Mainsail won't fully raise - why?

[yukonbob]

Try some Sailkote or similar on your bolt rope or slugs. If nothing seems to be physically jamming or restricting it, friction in the track is the next likely suspect (twisted slugs and warped bolt rope are others) Try some cheap sail safe lube and see if that makes a difference. Replacing any worn running rigging makes a big difference on how easy and smooth they run through the blocks, same goes for most everything else. Cheap solution and hitting all your blocks and moving parts with some dry lube ain't gonna be a bad thing.

[kadet]

If your luff is tight, sailed raised as far at it will go, and your leech is loose, boom sagging, and the sail was originally made for your boat then the most common cause would be that the bolt rope in the luff has shrunk. Try cutting any stitching holing the sail to the bolt rope and see if you can raise the sail higher and lift the boom. If this fixes the issue replace the bolt rope.

If the bolt rope has shrunk, instead of replacing the bolt rope (high $$) could I just pick out the stitching holding the bolt rope at the bottom and leave it like that or stitch it back in allowing for the shrinkage (so there is no bolt rope for say 6 inches at bottom of sail). My sail has slugs so I don't rely on the bolt rope to attach the sail to the mast. The sail also seemed very full ("blown out"?) see http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewt ... =8&t=19751

Replacing the bolt rope is not very expensive and not that difficult. Cost is a few stitches and few dozen feet of new rope easy to do yourself. Yes you could unstitch and restitch the old rope but the head or foot would then be unsupported and the sail could tear at that point.

[vizwhiz]

If your luff is tight, sailed raised as far at it will go, and your leech is loose, boom sagging, and the sail was originally made for your boat then the most common cause would be that the bolt rope in the luff has shrunk. Try cutting any stitching holing the sail to the bolt rope and see if you can raise the sail higher and lift the boom. If this fixes the issue replace the bolt rope.

If the bolt rope has shrunk, instead of replacing the bolt rope (high $$) could I just pick out the stitching holding the bolt rope at the bottom and leave it like that or stitch it back in allowing for the shrinkage (so there is no bolt rope for say 6 inches at bottom of sail). My sail has slugs so I don't rely on the bolt rope to attach the sail to the mast. The sail also seemed very full ("blown out"?) see http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewt ... =8&t=19751

Replacing the bolt rope is not very expensive and not that difficult. Cost is a few stitches and few dozen feet of new rope easy to do yourself. Yes you could unstitch and restitch the old rope but the head or foot would then be unsupported and the sail could tear at that point.

Fully agree with kadet here... Bolt rope replacement is cheap and easy. Okay, not easy. But not very hard. Gotta have the right needle and waxed thread and stuff, take pictures of it before you start, and etc. But the job is certainly do-able.
Also, agreed that you should not leave it disconnected - our own JudyB has chimed in on that one several times also. Not a good idea to leave it - you'll pull the sail material apart.
When I did mine, I looked at the stretchy vs not-stretchy ropes, and chose one that had about 9-11% stretch (regular Sta-set, I want to say). This would ensure that I could actually stretch the bolt rope as I pulled it up and get the sail luff tight. You do have to pre-stretch it also (or just make the rope slightly shorter than the sail luff as I did)...which is why I opted for a stretchy rope...in case I screwed something up.

Also, I found it helpful to melt the two ends of the ropes together and pull the one through using the other rope. It was a little tough at the grommets (which are installed after the rope, thus get in the way on a few) but worked pretty well overall.

[DaveC426913]

Can I suggest that you do some differential testing?

Detach the sail from the halyard and attach a 30+ foot line to it instead.
If it goes up all the way, it's a sail problem.
If it still stops short of the masthead, then there's something wrong with the halyard.

You can keep doing this, refining the problem area.

Raise the sail but leave the boltrope or hanks out of the track.
Does that fix the problem or no?

[kadet]

Gotta have the right needle and waxed thread and stuff

Ouch using a needle, I am a sook got one of these sewing awl thingies



http://www.harborfreight.com/interests/ ... 91814.html

[yukonbob]

Just a side note on the 'ease' to get the bolt rope replaced. Not sure where the OP lives but if I wanted something of that affect professionally done its be at least $200 to ship (pretty sure that's only $20Usd right now ) I know most Canadians are in that same boat but I'm also pretty sure there are very few sail lofts in the Midwest, just saying.

[133bhp]

I think I have the answer, I had the same issue with my X and for the life of me I couldnt work it out, then I stopped and looked, I had been raising the main pulling the halyard on the port side because thats is where the jammer is, HOWEVER, the halyard exits the top of the mast on the starboard side, so the halyard was jamming because it was crossing over itself at the top of the mast, I just moved the halyard around the other side of the boom and lead it across to the jammer on the port side and now it goes up without any problems.

I spent plenty of time staring at the top if the mast from all angles to work it out, and the harder you pulled on the halyard the tighter it got obviously because it was pulling down on to itself

plus 1,

noticed mine last week, not thinking changing haylards I guess? worth giving a good look,

[C Buchs]

Try some Sailkote.

+1. I had trouble getting my main sail all the way up and put Sailkote in the groove and on the slugs. It now goes up much easier!

Jeff

[DaveC426913]

Try some Sailkote.

+1. I had trouble getting my main sail all the way up and put Sailkote in the groove and on the slugs. It now goes up much easier!

Jeff

Don't forget to use one of these to keep it that way!
http://tinyurl.com/jf2qhth

[vizwhiz]

Gotta have the right needle and waxed thread and stuff

Ouch using a needle, I am a sook got one of these sewing awl thingies



http://www.harborfreight.com/interests/ ... 91814.html

I agree...you need an awl to punch thru sail and rope...i used a straight awl to punch holes, and the needle went thru much easier of course...