat said to stow it below in a big horseshoe shape.  But the manual for the CDI furler says warranty requires it to be stowed straight and flat.  Do you lash it to the mast?  Or run it along one side of the deck bow to stern? Or is there some other way to keep it flat and straight?

Thanks in advance for any help.  It's great to finally join you!
Terry

[newt]

Welcome aboard Terry! With your boat, I would make sure your mainsheet is loose before I pulled the main halyard tight. Get some young person on it to see if it goes higher. If it doesn't, then something is keeping the main from going up. Could be your vang, your mainsheet or anything else holding down the boom. Just look around.
On storing the furler, I would not bend it. I tie it to my mast with some padding in between.  Its still working after 4 seasons....
I would warn you about salespeople but you know the drill....

[Glenn Basore]

Welcome Terry,

I have a 2006 Eclipse and am also in the advance years life (62).

I have the same issues you have described.

As to the main Halyard, I pull on it the best I can and it appears its as high as it can go. I simply rotate the boom cradle 90 degrees and the boom swings clear.

I was thinking of using the topping line to raise the boom a bit this year for a couple of test sails.

Also, sailing loose footed as well.

I don't know about using small winches for the reasons you gave.

Trailering, I leave all the rigging in place when towing. I do remove the headstay and secure it to the mast with bungees once the mast is in its towing position.

I also use bungees to secure all the rigging to the mast. So, basically the sails and rigging are secured to the mast. I do remove the rudder and place it inside the cabin. boat motor stays on and is locked in the Down position to prevent bouncing. also its pad locked in place. I store the motor in my garage when I get the boat home.

I wrote a post on stepping the mast using the boat trailer winch, this makes it a lot easier for this old man to step the mast and lower the mast by my self (read post on this site)

Also, I am assuming you have a new trailer with your boat, hopefully you have some decent size wheels and tires. I have a performance trailer which I had to modify greatly so I could tow the distance I need too.

Lots of good advice on this form.

Glenn

ps.......The line your referring to as a topping line was originally for raising the jib sheet, but since we don't do that its just an extra line now which can be used as a topping line.

[Terry B]

Thanks Glenn and Newt for the words of welcome and the  helpful advice. I'll try what you suggest.

Actually, Glenn, on closer inspection, I've discovered that the line I thought was a topping lift is actually a downhaul! ( There ought to be an emoticon for Red-Faced Rookie!).  And sure enough, when one hauls down on that line, the front end of the boom comes down and the back end lifts.  (Unless the same RFR has forgotten the requirement to release the vang before dropping the main on the prior sail.)  And then there are a couple of more lines for sail adjustment -- a line for reefing and another -- same material as the vang in my boat -- which I believe is an outhaul. With all these various "hauls" there surely must be some proper configuration that shapes the sail nicely and lifts the boom correctly -- but what is that configuration? I'm experimenting, but haven't found it yet. Can anyone point me toward an answer?

As for the trailer, it's a Magic Tilt and it does have 10 inch wheels and they do worry me in regard to overheating the bearings.  But the tires are very stout, well over the typical rating for this tow weight. I towed my boat from Georgia to Indiana at 60-65 mph with no incidents.  I did however have the dealer add surge brakes ( Magic Tilt can supply parts -- the cost of parts and labor was about $1,000) and I am very happy with that choice.

By the way, I've also encountered one of the other issues with the Eclipse -- the tendency of the genoa sheets to snag on the Mastender hardware.  I took note of the solutions others have posted here and added one of my own.  I'm a long time kayaker and am used to building custom outfitting --- braces and such -- out of closed cell foam.  I carved a sort of rounded "nose" out of block of 2 inch foam, drilled and hollowed  it inside to fit snugly over the snags and tied it in place with easy-to -release lashing.  Problem solved.

[Glenn Basore]

Ive been re oiling my teak this week, hopefully I will get in the water one day next week for the day.

Sounds to me your boat and trailer are ship shape and ready to go.

I would like to see what you carved and how it works.

Glenn

[newt]

Terry, try a few things at dock before you go out. If your boat has a topping lift, there will be a line from the back of the top of the mast to the aft end of the boom. It is the only line that goes there. Compacs often do not have one, but they have a little pigtail that comes off the backstay and clips onto the aft end of the boom. Either one will stablize the boom when the mainsheet is not up (the function of a topping lift)
Now when you are raising the mainsail-
Which hole do you clip your mainsheet (that rope that goes up the mast and down to your mainsail) to? My main has two different holes but only one correct one. (usually the hole next to the mast)
Does the mainsheet get caught on anything along the mast or in the spreaders?
When the main is fully up, the boom should be held up by the main. The Cunningham pulls the boom down along the main. The Vang  hold the boom down in the front, but should not be tight most of the time. The mainsheet should be loose until the main is all the way up and in position. The outhaul is that line that goes from the luft (the corner of the main farthest out on the boom) through a pulley and onto a cleat. It keeps the main tight along the boom. A reefing line, if you have one on the outside, goes from a couple of feet up the luft around another tightening pulley and to another cleat. It should remain somewhat loose until you reef.
I hope this clears things up a little...

[gradycampbell]

Terry,
      Welcome aboard. I find that I have to push the boom above the point where the mast breaks down for trailering elsewise it gets caught in the transition. At least for me, looking at the top of the mast it always seems like the sail could go higher, but I presume the angle of the halyard to the mast gets too acute and binds the sail slides preventing it from going up further. I think you will get used to knowing at what points in the hoist to pull hardest, like right at the top, and that will help. I still sometimes have to luff up and give the halyard another tug. And obviously, let the downhaul run loose until the main halyard is as high as it will go. My salesman gave me the same advice about stowing the jib for trailering, and I ended up having to replace the forestay after two years when a wire or two frayed at the t-bar. I since then followed the advice you have gotten from others about stowing it alongside the mast. That also let me cut a good five minutes off rigging, and saved a lot of energy. Particularly since half the time I am doing that alone. I had an earlier post with a picture of my Mastendr mod to avoid jibsheet tangles, and it sounds like yours is functionally equivalent. I think you should pull the outhaul as tight as you can, and that'll be about right.

[Craig Weis]

1~Since I'm lazy. I like winches.

2~Pull that main up as high as it will go. Get out on the dock and look at it. It must be as high up in the slot as possible to clear the boom crutch. You might want to cut the two vertical posts shorter holding the crutch up in order to lower the crutch. Pull the Down Haul tight. I have been known to stand on the boom to 'get her down' and cleated off.

3~Does an Eclipse even have a back stay? I don't know. If it does just a short cable from the stay to the boom with a quick disconnect is all that is needed to hold the boom up. I keep mine on till the main is up then the lanyard on the Q/D is pulled and that short cable is clicked on the back stay to stay out of the way. Also great to hold the boom up for a boom tent while swinging on the hook at night. Keeps the dew off.

4~When I'm trailering, I lay the boom on my 2 x 4's U-bolted to the bow and stern pulpits and wrap the mast and furler to the mast and pulpit and all lines with PVC electric tape. In four or five years I have never taken the turnbuckles off or unpinned them from the chain plates when the mast on my C-P 19 is down.

skip.

Note the cable holding up the boom attached to the backstay.


Your boat without a back stay. Anyline from top'Omast to the hull or pulpit will do.


Peatnutbutter's boom tent. My boat Comfort & Joy is ahead.


Mast/Furler/wood 2 x 4's and PVC tape all snug and taped to the bow and stern pulpits and ready to travel. The mast is off center so I can get my fat butt down the companionway and into the cabin without ducking under the mast. That's the reason for the 2 x 4's to hold the mast toward the edge of the hull.

[Shawn]

Terry,

Regarding raising your main... make sure the downhaul is loose or it too can prevent the main from being hoisted all the way. After you get the main up use the downhaul to tension the sail.

Shawn